Imagine owning your Galaxy S24 for a couple of years and loving using AI features such as erasing the guy who photo-bombed your family portrait at the beach. You can't access that feature now because Samsung has put it behind a paywall. Do you cough up the extra dough to use the feature that has been free until now or accept that it's gone and lose one of the selling points of the Galaxy S24?
Penny-Pinching
We all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. I get it. At some point, someone has to pay the bill. But my point is that you've already paid the bill by buying the Galaxy S24 in the first place. You've used the AI features for two years, but Samsung wants more money to pay to use them again. The problem is that Samsung hasn't been forthright in telling you which features might be charged for or how much they want.
Is it the sort of thing that will result in lawsuits launched at Samsung? I wouldn't be surprised, and Samsung could have a huge problem on its hands with the lack of information it's provided to those buying the phone.
Read: The best pre-order deals for the Galaxy S24 we have found.
A Lack Of Transparency
The Korean brand hasn't said which features will go behind the paywall after two years. In fact, Samsung hasn't said much about the issue, and even its terms and conditions are relatively vague about the whole thing.
In Australia, Samsung's newsroom post reads as follows:
“Galaxy AI features will be provided free of charge until the end of 2025 on supported Samsung Galaxy devices,”
Samsung Australia
A dim ray of light is shed on the Galaxy S24's landing page on Samsung.com, however:
*Galaxy AI features will be provided for free until the end of 2025 on supported Samsung Galaxy devices. Different terms may apply for AI features provided by third parties”
Samsung
While Samsung Australia doesn't mention which Galaxy AI features will cease to be free after 2025, the US site says “AI features provided by third parties,” which points towards Google's Circle to Search function, which is coming to select premium smartphones from January 31st, including the Pixel 8 series and of course, the newly launched Galaxy S24.
Still, this is a guess on my part since Samsung hasn't been upfront and, dare I say, honest about its intentions.
Bait And Switch?
Samsung is being very cagey on this; there's no word on how much they will charge once the two-year period is up, nor if it's a one-off payment or the most likely path, in my view, a monthly subscription. If you don't use the AI features, you'll likely not care if they go behind a paywall. But if you use them regularly and bought the Galaxy S24 because they were baked into the software, it will blow.
It's great that Samsung will offer seven years of software and security updates, but putting already available features behind a paywall after two years? No, that's just wrong.
If you plan to buy one of the new Galaxy S24 phones, do you mind that at least one AI feature will cease to be accessible unless you cough up some more dough? Let us know in the comments below.
