Update (March 21, 2024): Since the initial publication of this article, Samsung has confirmed that it is reviewing its position on Galaxy AI compatibility. The Galaxy S22 series is now expected to receive a handful of Galaxy AI features in the future.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series launched last week with several AI-powered features in tow, and we now know that a select group of existing Samsung devices – including the Galaxy S23, Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 – will benefit from Galaxy AI upgrades in the coming months. But what about the Samsung Galaxy S22 line?
The Samsung Galaxy S22, Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra are all less than two years old, but according to Samsung’s Head of Customer Experience, Patrick Chomet, none of the company’s 2022 devices are expected to benefit from its cutting-edge Galaxy AI features – at least not any time soon.
Speaking to TechRadar following Galaxy Unpacked 2024, Chomet told us: “First of all, to get [these features] on the Galaxy S24 series was so much work. I’m exhausted. And actually, TM Roh [President of Samsung’s mobile division] wanted to announce [at Unpacked] that we can support Galaxy S23 devices with Galaxy AI, which we will [now be doing] within the first half of the year.
“We want to ensure that, over time, our AI experiences can be supported by [mobile] performance, which leads to CPU and GPU capability,” Chomet continued. “So for now, we are learning; we are going step-by-step. We know that Galaxy AI works well on the Galaxy S24 series and we know it will work well on [the Galaxy S23 series]. But we don’t know what the intensity of AI usage will be for the average customer, and [therefore how that] intensity will impact on-device resources and cloud resources.
“Number one, we want to secure the quality and the performance of what we deploy. Then we will learn how people use [these features] and tune the performance. Number two, we will deploy [Galaxy AI] on a second set of devices – specifically, the S23, S23 FE, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5 and Tab S9 – to see how it works.”
When probed on the chipset uniformity between the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE and Samsung Galaxy S22 – both phones use Samsung’s own Exynos 2200 chipset – Chomet acknowledged the fact but added: “For now, we’re limiting Galaxy AI to last-gen devices.”
In all likelihood, Samsung’s new Galaxy AI features will be added to those aforementioned 2023 phones – the S23, S23 FE, Z Fold 5, and so on – via the One UI 6.1 update. But it looks as though phones in the Galaxy S22 line (and older) won’t be getting the same treatment, despite also qualifying for a One UI 6.1 update.
Chomet was careful to use language like “for now” and “step-by-step” when discussing future Galaxy AI compatibility, but given that Samsung sees its new features as part of the “flagship Galaxy experience”, we think it’s unlikely that the Galaxy S22 will be given further attention later down the line – especially with even more Samsung products due to be announced in 2024.
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