Will AI smartphones really make a big difference to your life?

Not just iPhones

Before proceeding further, though, it’s important to note that it’s not just Apple and its iPhones that will support AI features starting next month. In October 2023, Google launched its Pixel 8 family of smartphones, bringing features such as live transcription of audio recordings, an AI image editor to tweak and retouch photographs, a window to create whimsical images using Google’s AI engine, and more.

Now firmly in its second generation, the Google Pixel 9 series of phones support a built-in Gemini app that you can use to have AI proofread your writeup, create images, generate a new wallpaper each day, summarize transcripts, and more. Since January last year, Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series of phones can do so too—they use Google’s Gemini AI models only. In July last year, Motorola’s Razr 50 Ultra flagship foldable phone also offered Google-powered AI features—but with its own interface.

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What this means, though, is that while you’ve had AI features in phones around you for a while already, their rollout at scale in every iPhone henceforth is likely to push more Android phone brands to offer some degree of AI features in phones across a wider range of prices. With this AI onslaught on its way, should you really blink an eye at all of these features—or are they all mostly gimmicks?

Edits and retouches

Apple’s upcoming AI features include ‘writing tools’, which shows up as a tiny icon built into the interface to help you rewrite your texts. The idea is that in the long run, you can simply select a list of bulleted points that you may have noted down and select from one of the many options—such as the ability to make the notes sound professional or friendly.

Jumping into the ‘Photos’ app, AI on iPhones will allow you to retouch photographs taken beforehand. In a brief encounter with the feature, Mint could affirm that most simple retouches—such as removing a strap cup of tea from the background of a photograph—work well enough.

However, upon a brief, parallel comparison, Google’s image tweaking performance with AI appeared smoother and more comprehensive. While Apple’s AI only offers scope for retouching images by removing objects, Google’s Imagen-powered ‘Magic Editor’ can remove humans from a frame, remove more complex objects without leaving artifacts behind, and even reimagine backgrounds of images to comprehensively alter them.

While Apple’s stance is to use its AI only to rectify images where needed, the difference is noticeable from a sheer capability point of view. “We didn’t look at AI just in terms of what it could do—it is more about preserving the art of photography, or enhancing them," said a person close to the developments at Apple, requesting anonymity since the features are not live yet.

As far as text editing is concerned, it remains to be seen if the feature comes of frequent use for you. What it does excel at is proofing, which would help if you regularly make mistakes while swipe-typing on your iPhone’s keyboard. While Google, and Android in general, do not have a similar feature baked into its interface, Google’s apps—such as Keep Notes and Docs—have Gemini integrated into them. The resultant effect is similar—in fact, Google’s features are more generative in nature, while Apple’s beta version of the AI features feel more additive in nature.

Visual features

Some of Apple’s other AI features that strike out include Visual Intelligence, Genmoji, Image Playground, Summaries, and a new interface for Siri. Think of Visual Intelligence to be akin to what Google, with its Lens app, has done for years now—whether that’s useful for you or not will depend on you.

To be sure, complicated queries through Siri’s new text-only interface, as well as Visual Intelligence, will use Apple’s partnership with OpenAI to tap ChatGPT for answers. The new interface for Siri, at least in beta, felt like Apple’s most nifty new AI feature—one that you might just end up using more often than not.

Genmoji, however, feels surplus for the most part. In beta or otherwise, there’s mostly no denying that at the end of the day, the ability to create your own emoji will not really change your life.

Image Playground is fairly fast and consistent, but diminishing its utility in use cases such as illustrations for projects is that all images created by Apple’s AI model look distinctly unreal and cartoon-ish—likely a deliberate move in order to avoid stepping on artists’ toes and avoid lawsuits.

Google, with its Pixel Studio, unabashedly creates far more realistic images and illustrations. While its images come with a ‘made with AI’ watermark, there’s no denying that in the long run, it is Google’s images that might seem more usable in any use case that could crop up—such as finding a suitable illustration for a blog post that you want to make.

Apple’s Summaries, which summarize voice calls and store them as text snippets in the ‘Notes’ app, is a nifty little feature. However, Apple’s AI only supports English for now—although Apple’s live transcription of audio recordings is surprisingly far more superior than Google’s. Mint did not get a chance to see live voice call transcription in action on Apple Intelligence as yet.

On Samsung’s Android 15, OneUI 7-powered Galaxy S25 Ultra, the voice call transcription feature is a hit or miss, depending on your accent. In the long run, this could be a nifty feature for you.

What you get, what you miss

In the long run, would you want any or all of these features in your phone? To be sure, you do not ‘need’ any of them, but if you did have, you’d find them becoming increasingly reliant on them. Google’s Pixel Studio, for instance, is very nifty for social media posts—while Apple’s accurate proofreader as part of its ‘Writing Tools’ can help a lot in drafting professional sounding emails while in transit.

However, there is no denying that at least while in beta, Apple’s AI features are still a step behind what Google’s AI features in its own Pixel phones and Samsung’s Galaxy S25 lineup offers. With a wider variety of features and more generative capabilities, Google’s nearly two-year head-start shows—though Apple, as history has often showed, may not be behind for too long.

What is for sure, however, is that none of the AI features are essential today. If you’re buying a new phone, it would be more prudent to get one that has the full AI suite. If you still own a new-enough phone—such as the iPhone 15, or Samsung’s Galaxy S23, you’re not truly missing out on much.

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