Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series is receiving the One UI 6.1 update, as are the company’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. However, unlike the Korean smartphone manufacturer’s latest models, these three devices only support the two new Galaxy AI functions. In the last few months, Samsung released One UI 6.1 for its latest Galaxy Z and Galaxy S series phones, which supports 10 AI-based features.
The company confirmed on Friday that users of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 will have access to two Galaxy AI features: Circle to Search and Chat Assist. The company’s announcement also includes one Footnote saying Galaxy AI features will be available “for free” by the end of 2025. This is the same message that appeared on the company’s website when the Galaxy S24 series launched earlier this year.
The One UI 6.1 update enables Samsung Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 owners to use the Circle to Search feature, which is currently exclusive to Samsung and Google phones. Users can press the navigation wheel to view overlays and draw, doodle or highlight parts of the screen to perform visual searches without leaving the app they are using.
All three phones also come with Chat Assist, another AI feature designed to help users text in different languages by seamlessly translating incoming or outgoing messages. Samsung says the feature is also designed to work with third-party apps, eliminating the need for users to open a translation app when sending a message to another user. Chat Assist will allow users to change the tone of their messages, the company said.
Samsung’s announcement that it will update the Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 with these two features confirms that the company’s other AI features are not coming to these older devices. AI features not included in the update include commenting, live translation, note-taking help, transcription help, review help, productive editing, editing suggestions, and AI-generated background images.
