No, Samsung, I don’t want to pay today for tomorrow’s features

Smartphones used to come with a slew of features. If a company touted a feature during its big, flashy keynote event, it was available immediately, or at the very least as part of an update on day one. Now, giants like Apple, Samsung, and Google are talking about AI-powered features that aren’t even close to being ready when you first get your new phone.

But don’t worry, they’ve promised us the features are coming “soon.” In the meantime, you’ll have to pay extra for a phone with the latest AI-ready hardware. Are we all okay with that?

The short answer is no. We shouldn’t agree with any of that. Why should we accept a $100 price increase on a phone just because a company promised additional features in the future? Would you be willing to pay an extra $100 at a restaurant if you knew your next meal would taste even better? No, you’d probably go back if you thought a better meal was waiting for you.

Still, Google raised the price of its Pixel 8 series by $100, Apple increased its iPhone 15 lineup by the same amount (though the base models don’t get Apple Intelligence at all), and may even charge more for the iPhone 16 series once it comes with AI on board. Now, Samsung has raised the price of its Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6 by $100 to match the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s hike. But don’t worry: the AI-powered features that headlined their keynotes are coming soon, so it’ll be money well spent.

To be fair, the upcoming Apple Intelligence, Galaxy AI, and Gemini features might actually be worth the extra cost we’ll pay for them. After all, Google said its best features would be reserved for the Pixel 8 Pro, as it has the power to handle the demands of AI. Apple did much the same when it announced that Apple Intelligence would only be coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, in addition to M-powered MacBooks and iPads. If you don’t have any of those devices, sorry, no AI for you, but you can still shell out the extra $100.

On the plus side, we’ve seen some long-promised AI features reach devices. Circle to Search is a noticeable improvement on Google Lens, and Magic Editor is a much more refined version of Magic Eraser. There’s even a few generative text options arriving, with Gemini-powered Smart Reply making its way into Google’s Gboard. Most of the AI ​​features brands can point to right now, though, are features like the ability to generate backgrounds – sure, it’s AI, but is it really all that exciting?

As if vague promises of powerful features weren’t enough, we’ve already seen what passes for “coming soon” in this industry. Google launched its Pixel 8 Pro with a temperature sensor that couldn’t measure humans, but promised that support would be coming soon. It took four months. Google also promised Zoom Enhance for the Pixel 8 Pro, which would make our dreams of CSI security footage a reality, but eight months later, it’s still not here. It took five generations for Samsung to finally give its Galaxy Z Flip series a more usable cover display — er, Flex Window. Even Apple’s pesky notch lingered for a few years until Dynamic Island took over. So forgive me if I’m a little skeptical of what passes for “coming soon.” If I had $100 every time I was promised features were coming soon, I wouldn’t have to worry about the price hikes.

Granted, Apple has said that the beta version of Apple Intelligence would be available this fall, presumably to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 16 series. Annoyingly, it’s still considered a beta, meaning users of the most expensive iPhones are stuck as product testers for the time being. Still, it’s a fairly distant date, and yet I’m probably more excited for the arrival of widespread RCS support in Messages. I at least tried it out as part of the iOS 18 beta , and can say that it works well. Then again, Apple Intelligence could turn out a lot like Google’s early AI summaries — a brilliant idea, but one with a lot of teething problems to iron out.

Now, chances are you’re not too concerned about the current cost of bringing AI to smartphones. After all, you’re perfectly happy with your current phone and don’t need to upgrade. That’s a good thing — if you have a 5G-capable iPhone or your Android device is still getting updates, you’re probably fine.

However, companies make my job as a reviewer much harder without critical software ready to go. On the one hand, whatever — you probably shouldn’t take my word for it, since you might use your phone for something completely different than I do. On the other hand, it means I can’t cherry-pick the flaws that reviews can often serve as warnings about. For now, all I can say is that AI features are coming; I can’t tell you whether they’ll be subpar or great.

And yet, there’s nothing you or I can realistically do about it. I keep telling you the good and bad of a phone while I’m using it, you keep wondering why my review didn’t mention a feature that launched months later, and Samsung, Google, and Apple are all too happy to take our money in the meantime. Maybe the best thing we can do is wait until these exciting AI-driven features are out before we declare them good or bad and spend our hard-earned cash.