It has been five days since I get down using theSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultra , and when I begin I was very excited to see what the new Now Bar and Now Brief tally to theGalaxy AIexperience . While both features work , what take place when I depart using them was a surprisal , as it made me face an uncomfortable truth about my life story .
I wondered , is my life just too empty to get much from the latest Galaxy AI feature , and if so , am I the only one ?
What does Now Brief show?
For AI on a smartphone to raise such an existential interrogative in my mind , the Now Brief feature of speech must be astonishing , right ? WhenI utter to Samsung about Galaxy AIand the Now Brief , I heard a lot about how it could help organize your living , keep you inform about change that may feign agenda , and be a “ personal assistant ” live inside your phone . It sound utile , synergistic , informed , and intelligent . I was also severalize it would n’t take long getting to know you either , as it would immediately lean on data already stored inside apps and report on the phone .
Disappointingly , given its progress - up , the Now Brief on my Galaxy S25 Ultra started out as a glorified weather app , collate some weather alerts and an time of day - by - hour prediction of rainfall . The data is presented attractively and if you’rereallyinterested in what the atmospheric condition ’s going to be , it ’s somewhat helpful , but you ’d get richer info by tapping the weather widget instead of the Now Brief whatchamacallum . undiscouraged , I made certain the Now Brief was make all the right information and continued to keep watch over it , waiting for my life to change .
It ’s important to dig out into these setting and mayhap adjust your app usage . For example , Now Brief uses both Samsung and Google ’s calendar apps , and after granting the app accession , it neatly showed a collated inclination of thing I had going on for the day . It does n’t seem to give attention to what I watch or listen to , or incoming messages . I ’m wear theGalaxy Watch Ultrawhile go over the Galaxy S25 Ultra , and Now Brief shows my nap data and Energy Score , which it takes from Samsung Health . In all , it ’s a simple , well-to-do - to - understand page of information find elsewhere on your phone . But has it changed anything about the room I use my smartphone ? No , and I began to worry I was the trouble .
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Ordinary days
The Now Brief had n’t told me anything I did n’t already experience , it had n’t reorganized my day , and the Now Bar on the lock screen had n’t ensured I beat to a encounter on meter . The ground is not because it ca n’t , or that it fail at some tip — it ’s because my work and personal liveliness are fairly straightforward . I do n’t have so much going on I ca n’t make do , and what I do have is n’t so monumentally complicated that I require AI to make it more organised . Sure , I ’d like more time to myself , but acquire it is n’t a casing of shuffling scorecard on my calendar , or reminding me of a task I ’d forgotten .
The things I have going on in my personal life simply do n’t need a calendar monitor . I do n’t have any change of location currently booked , I work from home so dealings does n’t matter to me , and I do n’t care about sport so any recent scores are irrelevant . Based on what the Galaxy Watch Ultra ’s telling me , I sleep well and I should have enough energy for the twenty-four hour period ahead . Galaxy AI has areallyeasy time managing my life because my incredibly average days are nothing liken to what it can do for those who are far busier than I am , so far as I ’ve been told .
As I discovered the Now Brief was n’t going to immediately bear upon my life , I did get a bit upset . Perhaps I don’tdoenough ? mayhap my days aretooordinary , and I ’m not as social , motivated , or generative as I should be . Others out there are clear lock on a unlike level , as Samsung must be catering to the majority with Galaxy AI and the Now Brief , correct ? It ’s made to organize the busy lives of the masses , therefore I must be the outlier .
3x zoomAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
I worry that the hectic world was power ahead around me , AI at the helm to help the overstretched cope , while I ’m languishing at the back of the pack with a calendar so easygoing to organise I could leave its management to my kitten . Good news for me — my site is n’t quite so direful .
It’s not me
After hearing the mode Samsung promoted the Now Brief as a raw mode to get things done , and then regain it to be underwhelming in reality , I felt that maybe I could beless occupiedthan everyone else . However , the uncomfortable the true I faced at that momentisn’tthat Galaxy AI exposed my reasonably set routine or a lackadaisical glide path to life sentence . It ’s that I may have fallen into the trap of join productivity and “ busyness ” with happiness and self - worth . Like most , my days are suitably fill withthings to do , but in my case , it ’s not with thing that Galaxy AI — or in fact , any AI — can help me considerably carry off .
This is not a novel phenomenon . A quick hunting online uncover articles about why we should not equate productivity and activeness with ego - worth , ranging from a podcast titled “ You are not your to - do list , ” to a feature called “ How to be useless , ” which uses Daoist teachings to instance why we should n’t constantly fight to produce . It all reminded me that at its heart , fluid AI isobsessed with productivity , and now with Samsung ’s Now abbreviated feature , it ’s judging our own productivity ( or miss thence ) on the home screen of our new telephone .
This is a bit of a problem because I doubt I ’m the only one with a life that does n’t take much external management . If you are n’t incessantly juggling ten task at once , on a regular basis threefold - book appointments , or are forgetful of the clip in universal , then the Now Brief probably wo n’t be transformative . If I was n’t wearing a Galaxy Watch Ultra , it would also be even less informative , so do consider how deep you are into Samsung ’s ecosystem before buying a phone with the recent Galaxy AI feature of speech . I was bright I ’d practice Now Brief often — and therefore a mobile AI first for me — but once I ’m past my review leg with the Galaxy S25 Ultra , I do n’t know if I ’d bother to check its morning , high noon , andevening updates . I can almost guarantee nothing much will have convert between them .
Wide-angleAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
What about the rest of the phone?
out of doors of the Now Brief , the Galaxy S25 Ultra is shaping up to be a serious powerhouse . TheQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elitefor Galaxy insure the software program instantly reacts to whatever you ’re doing , the screen ’s improved anti - musing program is fantastic and now noticeable , and the electric battery life is first-class . I ’m about to charge it for only the third time since starting out with it , and that ’s a superb execution .
The photographic camera already move , specially when I use the varied rapid climb modes and the new broad - angle photographic camera , plus I care the really intuitive and utile redaction feature . But I ’m still not convinced about the shape of the phone . I ’m getting used to the sharper edges , which is good , but the body is far more slippery than I expect . I ’ve already accidentally dropped it once , unknowingly testing out the new toughen chicken feed , which suffered no sick essence .
The Galaxy S25 Ultra ’s Now Brief AI lineament does what Samsung tell it would , but like so much AI , it ’s not something I expect to utilise every sidereal day despite its promise . While I may not immediately see its benefits , others may come up it far more useful . But those who do may also determine it prompts them to take a closer look ( and subsequently reassess ) how they feel about their daily , weekly , and monthly activities , just as it did for me .
