Samsung AI Camera: Every Galaxy AI Photo Feature Explained (2026)

From the AI-powered Image Signal Processor and revamped ProVisual Engine on the Galaxy S26 Ultra to handy AI features such as Photo Assist, Creative Studio, Nightography Video and Audio Eraser, Samsung’s latest Galaxy phones place a bigger emphasis on AI-powered cameras than on any one spec.

Of course, not everyone will use every single one of these features (most people won’t use more than one or two, at most), so here’s a quick guide to help you figure out what each one does, which Galaxy phones they’re available on and when you should use them.

What the ProVisual Engine does

Behind the scenes, every image captured using the default Camera app on Samsung smartphones is processed by an on-device artificial intelligence (AI) pipeline called ProVisual Engine.

In the blink of an eye (more precisely, in the time that elapses between pressing the shutter button and the image being saved), ProVisual Engine analyses the image to identify the scene, combines multiple frames, performs edge enhancement and noise reduction, tone mapping, and much more.

On the S26 Ultra, Samsung pairs its latest and greatest ProVisual Engine with a new AI Image Signal Processor (ISP) for the front camera.

AI Image Signal Processor (S26 series)

There’s also an AI-powered ISP, which Samsung says will help it capture even more detail (think individual hair strands and skin texture) and automatically separate foregrounds from backgrounds, so you won’t get tell-tale smearing around edges like some of its previous efforts. Samsung pitches it particularly at selfies and portraits.

Photo Assist, the AI editor in Gallery

The S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 got Photo Assist’s Generative Edit feature in spring 2024 with One UI 6.1 (it debuted on the Galaxy S24 series back in January 2024). Samsung announced in April 2024 it would be bringing the feature to the S22 series as well as the Z Fold4 and Z Flip4. One UI 8.5 revamped it with four different editing tools (AI eraser, Move, Create, Style). You can enable/disable Photo Assist under Settings > Galaxy AI > Photo assist, but otherwise you’ll interact with it directly in the Gallery app. Tap the Galaxy AI icon (or the pencil icon and then the Photo Assist icon) to access its photo editing tools.

• Select and drag or resize to move/resize things and AI will regenerate the background. Hit Generate when you’re done.
• Tap or draw around people/things with AI eraser. Hit Erase. Meanwhile, One UI 8.5 disables the classic Object Eraser by default, which can be enabled in the Gallery app under Menu > Settings > Photo editor settings > Object eraser. This separate on-device tool offers Erase shadow and Erase reflection.
• Describe things you want added in Create. You can also use objects from other pics with Add from image. (Previous versions had Sketch to image.)
• Swipe up on pics in Gallery for Edit suggestions. Some of the options include Remaster, Live effect, Erase reflections, etc.

Samsung says its Photo Assist feature may require an internet connection and signing in with a Samsung Account.

Images edited with Samsung's Generative Edit feature will have a maximum size of 12MP.

As of One UI 7, the Gallery app will embed Content Credentials into AI-edited photos. These are C2PA-compliant metadata that include information about what device a photo was taken on, whether it's been edited using AI-based tools, and when said editing took place.

Images created using Samsung's AI-powered photo generation feature will include a watermark in the bottom-left corner.

Creative Studio for filters and stickers

Whereas Photo Assist may offer more precision, Creative Studio excels in speed and convenience.

Creative Studio debuted on the S26 series and was backported to the S25 series with One UI 8.5. You can use it to quickly generate filters and “looks” using prompts, apply them to multiple photos at once for a more cohesive feed (no more wasting an hour on Lightroom trying to get all of your photos to match!), and even create custom stickers and wallpapers.

Nightography Video

New in 2022, Nightography refers to Samsung’s low-light photo and video processing tech, which kicks in automatically when taking shots or videos in dimly lit situations (concerts, restaurants, strolls around town at night, etc.). On the S26 Ultra, Samsung says the F1.4 main camera lens lets in 47% more light than the F1.7 lens on the S25 Ultra, so if you shoot lots of videos in low-light situations, this could be the headline feature for you. There isn’t a setting to activate, and our night mode guide covers the photo side.

