It’s been a little over a year since the launch of ChatGPT sent the world into an AI frenzy.
So it’s no surprise that tech giants now want to integrate and promote the artificial intelligence features in all their new gadgets – from laptops to TVs.
But it’s smartphones that look set to become one of the biggest AI battlegrounds. Apple’s next iPhone is heavily rumored to have plenty of new AI-powered features.
Samsung and Google have also gone all-in on AI in phones, with their latest S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro (released this year and late last year respectively) both being marketed heavily on their AI capabilities.
So does AI actually make your everyday life better?
I tested Google’s flagship Pixel 8 Pro against Samsung’s top-of-the-line S24 Ultra to see how the AI features stack up and whether they’re actually useful in everyday life.
Both Samsung S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro go big on AI (Pic Rob Waugh)
The two phones both offer advanced AI features (Pic Rob Waugh)
GOOGLE’S PIXEL
Google’s Pixel phones have a head start in AI, with the tech giant already adding AI to features like its Recorder app in previous Pixel phones, which transcribes voice conversations using AI in real-time.
I’ve been using this for years: the voice transcriptions aren’t quite as ‘clean’ as those provided by rival transcription services such as Otter.ai, but being able to see transcripts in real time is very useful as a journalist.
This means you can see that the recorder is ‘getting’ the conversation and also make an assessment as to whether you have enough information to end a call (eg).
Google’s Photos app also comes with AI tools including Magic Eraser (which can automatically remove photobombers from your photos.
It’s fun, but it occasionally messes up, for example removing a cyclist but not their bike.
Magic Editor allows you to move and resize people in photos, with generative AI that ‘fills in’ the background: Handling resizing and moving a photo of my son inside an optical illusion space covered in stripes is impressive.
I’m still not sure I’d use the results in a photo album.
The Best Take app is far more useful, letting you take a bunch of similar shots and pick the ‘best’ frame so people’s eyes are open or kids aren’t scowling: it’s easy to use and works well.
This year’s big Pixel innovation is the AI wallpapers, which allow you to create weird and sometimes alarming wallpapers using prompts like ‘a painting of robots in the expressionist style’ – it’s pretty silly, but my kids are avid fans .
HOW DOES SAMSUNG’S S24 ULTRA STACK UP?
Hardware-wise, Samsung’s S24 Ultra outdoes the Pixel with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip – but as a relative newcomer to phone-based AI, how does it match up?
Samsung’s AI wallpaper feature works well, but is pretty much identical to the one on the Pixel: that said, ever since I started using it, I’ve never gone back to non-AI wallpapers on the phone.
Like other AI image creators, you input a set of words or prompts (but here you’re limited to a preset selection of words) and the AI creates a completely unique wallpaper based on the input.
Samsung’s S24 Ultra beats the Pixel 8 Pro technically, but at a price
Both Samsung S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro go big on AI (Pic Rob Waugh)
Samsung’s Generative AI photo editing is pretty impressive for a newbie, but a little more glitchy than Google’s Magic tools in use (I found, for example, that there were some weird bits in the background after deleting myself from a photo).
Circle to Search is unique to Samsung and very cool – you hold down the Home button to search using an image cropped from literally any app (you can even pause videos and select an image).
You either tap the screen or use the S24’s S Pen to circle what you want to search for, and it uses AI smarts to search for it.
The results aren’t far from what you get with Google’s Lens, but the ability to select and search is new and cool (and feels very sci-fi).
Samsung’s AI transcription app works well and delivers clean transcriptions, but lacks the live on-screen functionality of Google’s.
So does AI actually make your everyday life better? I tested Google’s flagship Pixel 8 Pro
The ‘live translation’ feature built into the phone app is also high on the cool factor, translating live on screen from one language to another and handling my schoolboy German instantly.
If for some reason you needed to call someone without a common language, you could easily get by using this (although I have a hard time imagining any situation where this might happen).
There’s also an AI-powered website summarization feature, like on the Pixel, which cuts news stories down to a few paragraphs (although given that most web pages tend to be pretty short and to the point anyway, I’m not aware how useful it is).
Samsung’s Notes app is also packed with AI features with the ability to auto-format, bullet point and summarize notes (something not available on the Pixel) and it’s efficient and would be useful if you’re a heavy note taker.
Samsung is clearly playing catch-up here, but the features are pretty good for a first time.
So does AI actually make your everyday life better? I tested Google’s flagship Pixel 8 Pro
The two phones are very different propositions: Samsung’s is ridiculously powerful with extremely high-end components, but with a price tag to match ($1299), while Google’s is great value for money at $999.
Google edges it on the AI front (for now), but Samsung is breathing down its neck with a ton of interesting and potentially useful features.
What also seems certain is that AI is going to be a big part of phones going forward—Apple has bought 21 AI start-ups since 2017, according to PitchBook, and it seems likely that this year’s September crop of iPhones will put AI in the foreground.