Samsung recently dropped another big hint that Galaxy AI features are coming to the Galaxy S22 series soon, and now the company has seemingly confirmed that its 2021 flaships – namely the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 – will benefit from a handful of Galaxy AI features, too.
In a new post on Samsung’s Korean community forum (via Android Central), a Samsung employee has revealed that the company’s AI-packed One UI 6.1 update is scheduled to land on older Samsung devices – including the Galaxy S21 series – in “early May”. This tracks with previous comments made by Samsung Mobile boss TM Roh, who teased that certain Galaxy AI features could debut on “previous models” after their initial rollout on Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S23 devices.
Specifically, the Samsung employee writes that Samsung’s 2022 flagships – i.e. the Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Tab S8 series – will receive all Galaxy AI features minus Instant Slow-Mo, while those aforementioned 2021 flagships will only receive two Galaxy AI features: Circle to Search and Magic Rewrite.
Again, this tracks with previous information regarding Galaxy AI compatibility. We already knew, for instance, that Instant Slow-Mo would be limited to Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S23 devices owing to the hardware demands of that specific feature. As per a previous Samsung's community forum post, Instant Slow-Mo requires 16.6 milliseconds of processing time for smooth real-time video playback, which ruled out its future inclusion on older Samsung devices like the Galaxy S22 (and by extension the Galaxy S21).
We’re relieved, though, that Instant Slow-Mo will be the only casualty of Galaxy AI’s transition to Samsung’s 2022 flagships, especially since the company was publicly unsure whether any Galaxy AI features would make the drop down to the Galaxy S22 series (“For now, we’re limiting Galaxy AI to last-gen devices,” Samsung executive Patrick Chomet told us at Galaxy Unpacked 2024).
Old but not obsolete
News of Galaxy AI’s imminent addition to Samsung’s 2021 flagships – albeit only in part – is even more exciting. It was thought that the Galaxy S21’s Exynos 2100 chipset (or Snapdragon 888 chipset, depending on your region) wouldn’t be able to handle any Galaxy AI features, so we’re grateful that Samsung has managed to ensure the compatibility of two important ones (Circle to Search, in particular, is a mini-marvel).
As for whether Samsung will expand Galaxy AI compatibility even further, beyond its 2021 flagships to models like the Galaxy S20, we think it’s unlikely. By the sounds of things, the Galaxy S21 will be pushed to the limit to support just two Galaxy AI features, so it seems reasonable to assume that the Galaxy S20’s even-less-powerful Snapdragon 865 just isn’t up to scratch.
So, if you’re still rocking a Samsung handset from 2020 and want to benefit from the company’s Galaxy AI features, we’d suggest checking out our up-to-date Samsung phones deals page for a look at the latest bargains.
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