Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra has picked up One UI 8.5, but not the full AI party. The update is rolling out now, yet owners of the 2023 flagship are finding four newer AI features missing from the package – a reminder that software support and feature parity are very much not the same thing.
That split is becoming a familiar Samsung move. The company likes to keep older premium phones on the update treadmill, but reserve the flashier generative features for fresher hardware, where it can better control performance, battery drain, and, presumably, the marketing slide deck.
Galaxy S23 Ultra One UI 8.5 missing AI features
According to Sammobile, the following tools are absent from One UI 8.5 on the Galaxy S23 Ultra:
- Call assist: the basic phone assistant is still there, but the advanced filtering tools for incoming calls have been removed for this model.
- Photo assist: the text-editing icon has disappeared from the main ”Create” tab.
- Image stylization: the new style tab that can transform photos with AI, including one-click watercolor effects, is missing.
- Audio eraser: the tool for removing unwanted sound from video clips does not appear in the update.
Why Samsung is drawing the line here
The omission is not shocking, even if it is irritating. AI features are expensive to run, and phone makers increasingly treat them like tiered perks rather than universal software upgrades. Google, Apple, and Samsung have all been tightening that logic lately, using age, chip class, or device family to decide who gets the shiny button and who gets the shrug.
For Galaxy S23 Ultra buyers, that means a familiar bargain: a still-supported flagship, just not one trusted with every new toy. If Samsung keeps this pattern, the next rounds of AI polish will probably arrive with newer Ultra models first, while the S23 line gets the maintenance work and a smaller smile.