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6 min read 8 stepsMay 13, 2026Verified May 2026

Samsung Galaxy S25 — The AI Features Worth Using (and the Ones to Skip)

The Galaxy S25 has a long list of AI features. Here are the four worth turning on and the ones to leave alone.

At a Glance

Turn on Galaxy AI in Settings

~35s

Open Settings. Scroll to "Galaxy AI." If you do not see it, tap Settings > "Advanced features" first. Toggle Galaxy AI on. Tap "Online processing for advanced features" if you want better AI results — this sends some data to Samsung's servers. Toggle "Process data only on device" if you want everything to stay local (the AI will be slower but more private). Most people are fine with online processing, since Samsung does not store the data after the request.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: If you ever change your mind, you can switch from online to on-device processing without restarting anything. Try both and see which speed you prefer.

Use Live Translate during phone calls — the killer feature

~36s

Live Translate translates a phone call in real time, in both directions. Useful if you have a relative who speaks Spanish, Korean, French, or any of 15+ supported languages. To use: open the Phone app. Start or receive a call. Tap the on-screen "Live Translate" button (or Settings > Call settings > Live Translate to enable). Pick your language and the other person's language. Speak normally — the other person hears your words in their language. You hear theirs in yours, after a small pause.

Warning

Live Translate is good for casual conversation. Do not rely on it for medical, legal, or business decisions — use a human translator instead.

Use Circle to Search for "what is this on my screen?"

~33s

Press and hold the home gesture bar at the bottom of the screen until a search box appears. Circle, scribble, or tap anything visible on the screen — a product, a landmark, a piece of text, a logo. Google searches for it. This is the fastest way to identify a plant in a photo, a building from a postcard, or a word in a foreign-language email. Works in any app — texting, photos, web, anywhere.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Circle to Search can also translate any text on screen — circle the words and tap the Translate icon that appears.

Use Photo Assist to fix shaky or cluttered photos

~40s

Open Gallery. Tap any photo. Tap the pencil/Edit icon at the bottom. Tap the small star/AI icon (sometimes labeled "AI"). Options appear: "Erase" (removes a person or object from the background), "Move" (drag a person to reposition them), "Recompose" (lets you expand the photo edges), "Restore" (sharpens old, blurry photos), and "Sky" (changes the sky from gray to blue). Tap the option you want, follow the prompt, then tap Save. Photo Assist does not overwrite the original — it saves a copy.

Warning

Edits made by Photo Assist add a small watermark in the photo metadata indicating "AI generated." This is required by law in some places and helps verify the photo was edited. The watermark is not visible on the photo itself.

Use Note Assist to clean up handwritten or messy notes

~27s

Open Samsung Notes (or another supported notes app). Type or jot down anything — meeting notes, recipe steps, a quick list. Tap the AI icon at the top of the note. Pick from: Summarize (one-line summary), Format (cleans up bullet points and structure), Translate (changes language), Spelling and grammar (fixes typos), or Auto-format (organizes a messy note into clear sections). One tap and the note becomes readable. Original text is preserved if you tap "Undo" within 30 seconds.

Skip Sketch to Image and Now Brief unless they grab you

~23s

Sketch to Image lets you doodle a stick figure and Galaxy AI redraws it as a finished image. Fun once. Now Brief is a daily AI-curated screen with weather, calendar, and headlines — many people find it cluttered. If you want to disable them: Settings > Advanced features > Galaxy AI > toggle each off individually. Removing them does not affect anything else.

Watch the battery — AI features use more power

~26s

Galaxy AI features draw extra battery. If you notice your S25 dropping faster than expected: Settings > Battery > Background usage limits — check what is running. The Galaxy AI components show up there. You can put them in "deep sleep" if not used daily. With AI features on and used heavily, expect a 5–10 percent battery hit per day compared to the same usage with AI off. For most people that is worth it.

How long Galaxy AI features stay free

~37s

Samsung promised the included Galaxy AI features stay free through the end of 2025, then announced an extension through the end of 2026. After that, some of the cloud-based features may move to a subscription. The on-device features (Photo Assist, Note Assist, Circle to Search) will likely stay free forever. They run on the phone's chip, not Samsung's servers. The cloud features (Live Translate of certain languages, generative image fills) may eventually have a paid tier. Watch the Samsung Newsroom for updates.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: If pricing changes are announced, you can choose to keep using only the free features. Galaxy AI does not stop your phone from working if you do not pay.

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Samsung's Galaxy S25 (released January 2025) and S25 Ultra come loaded with Samsung's "Galaxy AI" — features powered by AI built into the phone. Some are genuinely useful for everyday life. Others are gimmicks that will collect dust in your settings.

This guide cuts through Samsung's marketing and picks the four AI features worth learning: Live Translate during phone calls, Circle to Search, Photo Assist for fixing photos, and Note Assist for cleaning up notes. It also points out the two features ("Sketch to Image" and "Now Brief") that are clever but you probably will not use.

The walkthrough below works for both the Galaxy S25 and the S25 Ultra running One UI 7 (Samsung's software layer over Android 15). Most steps also work on the S24 series and Galaxy Z Fold/Flip 6 if you have Galaxy AI enabled.

(Sources: Samsung Support — samsung.com/us/support/mobile-devices; Samsung Newsroom — news.samsung.com/us; AARP Senior Tech, aarp.org/home-family/personal-technology)

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Official Resources

Apple Support — iPhone Google Help — Android Samsung Support

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