When I bought my refurbished Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra around a year ago, I didn’t really consider AI as a key part of my purchase. Like, perhaps, most millennials, I largely use my phone for doom-scrolling on social media apps, collecting emails, messaging, and sometimes calling people. So I was curious to know what my S23 Ultra could do AI-wise, given its insistence on providing Gemini. So…I asked Gemini, and there are two feature sets I can see myself using in the future.

1. Daily search and discovery

Gemini describes my S23 Ultra as a potential productivity powerhouse. As an ‘Ultra’ model with an S-Pen, that makes sense, and it kicks off with levelling up my search. Circle to Search is a great concept if you don’t want to exit what you’re currently doing to search manually. There’s added value if daily translation is part of your life (the character recognition is excellent), and you can select any text, items, music information, all without swapping apps. The S-Pen is ideal, and this feature gets a thumbs-up.

• Circle to Search (with Google): Hold down the Home button (or navigation handle) and circle, tap, or scribble over anything on your screen—an outfit in an Instagram post, a plant in a video, or text on a website. It instantly pulls up search results without you needing to switch apps.

2. Photo and video editing

AI can do more than most people realise for photos and videos. Gemini picks out three actions that can transform the media on my phone. Generative Edit, which allows you to move, resize, or delete items from images, with AI filling in the background. I don’t like that, but at least Shadow/Reflection Eraser are enhancements I can get behind. And AI Audio Eraser can clean up audio tracks, removing weather or ambient noise. I’m not keen on generative AI in images, but cleaner media makes this a tie.

• Generative Edit: Tap the pencil/edit icon on any photo in the Gallery app, then hit the blue Galaxy AI star icon. You can select objects or people to move, resize, or delete them entirely. The AI automatically fills in the background seamlessly.
• Object Removal & Shadow/Reflection Eraser: Quick single-tap cleanups for photos without needing complex Photoshop tools.
• Audio Eraser in Video: Automatically isolates and cleans up unwanted background noise (like wind, traffic, or crowd chatter) from videos you’ve recorded

3. Writing notes and audio summaries

As a writer, I’m keen to improve my workflows and speed – but not sacrifice creativity or intent. So Transcript Assist in the Voice Recorder app is a great feature for “speaker-labelled” transcripts, saving me time typing up notes or summaries. Equally, Samsung Notes’ ‘Note Assist’ can auto-format S-Pen scribbles into legible, summarized points. That’s akin to magic for a writer, so this stands out by a mile. I’m less keen on Chat Assist and Writing Style with tone guidance, but overall, this section is a win.

• Transcript Assist (Voice Recorder): Record meetings, lectures, or personal voice notes, and the phone will automatically generate a speaker-labeled transcript, translate it, and summarize key takeaways.
• Note Assist (Samsung Notes): If you scribble handwritten notes with the S Pen or paste in massive blocks of text, AI can auto-format them with clean headers and bullet points, summarize the main points, or check spelling.
• Chat Assist & Writing Style: Built into the Samsung Keyboard. Highlight text as you write emails, texts, or posts to instantly adjust the tone (from formal corporate to casual or polite) and fix grammar

4. Real-time translation

Undoubtedly, one of the best AI-powered features for users who need regular language support. I’m not one of those people, but as someone born several decades ago, the fact that my S23 Ultra can help here is somewhat mind-blowing. Live translation for phone calls could be incredibly useful if I were in need in another country. Meanwhile, having that same support with the Interpreter Mode in person is another golden feather in my phone’s cap. Super impressive, and good to have access to just in case.

• Live Translate for Phone Calls: Offers real-time two-way voice and text translation during phone calls—allowing you to speak your language while the person on the other end hears theirs.
• Interpreter Mode: A split-screen face-to-face translation tool that turns your phone into a live interpreter when talking to someone in person.

About the Author

Kevin Pocock

Kevin has a broad interest and enthusiasm for consumer electronics, PCs, and all things consumer tech. And more than 17 years experience in tech journalism.