Since the Galaxy S24 series was launched last year, phone makers have focused heavily on adding AI to every facet of their smartphones. Apple launched Apple Intelligence last year — which brought a different, more personal, approach to AI with the iPhone 16 — a few months after Google unveiled Gemini for Android.
Despite Google waiting to launch the full suite of Gemini features for a few months, one of the key features had already launched on the Galaxy S24. Circle to Search allows you to search for anything displayed on your screen using AI, and as I discovered when selling my mother’s home last year, it makes it super easy to understand the value of items without needing to search for them by name.
Since its launch on the Galaxy S24, Circle to Search hasn’t changed much, but the Galaxy S25 series comes with an updated version that first launched for Pixel phones a few months ago and then rolled out to others. This is the first time I’ve noticed the added features, and they’ve made Circle to Search even more useful in my opinion.
Why Circle to Search was great on the Galaxy S24
To understand how Samsung and Google made Circle to Search even better, we need to revisit the Galaxy S24 and what Circle to Search brought to all Android phones. Yes, within a few weeks, Samsung’s hero AI feature had rolled out to all Android phones, and the same will likely apply this time around as well.
Circle to Search was the first use of AI that felt transformative and useful in that it made searching for anything simple. Browsing Instagram and want to know what bag that is? A quick press and hold at the bottom of the display launched Circle to Search, and as the name suggested, you simply drew a circle around the item you wanted to know more about.
If you’ve ever used Google Lens or reverse-searched an image on Google, you’ll find the experience very familiar. AI looked at what was on the display at the time and then searched for an exact match of the item. For products that were mainstream, especially technology or planes, it often found exactly what you were searching for, but otherwise, it displayed similar matches. You no longer need to screenshot and reverse image search, or use a text search and trawl through hundreds of images.
Over the past year, Circle to Search has become faster and more accurate, to the point where it’s been the main Gemini AI feature I use on all phones. I use it daily, but until the Galaxy S25, I didn’t realize it was missing a feature that I needed desperately.
How Google then made Circle to Search even better
Look through your apps list: do you have Shazam or any other music-matching app? If not, and even if so, are you using a Google Pixel phone with the Now Playing feature? Imagine all of these features rolled into one and available on demand. Then imagine it made considerably better and more powerful.
Circle to Search on the Galaxy S25 now also supports audio, and this feature is outstanding. Crucially, it’s not just audio from a recorded track, you can even sing or hum a tune, and Circle to Search will find it. It’s worth noting that this launched around the Pixel 9 launch, but the Galaxy S25 series is the first time I noticed it and began using it consistently.
You may be wondering why you need this feature, and the answer is simple. When was the last time you had a song stuck in your head and couldn’t remember the name of it? If you don’t have the updated Circle to Search, you’ll need to wait for the name to come to you, and if you’re like me, it’ll bug you until you do. On the Galaxy S25 — and presumably other Android phones when they get this feature — you can just hum it or sing it into your phone and you’ll know the answer in seconds.
Thanks to the power of Google, it also works in foreign languages. I’ve been in India for the past two weeks — my first trip to my ancestral home — and there are many familiar Gujarati songs that I’ve heard playing in shops, restaurants, and a few events I’ve attended. One of these became stuck in my head, but the Galaxy S25 Plus found it in 11 seconds. For context, Shazam wouldn’t even recognize it, and Google’s Now Playing feature on my Pixel 9 Pro also failed to display it.
There is one key downside, however: when it finds the song, there’s nowhere to save it and it doesn’t open in a new Chrome tab that you can keep running in the background. As a result, I now have the opposite problem: I can’t remember the song or the tune, but I know I enjoyed it and I want to listen to it again!
Beyond just audio, Circle to Search is AI done right
I’m a big proponent of AI that makes life simpler and easier, and while I dismissed Circle to Search as a gimmick at first, it’s proven to be one of the most useful AI features I’ve used on a phone. Alongside Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries, it’s a feature that makes life easier for the user.
There are many other AI features on the Galaxy S25 Ultra that are worth looking at, and we’ve done a deep dive into all the Galaxy AI features that you will probably use. However, many of these are features that I’ll use on an ad-hoc basis, whereas I find myself using Circle to Search every day.
In the past year, it’s already made me thousands of dollars thanks to discovering the true value of the items I was selling. Now, it’s set to be a feature I use even more. To me, Circle to Search is AI done right on smartphones and I can’t wait to see how Samsung and Google improve this further. It also gives all of the best Android phones a leg up over the iPhone on our best phones list.