Audio Eraser

S and Z series Galaxy phones on One UI 7 or later (starting with Galaxy S24 models, per Samsung’s support pages for Australia and Canada) can erase certain types of background noises from videos. After updating the Galaxy S24 Ultra to One UI 7, you can turn down six types of sounds in videos (background voices, music, wind, nature, crowd, and noise) by opening the video in Gallery > tapping Edit (pencil icon) > Audio > Audio eraser. While it’s handy to have this as a post-processing tool that works on-device, you will need to be signed into your Samsung account to use Audio Eraser, and results can be hit-or-miss depending on the video.

In One UI 9, Samsung’s Audio Eraser settings page (via Settings > Galaxy AI) also mentions being able to use the feature in Samsung’s own apps (like Voice Recorder) as well as “supported” third-party apps, with quick panel controls for enabling/disabling it in those apps (confirmed on a Galaxy S25 Ultra, as of November 2026).

AI Zoom (100x Space Zoom enhancement)

On the S24, S25 and S26 Ultra, anything past about 30x is heavy AI upscaling, as our 100x zoom guide explains. Optical zoom tops out at 5x, while 10x is considered "optical quality." The moon, architecture, faces and text will come out way sharper than typical upscaling. Leaves and wildlife don't do as well. Samsung's algorithm has been trained on specific subjects and excels with those.

Instant slow-mo

Galaxy AI can also generate new frames of motion in videos in real time. Press and hold on any video in Gallery (captured at a standard frame rate) and it can be scrubbed at what appears to be a much higher frame rate (up to 240fps). It's available on the S23 series and newer.

Portrait Studio and Sketch-to-image

Galaxy AI’s Portrait Studio feature can take a regular portrait photo and restyle it in a variety of different ways, from 3D cartoon and watercolour, to sketch and comic effects. Sketch-to-image (S24 Ultra+) will take your basic doodles drawn with the S Pen on top of an image and turn them into actual objects that blend in nicely with the rest of the image. Neither feature is exactly super practical in day-to-day use, but they’re interesting additions to show off some of where Galaxy AI may be headed. Want to accomplish this using apps? Our guide to apps that turn photos into drawings takes a look at eleven of them.

Live Translate in the camera

Galaxy AI translation can be used within the camera app to translate any printed text you point the camera at (handy for things like menus and signs). There’s also translation within Samsung Internet for web pages.

Translations can be made offline too (as long as you’ve already downloaded the relevant language packs), which could prove very useful if you’re abroad.

Privacy, watermarks and the C2PA standard

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series was set to be the first to support Adobe’s Content Credentials initiative, as mentioned by Adobe. Samsung phones were among the first to adopt C2PA Content Credentials support.

When it comes to AI-generated images, Samsung’s footnote says a watermark notifies users that the image was AI-generated. This watermark appears whenever users save AI-generated content on their phones. However, Samsung’s support page for Object Eraser (classic) doesn’t mention such a watermark.

According to a report by SamMobile back in August 2025, Samsung phones running One UI 7 or a later version will have a new Content Credentials option in Gallery. It will appear next to the Contains AI-generated content label. Users can tap on this option to get more information about the AI-generated content, including the device used, editing time, and AI tools/utilities used for editing.

Will Galaxy AI features stay free?

As of 4 November 2026, Samsung's Galaxy AI page states that basic Galaxy AI features provided by Samsung are free and that enhanced features or new services may be paid in the future, but does not clarify which Galaxy AI features will remain free of charge, nor the duration for which individual features will remain free.

According to a January 2026 SamMobile report, this statement replaced an earlier statement promising that Galaxy AI features provided by Samsung would be free to use until the end of 2025.

Which Galaxy AI camera features come with which phone?

How to actually use AI camera features (recipes)

A sharp travel shot without fiddling

If you're using the default Camera app, use Photo mode at 12MP (or 50MP if lighting is good and you may want to crop the image later). Activate Scene Optimiser and grid lines (referred to as Scene detection under Photo enhancer and Composition guide in One UI 9, respectively). The ProVisual Engine will take care of the rest. After taking the photo, open Gallery and select the photo. Swipe up to see Edit suggestions (if any).

