The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 are Samsung's first foldables to launch since it debuted its Galaxy AI suite of features back in January of this year. And the good news is that these flexible phones bring some AI-powered updates with them.
With a unique form factor to take advantage of, some of these updates take existing Galaxy AI features and redesign them to work better on phones with flexible inner screens and secondary outer displays. Others are brand new, and while exclusive to the new Galaxy Z models initially, will hopefully find their way to other Samsung devices, or even other Android phones, in the near future.
We've identified seven key features announced today at Galaxy Unpacked that you'll want to be abreast of if you're an AI fan. Read the summaries below to learn more, and be sure to check our Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 hands-on reviews for our first impressions of these devices, including these new Galaxy AI abilities.
Interpreter mode
This looks to be the biggest unique AI selling point for these foldables. Using both the inner and outer displays with the phone open at a right angle, you can transcribe and translate a conversation in real-time with someone else speaking a different language. 16 different languages and 23 dialects are supported.
The Galaxy S24 series could already act as interpreter with a two-sided translation interface. But this foldable-specific version could prove far more helpful for communication, as we saw with a near-identical feature on the Google Pixel Fold.
Sketch to Image
Best suited to the S Pen-compatible Galaxy Z Fold 6, the Photos app can now offer AI-enhanced edits to your doodles. Draw a crude pair of glasses on a selfie for example, and this feature will let you turn it into a more convincing set of shades. It's by no means a method of making realistic edits to an image, but it could certainly take the time-honored tradition of doodling on people's images to a new level of fun.
Circle to Search upgrades
Some exclusive updates to Circle to Search are coming first to the new Samsung foldables before appearing on other phones using the Google Search ability.
Circle to Search will now be able to read QR codes, translate a whole screen of text, and solve math equations on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. While it won't be exclusive to these phones forever, it's good to see one of the best AI features for phones so far continue to develop.
Portrait Studio
If you want your selfie to get a whole new character, you can now use the Portrait Studio mode to add a watercolor, 3D cartoon, sketch or comic-style effect.
As with Samsung's other generative effects, you get a choice of three to four versions of the photo from which you can pick your favorite.
Live Translate for more call apps
No longer limited to just the Samsung Phone app, you can have an AI translator in your ear while talking on the phone to someone on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or Galaxy Z Fold 6.
As with the Interpreter mode above, you can translate between 16 different languages. You can also select whether to hear yourself or the other caller or only the translated speech.
Chat assist
If you need a hand drafting a message to one of your contacts, Samsung's new foldables are here to help. They can now help to finish, or generate from scratch, several possible responses to a conversation, while taking the current tone and recent context cues into account to make the message appropriate and relevant to who you're talking to and what you're talking about
On the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which has a smaller outer display less suited to writing long messages, this feature is combined with Suggested Replies to give you tailored pre-made responses that you can send at the tap of a virtual button.
Live Transcription in Samsung Notes
A combination of an existing feature and a new setting, you can now transcribe while taking notes at the same time thanks to the larger displays of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.
It's an obvious combination of features to use at the same time, and you could have done this previously by using previous Galaxy Z models' split-screen app systems. But this way, you can use that screen space to view the Notes app in full, or to open another useful app for additional productivity.
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