AI is just a bad excuse for Samsung and Apple’s lazy phone hardware

When Galaxy AI burst onto the scene with last year’s Galaxy S24 series, it felt novel and interesting enough to almost offset the fact that the phones hadn’t otherwise changed all that much from the previous year or the year before that. Teething issues aside, it felt like there could be an interesting future buried somewhere in all the buzzwords. Boy, how that goodwill soured quickly; the déjà-vu has never been stronger than with our Galaxy S25 hands-on.

Yes, there are changes, of course, but they’re pretty minor even on the Ultra, and good luck remembering what’s new on the hardware front with the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus. Instead, it’s all about what’s new with Galaxy AI. But AI is fast becoming a crutch for a number of brands to leave hardware in the back seat. Honestly, it’s got to stop.