A group selfie

Take the shot with the front camera (which is 12MP on the S26 Ultra), tapping to focus on the centre face. Use Photo Assist to edit the composition, repositioning or resizing people as desired.

A concert clip with cleaner audio

Shoot in Video mode at 4K30 (Nightography Video is enabled by default), then tap the clip in Gallery and select Edit > Audio > Audio eraser. Drag the Crowd and Noise sliders down while keeping Music as-is (that’s the band!), then use Hear original (per Samsung’s instructions) to check the results against the unedited version before saving a new video.

Removing a photobomber

To use AI eraser on One UI 8.5 or newer, open the Gallery app, select a photo, tap the Galaxy AI icon, select AI eraser, then select the person you want to remove. Tap Erase and then Save copy.

Samsung’s own support page says that edits made with Photo Assist – which includes AI eraser – will be watermarked.

Note that if you’re using One UI 8.5, Object Eraser is disabled by default. You can enable it in the Gallery app by going to Menu > Settings > Photo editor settings > Object eraser. Interestingly, Samsung’s instructions for using Object Eraser don’t include any mention of a watermark.

Colourising an old black-and-white photo

One handy trick is to colourise a black-and-white photo with Samsung's Gallery app. Depending on which version of One UI you're using, this tool will be found in a slightly different place, so we've included an alternative method just in case. Our old photo restoration guide goes further into scanning and repair.

1. 1

   Copy the print

   Position it on a flat surface, preferably by a window, but not in direct sunlight. Hold your phone parallel to it (so that the edges of your photo and phone screen are parallel) and adjust the angle of your photo until you no longer see any reflection (if it’s glossy).

2. 2

   Open Edit suggestions

   Tap on the Details icon/swipe up after opening the picture in Gallery. Colourise will be among Samsung’s Edit suggestions in One UI 8, along with handy options like Remaster.

3. 3

   Tap Colourise

   According to Samsung, the feature adds colour to black and white pictures. Naturally this means that colours will be an approximation, so don’t expect skin tones and clothing colours to be particularly accurate.

4. 4

   Use Enhance-X if it's missing

   One user in a Samsung community thread mentions that after the One UI 8.5 update, the Colourise feature was removed from the Gallery app. Fortunately, they say Samsung still has a Galaxy Enhance-X app available in the Galaxy Store with Colourise.

Straightening a photo without cropping

• Straighten (under Move along with controls for moving objects): While Gallery’s implementation of this feature works by rotating the photo and then cropping the edges to preserve the rectangular shape (resulting in losing some of the frame), Samsung says Photo Assist’s AI capabilities can be used to generate content to fill in the edges instead (according to the S26’s user guide, you’ll find this setting, along with a slider for adjusting the angle, under Move).

1. 1

   Open Move

   In Gallery, open the photo, tap on the Assist icon and select Move.

2. 2

   Level the horizon

   Move the tilt bar to align objects like door frames and the horizon.

3. 3

   Generate and save

   Tap on Generate to let Galaxy AI complete the open spaces and then tap on Save copy to retain the original image.

If the corner has been filled in (check at full size, as AI-filled corners can include details that weren’t there), and you’re happy with that, you can use Samsung’s method, but be aware that it’ll need your Samsung account to be signed in and an internet connection to work, the resultant image will have a Galaxy AI watermark, and will be resized (up to 12MP).

Otherwise you can use the more straightforward straighten option and lose as much of the edges as you’re happy to, particularly handy if you’re looking to print the image large and want to keep every real pixel!

How to turn AI camera features off

If you prefer unprocessed shots, open Camera → Settings and toggle Scene Optimiser off (this is called Scene detection under Photo enhancer in One UI 9). Choose Expert RAW to save a 16-bit linear DNG image with no AI tone-mapping if you want fully unprocessed output. Note that you can’t disable the on-device AI Image Signal Processor as it’s part of the camera pipeline, although Expert RAW skips everything after that. The Galaxy AI photo editing features can be switched on and off individually in Settings > Galaxy AI (each tool, e.g. Photo assist or Audio eraser, has its own page in One UI 9). There’s also a Process data only on device setting at the bottom of the list, although Samsung warns that some advanced features will still need online processing.

Frequently asked questions