One of the big questions about Samsung’s One UI 6.1 rollout, which added AI to millions of phones, was if cheaper Galaxy devices would also get AI features.
When One UI 6.1 hit Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy A54 last week, SamMobile discovered that the answer was a clear ‘no’. “The Galaxy A54 doesn’t get any Galaxy AI features with One UI 6.1. It also misses out on ‘AI recommendations’ for pictures, which is not part of the Galaxy AI experience, despite what Samsung claims in the update’s changelog.” The site reported.
Samsung didn’t explain why the Galaxy A54, or recently released A55 and A35, have been excluded from receiving AI features. But when I quizzed the company on its reasoning, Samsung hinted in a statement to me that compatibility may be the issue.
“At Samsung, we are prioritising the best experience for our users and customers. To achieve this, we are ensuring compatibility is at the centre of all future and current updates, and we are managing this across selected devices with the rollout of One UI 6.1.”
As you can see, Samsung isn’t giving much away and I suspect its policy on Galaxy AI distribution is still evolving. But the key part of that statement is “ensuring compatibility.” We know that some features in the Galaxy AI suite, like the generative AI-powered Instant Slo Mo tool, haven’t made it to older devices (such as the S22 and S21 range) because they require more accomplished hardware to run.
But other features, like the Circle To Search, are compatible with some older Android phones such as the Galaxy S21. Considering that Circle To Search appears to be a polished version of Google Lens, which is widely available on older Android phones, it should work on mid-range devices like the A54, or A55 and A35.
The A55’s Exynos 1480 chipset, for example, is newer than the base Galaxy S21’s Exynos 2100 processor, but it’s not wildly different in CPU performance, and it’s not far behind the processor found in the Galaxy S22. The Galaxy S22, however, can run almost all Galaxy AI tools.
There may be other performance issues for Samsung to contend with when it comes to adding AI to these cheaper phones, which the company isn’t ready to explain yet. But there’s a good chance that some of that explanation is down to a simple business decision.
Galaxy AI landed on almost all of the company’s flagship devices, including its latest Galaxy Book 4 Edge laptop. It is the company’s defining piece of premium software going forward and limiting it to Samsung’s most expensive hardware maintains that high-end, futuristic, image. The fact that the mid-range Galaxy S21 FE, despite having similar hardware to the flagship Galaxy S21 range, also won’t get AI features suggests that Samsung has drawn a line between the AI haves and have-nots.
