Spotlight on Galaxy AI in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra as we round out 2024

If 2024 is going to be remembered for something in the tech world it probably won’t be a specific product or company, but instead the year the Smartphone AI race began as Artificial Intelligence begins to dominate more and more technology it’s been an important year to define how AI can help us on the devices we use most.

And credit where credit is due, Samsung kicked it all off in January with the launch of the Galaxy S24 Ultra and S24 series smartphones – announcing Galaxy AI.

Don’t mistake the importance of this too, AI has created an all-new Space Race, but instead of the United States and Russia competing for the greatest spaceflight capabilities or who will get to the moon first – we’re in an AI Race to create the best capabilities to improve the user experience on consumer devices.

At the start of the year it only felt like a year since we’d been talking about AI through services like ChatGPT yet somehow Samsung had managed to wrangle multiple serious AI features right into the device at launch.

Of course, the devices were improved year on year, but “Galaxy AI” was the headline act, and still today I see billboards everywhere about “Galaxy AI”.

So for those late to the party, or sitting on the fringe of the advances in modern technology, let’s unpack my three favourite AI features on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 

Live Translate

I don’t have the greatest memory of events, moments or situations, but I can vividly remember being in an event space in Las Vegas with the Samsung team when they explained Live Translate to me, and told me to head into these mock phone booths they had created to test it out.

Live Translate is a real-time translation feature that can be used on phone calls.  Yes, if you’re calling someone who speaks Japanese, you choose Live Translate and your phone will hear what is said to you in Japanese, and play it to you in English.

There’s an obvious pause for each participant while the other is hearing the translated speech, but there’s also a real-time transcription happening on the screen too.

What’s more mind-blowing and for me the real leap forward here is that all of this is being done “on device”.

This means there’s no cloud computer somewhere listening into your phone calls.

To be clear, this isn’t an app that both people on the call have to have, this is your phone listening and translating via audio in real-time – you could call the local restaurant to make a booking, or a hairdresser.  It doesn’t matter if they answer on a landline or a different smartphone, irrelevant.

And if you call a contact regularly using translation, the phone will even remember your language choices for that call.

Simple, smart, effective and quite frankly the stuff of science fiction not too long ago.

Chat Assist

Perhaps the most used and useful feature of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is Chat Assist because it’s actually several things in one.

Firstly, along the lines of Live Translate, Chat Assist has a “Chat Translation” function that allows you to choose your language and that of the person you’re texting with, and you’ll be able to send any messages in the other language. 

What you actually see on screen is both languages in the message bubble, this allows you to check what was said versus the translation if that worries you at all.  For travellers, or people who work in global businesses, this is a fantastic feature.

Of course there’s also the simple Style and Grammar assistance, which can proofread your messages at your request and give you suggestions for corrections you could make to your grammar, punctuation or spelling.

If you want to take it a whole step further, just get Chat Assist to compose the message for you.  Write a few words to describe your message and Chat Assist Composer can help you like a wordsmith on demand to create a message with the right tone and style to suit your objective.

These are the sort of features that were popping up in external apps early on in this AI explosion, but to have them built-in at your fingertips makes them vastly more usable and helpful.

Remarkable Photo Editing

Gone are the days when you needed to be a pro artist and expert in advanced photo editing software to make your photos really pop – today, on the Galaxy S24 Ultra the power is in your hand with Galaxy Photo Editing features.

And here’s the thing, this is not about photos you take now, this is about any photo you have on your phone. Using AI Samsung’s Photo Editing is able to do some pretty impressive things, just to clean up your photos.

Object Eraser allows you to circle an item, like a person in the background of your image, or perhaps there’s a power switch on the wall next to that lovely family photo – circle it and it’s gone.

With the power of Galaxy AI this is now better than anything we’ve seen like this in recent years.

There’s also the issue of reflections in your photo.  Perhaps you took a photo out a window, at home, the office or on a plane – can you see your shoulder, or even face in the window?  AI will detect it, and erase it!

Of course there’s much more too – like Face Effects which identify faces in photos and allow you to manipulate the colour and even remove blemishes with ease, or add a background blur to a photo you didn’t take in portrait mode!

No photo you share needs to have those awkward issues any more.

Don’t be afraid, Samsung tell me that already 30% of their customers think that Photo Assist is the most beneficial Samsung Galaxy AI feature!

If you own a Galaxy S24 Ultra and haven’t tried these things, what are you waiting for!

This article was written with the support of Samsung Australia, we call it Supported Editorial, where our partners help us allocate time to articles we’re keen to write but might not otherwise be able to prioritise.

_{Some important notes: Fees may apply to certain Galaxy AI Features at the end of 2025}

_{Chat assist requires Wi-Fi connection or mobile data. Some features of Chat Assist may require a Samsung Account. Translation might not be accurate. The availability of translation service may vary by country, region, or language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. Supported apps include Samsung Messages, Android Messages, KakaoTalk, Whatsapp, Instagram, Google Chat, Signal, Line Messenger and Tango. List of supported apps may vary from country.}

_{Samsung Account may be required to use certain AI Photo Assist features. Edit Suggestion is compatible with JPG, PNG. GIF and MP4 formats. Edit results may vary depending on the photography or filming condition. Images generated by the Live Effect feature will be saved in MP4 format. Editing with Generative Edit results in a resized photo up to 12MP. Editing with Portrait Studio results in a resized photo up to 9MP. A visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by AI. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed.}

_{Certain Galaxy AI features requires Samsung and Google Account. Internet connection may be required to use some features. AI Features will be provided free of charge until the end of 2025 on supported Samsung Galaxy devices.}

_{Network connection and Samsung Account required for Live Translate. Currently limited to select languages only. See website for full list of available languages. Live Translate feature must be enabled and language package must be downloaded prior to use. Only available on the pre-installed Samsung Phone app and certain supported apps. Supported apps include Whatsapp, Google Meet, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Signal. List of supported apps may vary from country. Translation might not be accurate.}