Long before the world got the ChatGPT/Bard/Midjourney fever, Google was quietly steering towards the AI field. Back in 2021, Google showed off the Pixel 6 and introduced something called Tensor G1 – the chipset that’s been driving Google’s phones ever since (currently, they’re at Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8 line). The Tensor chips are not known for delivering mind-blowing raw power; instead, they are focused on AI and machine learning.
This brings us to Samsung and the fact that in some weeks’ time, they will roll out their next flagship line – the Galaxy S24, so naturally everybody expects the latest and greatest out of the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The “latest and greatest” now includes AI capabilities in addition to the hardware goodies, so Samsung better pull out some artificial intelligence instead of a white rabbit out of its hat in January. The same goes for Apple and any other brand that wants to get (or stay) on top.Machine learning and its tricks are, in my opinion, the thing that phone manufacturers will bet on in the coming years – they are already incorporating AI more and more in their products and will continue to do so. People want magic. Arthur C. Clarke wasn’t wrong…
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 – the chip that shouldn’t fail to impress
It’s almost certain that Samsung will not give the Galaxy S24 line the Galaxy S23 treatment when it comes to chips – this year’s flagships are all powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (dubbed “for Galaxy”). This “same chip for every model” approach is allegedly going to be ditched as rumors say that Samsung will get back to the way things were before the Galaxy S23 line – that is, different chips for different markets.
US users should get the Galaxy S24 with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip inside, while those in Europe or Korea are to get it with the Exynos 2400. Side note: this shouldn’t affect the Galaxy S24 Ultra, as insiders claim it will be Snapdragon-exclusive, regardless of the country it’s been sold in.
Both the Snapdragon and Exynos chips are sailing in the same direction, though – AI. Samsung expressly listed the Exynos 2400 as offering an “improved CPU performance by 1.7 times and AI performance by 14.7 times compared to its predecessor, the Exynos 2200”. Upon its announcement, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 wasn’t even called “Gen 3” right away in an introductory video by Qualcomm – they branded it as Snapdragon 8 Gen AI.
Back to the Tensor line and its current G3 iteration. Maybe you know, maybe you don’t, but for the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro to deliver their AI tidbits, they are offloading some AI tasks to Google servers. Yup, you need an internet connection to use the powerful Magic Editor feature, for example. In order for a given photo edit to be completed, the phone will send it to a Google server to be processed and saved.
Until Samsung’s next flagship is out, it’s not clear if the same schemes will be present in the Galaxy S24. So far, insiders claim that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will deliver much more of an on-device experience.
Which could turn out to be a huge advantage for Samsung. There is no shortage of reasons why that could be the case:
- Faster overall workflow process;
- Privacy;
- No need for an internet connection all the time.
It’s getting warmer now
“Samsung vs. Apple” is a classic that we watch every year, but now Samsung is apparently interested in going toe to toe with the Pixel 8 Pro over the issue which is the smartest AI phone ever. There are already reports that say the Galaxy S24 will get ChatGPT and Google Bard-inspired features and in particular, text-to-image capabilities.
There’s more: in a recent promotional video, Samsung hinted at a possible AI-powered feature for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. One of the presented camera features is the ISOCELL Zoom Anyplace which utilizes proprietary AI tracking and Qualcomm’s AI engine on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Zoom Anyplace makes it possible to capture both a zoomed-in and a zoomed-out video perspective simultaneously via automatic zoom and subject tracking. The result is two 4K video views from a single camera at 2x and 4x zoom lengths.
Please, compete harder
The fine line between inspiration by chivalrous competition and outright stealing from one another is indeed fine in the big tech world; but we, as consumers, shouldn’t be that preoccupied with it and instead let the courts handle the matter.
What’s more important is that exclusive features are not so exclusive anymore. For example, Samsung’s One UI 6 brings enhancements and AI-oriented features to the image editor Enhance-X. I’m not saying Samsung wouldn’t innovate if Google never released any Pixel phones – I’m saying now it’s obliged to do it faster, or else.
But… (Ah, the obligatory “But…”!)
The Call Screen should be a top priority
There’s a field that Samsung has to polish and refine – a field that Google shines in: the Call Screen feature. Sure, playing with more and more jaw-dropping photo/video editing tricks is nice and all. Having a refined Call Screen feature, on the contrary, is not fun – it’s a relief.
In one of our own discussions on the upcoming Galaxy S24 people are commenting that a Call Screen feature is what could make them buy Samsung’s 2024 flagship.
A Pew Research Center report has it that 80% of Americans say they don’t generally answer their phone when an unknown number calls. That’s because telemarketers, phone scammers and bots are getting pushy lately. That’s why people would rather not pick up than have to deal with this kind of stressful lunacy.
Sometimes you don’t pick up and you miss an important call, though – that’s where the Pixel feature Call Screen comes into play and lets you have your cake and eat it, too. Your Google Assistant picks up for you and finds out what the hell is going on; is the call urgent or it’s someone who claims you’ve won a Ferrari (and needs your credit card info to wrap things up).
Here’s what it looks like:
Of course, Samsung already has the Bixby assistant which recently started its own call-screening feature. It uses Samsung’s text-to-speech capabilities which are not as advanced as Google’s text-to-speech and in general, Bixby is to be refined in order to catch up with the Call Screen feature on the Pixel devices.
A final word
So, if a vanilla flagship like the Pixel 8 can come jam-packed with AI features at $699 (not to mention the 7-year Google support) and offer a proper Call Screening feature, there’s no reason for a proper maxed-out flagship like the Galaxy S24 Ultra not to.The Galaxy S24 phone will be what everyone else in 2024 will set/compare/clash their devices to/with/against – so, Samsung, don’t be unintelligent. Be Artificially Intelligent.
