Samsung’s new S25 smartphones have just been revealed at its January 2025 Galaxy Unpacked Event, but that’s not all that it showcased: it also gave us a taste of the AI-powered tools that are set to launch alongside the new devices – and I’ve had the chance to try them out.
The star of the show was Now Brief, a feature teased ahead of the event which sees your phone offer you personalized daily briefs based on your personal schedule and habits.
Taking cues from your connected email, calendar, wallet, accessories (such as a Galaxy Ring or Galaxy Watch), and other Samsung devices (i.e. your Samsung TV), Now Brief promises to give you a quick rundown of the day ahead – such as reminding you to prepare for your trip in a few days, to take it easy because you didn’t sleep well the night before, and that you have a coupon expiring today. Throughout the day the Now Brief will shift to suit your preferences and help you achieve your targets – for example in the afternoon you’ll get a reminder to get your steps in if you’re short of your health goals for the day, with tips on how to up your count.
Now Brief (Image credit: Samsung)
Samsung says Now Brief will learn to understand you via its ‘Personal Data Engine’. It’ll learn what tips it should prioritize and which elements it doesn’t need to include as those aspects of your brief aren’t relevant. Most interestingly it seems like Samsung is learning heavily into its internet of things connected devices – with its presentation focusing on the improved integrations you’ll unlock if you pair your new Samsung phone with other devices like a Samsung TV and Samsung smartwatch (a tactic Apple has been using for years to convince users to not only buy an iPhone but a whole Apple ecosystem).
Because of this reliance on understanding you, of the three features I’ve tried Now Brief is the one I got the worst look at – because the test unit knew nothing of my personal schedule or who I am, it could only tell me about the weather conditions in the area nearby (which wasn’t especially useful). I’m hopeful that the full release will be more exciting, and that’ll come to older devices like the Samsung Galaxy S24, and Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Fold 6, as Now Brief has the potential to be the best new AI feature.
I constantly forget things in my busy schedule until the last minute, so a regular update on what’s coming up and reminders to hit my daily health goals could be super handy – but it will come down to how well this is implemented. AI features promise a lot, but will Now Brief deliver?
Now Bar can give you easy access to essentials (Image credit: Samsung)
Cut through the noise
For those of you who love recording video – either to share with friends, family, or your followers – the new phones can also take advantage of new on-device audio editing called Audio Eraser. We’ve seen a similar tool from the Google Pixel 8 which allows an AI to identify different types of sound in a video to be able to turn it up or down as you see fit.
In a demo I had before the Galaxy Unpacked event I was able to record a clip of a Samsung representative talking while I clapped loudly and made noise in the background. Listening back to the clip you’d struggle to make out what they were saying.
That is, until I went into the phone’s video editor to alter the sound – turning down my disruption and turning up their voice. The end result sounded really good, and while there was a little distortion to their voice it certainly sounded a lot clearer than the unedited audio. We’ll need to test it further, but I expect Audio Eraser will be perfect for making your concert recordings pop.
For those of you who prefer using AI to help you create images, Samsung’s Sketch to Image AI tool is getting an upgrade too that makes it easier to combine real and AI elements.
In the demo I was able to combine a written prompt – I went for “an icy lake in a cartoonish style” – with a preexisting image – for the demo I used a photo of a random dog to stand in as my puppy – and Galaxy AI was able to combine the two parts into one single picture – spitting out an image of a dog that looked like the one in the photo playing near a lake in the snow, all in a cartoonish style.
AI image generation isn’t for everyone, but if you like playing around with this feature and want a little more freedom to combine real and fake elements this looks like a solid improvement over what we’ve had access to on Samsung before.
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