Galaxy AI: Good & Bad News for Galaxy S22, Galaxy S21, Others

There’s both good news and bad news for Galaxy S22 users, Galaxy S21 owners, and other models regarding Samsung’s One UI 6.1 and Galaxy AI update.

Let’s start with the good news. In a post on a community site in South Korea, a moderator has confirmed plans to push One UI 6.1 and Galaxy AI to older Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

We knew Samsung was testing the update on older flagships, but this is the first time the company’s confirmed specific plans for these models.

According to the moderator, Samsung plans to start pushing the One UI 6.1 update to the following devices starting in May:

• Galaxy S22 series
• Galaxy S21 series
• Galaxy Z Fold 4
• Galaxy Z Flip 4
• Galaxy Z Fold 3
• Galaxy Z Flip 3
• Galaxy Tab S8 series

It’s unclear if this timing is for South Korea specifically or if May is the global release window. With only a few weeks left in April, we’ll find out soon enough.

Samsung also plans to bring some Galaxy AI features to these phones and tablets which is great news considering this had been up in the air. Now for the bad news.

If this moderator’s information is correct, older Galaxy models will get a limited set of Galaxy AI features. In other words, they won’t get access to the same feature-set as the Galaxy S23, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Galaxy Tab S9.

Devices that arrived in 2022, like the Galaxy S22 series, should get every Galaxy AI features except for one: Instant Slow-mo. This feature lets users slow down any video by pressing and holding down on the display.

As for devices from 2021 like the Galaxy S21 series, they will only get two Galaxy AI features: Google Circle to Search and Magic Rewrite.

Samsung’s plans could change, but for now this is what Galaxy S22, Galaxy S21, and others should expect in the weeks ahead.