Don’t have $1,900? Galaxy Z Fold 6 AI features are coming to older Samsung phones
It's not clear when the update will arrive
When Samsung revealed the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 earlier this month, the company showed off One UI features exclusive to the new foldable phones.
However, that might be temporary. A Korean community manager on an official Samsung board revealed that several features from One UI 6.1.1 offered by the foldable phones will come to older Samsung devices, as spotted by Android Authority.
It's hit or miss what older handsets will get certain features, though.
The forum was explicitly for discussing camera features on Samsung devices. With that in mind, we know that camera-specific features like Auto Zoom and Flex Camcorder should trickle down to the Galaxy Z Flip 5. The Z Flip 4 has functionally the same camera as the Flip 5, so it wouldn't be surprising if those features made it to that phone, but that hasn't been confirmed.
Instant Slowmo, designed to share slow-motion video without saving separate files, is supposed to come to the Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, Galaxy S23 lineup and the Galaxy Tab S9 series. The S24 lineup already has this feature.
Of course, as with everything these days, some generative AI features were announced with the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. Portrait Studio and Sketch to Image will reach several Galaxy devices. These include the S22, S23 and S24 series, the S23 FE, Z Fold 4 and 5, Z Flip 4 and 5 and the Galaxy Tab S8 and S9 series.
Portrait Studio and Sketch to Image do similar things, with the former taking photos and turning them into sketches, cartoons or paintings and the latter turning drawings into an image. All the devices above will also get Live Effect, a tool that adds 3D depth to 2D images.
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On the editing side, those devices are also slated to receive Motion Clipper and Translation. Motion Clipper helps create GIFs, which can also be turned into stickers. Translation analyzes text in images and provides a translation while attempting to match the original background.
One unique feature that is expected to appear only on the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S24 series is Astro Portrait. This tool lets you capture astrophotography images with a person in the foreground.
All of these features have been confirmed, but there is no current announced timeline for when the updates will roll out to the older Samsung phones. The community manager said that Samsung would make a separate announcement responding to user comments.
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Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him.