The race to bring AI to budget-friendly smartphones is in full swing as Samsung extends its range of devices supporting new artificial intelligence features with updated models in its more affordable A series.
The new range starts at $299.99 with the Galaxy A26 and includes three 6.7-inch 5G smartphones featuring AI-driven enhancements like improved photo editing and Circle to Search. Samsung is integrating flagship-level software across its portfolio, with the $499.99 Galaxy A56 also offering advanced night photography and a Best Face feature designed to optimize group shots.
Smartphones are utilizing AI for better user experience, productivity, and personalization. Samsung’s drive to deliver AI in its budget lineup fits into an overall industry trend of integrating smart features into all price tiers.
Incorporating AI into smartphones is not unfamiliar, with brands utilizing these technologies for real-time language translation, adaptive battery optimization, voice assistants, and intelligent camera enhancement.
Samsung Ups the AI Game in budget phones
Samsung’s launch of more advanced budget-friendly devices follows closely on the heels of Apple Inc.’s release of the $599 iPhone 16e, offering a more affordable entry into its ecosystem. For both companies, these new models reflect a strategic push to attract more users amid a broader industry race to scale up AI capabilities.
South Korea’s largest company integrates its own AI tools with those from Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which develops the Android operating system powering Samsung devices. Meanwhile, Apple is building its Apple Intelligence suite while also leveraging external partners—partnering with OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the U.S. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in China.
The company also includes Awesome Intelligence, a collection of AI tools powered by One UI 6.1, in Samsung’s newest Galaxy A devices. One of the main features is Circle to Search, which lets you search for information instantly by circling around the content you want on your screen. This feature, which is actionable right away, will now recognize phone numbers, email addresses, and URLs.
The devices also have music recognition capability, allowing users to identify songs playing around them without switching apps. These AI-driven tools are designed to make day-to-day phone interaction more seamless and natural.
Samsung redefines budget AI with Awesome Intelligence
Awesome Intelligence is Samsung’s way of rebranding AI for its budget-friendly smartphones. By distinguishing it from Galaxy AI—which carries a more cutting-edge, forward-thinking tone—Samsung aims to position its lower-cost lineup with a more approachable and consumer-friendly identity.
Awesome Intelligence brings key Google Gemini features to Samsung’s budget-friendly lineup, including Circle to Search and the newly introduced song identification tool from the Galaxy S25 series. Users will also get access to Galaxy AI’s Object Eraser, along with a handful of Samsung-exclusive enhancements like Nightography algorithms for improved low-light photography. While the AI-powered features may be limited compared to flagship models, they still pack enough smarts to make the experience feel, well, pretty awesome.
While Apple and Google use the same chips in their high- and low-end devices to achieve software parity, Samsung apparently has other plans.
Instead, it’s playing to its manufacturing strengths, delivering high-quality displays and bigger batteries in its budget lineup.
It will be interesting to see which capabilities Samsung believes are essential for Awesome Intelligence as the company downsizes AI features from its premium models.
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