Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the first foldable to support Gemini Nano — here’s what that means
Samsung and Google are changing the AI game
Both the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will support Gemini Nano, making them the first foldable phones to do so.
Gemini Nano is the lightweight version of Google's generative AI designed to work on phones. While the AI debuted in 2023 on the Google Pixel 8 Pro, it was eventually ported over to the Galaxy S24, and released developer previews on the Google Pixel 8 and the Google Pixel 8a.
It appears that Google is continuing to add support to devices with a recent report from Android Authority revealing that both the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Z Flip 6 will be the first foldable phones to have AI features powered by Gemini Nano. This should help solidify their positions in our best foldable phone rankings.
While initial speculation would make you think that Google Gemini would be used to power some of the Galaxy AI features, it appears that the opposite is true. Android Authority tested features like Chat Assist, Note Assist and Transcription Assist and found that all worked offline even when the Gemini Nano model wasn't downloaded.
However, we do have some idea of which features are powered by Google's AI. The first is Magic Compose. Magic Compose is a feature found in Google Messages that suggests responses to the user that can be sent to a contact. To ensure privacy Magic Compose runs entirely on devices with Gemini Nano installed and, while Google doesn't list the Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Z Flip 6 models on the relevant support page, the feature does exist on the phones.
Currently, it doesn't appear there is much more that Gemini can do on the devices. For one thing, they lack the Pixel Recorder app so can't take advantage of the on-device summarization feature. Neither phone has access to the Gboard smart reply feature, despite being supported by Gemini Nano. While it might be limited, Gemini Nano could have more of an impact on third-party apps. For instance, Adobe Acrobat and Grammarly both use Gemini Nano to summarize documents or offer on-device grammar suggestions.
This change will take some time to see fruit as both Samsung and Google develop new ways of implementing Gemini Nano into their devices.
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Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer.