Galaxy S25 Goes Behind The Scenes on Expresso, Showcasing what an AI phone can do as a True AI Companion

Samsung, in partnership with Expresso on SABC3 recently gave South African viewers a detailed look at why the Galaxy AI features on the Samsung Galaxy S25 are the must-have tech and how the tech giant is leading the way in developing human-like AI phones with unprecedented context awareness and personalization.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra was made the star feature on Expresso’s Behind the Scenes (Expresso BTS), as the amazing hosts of the ‘Feel Good Breakfast’ show took turns to test if the Galaxy S25 Ultra could truly be their AI companion on the show each day.

Exploring the Top Features of the Samsung Galaxy S25

The week of Expresso BTS with the Galaxy S25 Ultra started with the hosts, Graeme Richards, Carissa Cupido, and Ryle De Morny, discussing the features that people look for when buying a new phone in 2025, such as ease of use, convenience, and AI assistance—emphasising the need for convenient and readily available AI that doesn’t require extensive setup or payment. Rather than guessing which interesting features the Samsung Galaxy S25 has, they did something that can only be done with an AI-powered smartphone. Using a voice command, they asked the Galaxy S25 to tell them about itself, and to their amazement, Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone provided them with the answers they were looking for in an instant.

Now Bar & Now Brief

The next Galaxy S25 feature they explored was the Now Bar1, a hyper-personalised Galaxy AI update that allows users to stay ahead of the curve with just one click. The innovative Now Bar feature on your Galaxy S25, powered by One UI 7, lets you display essential information right on your lock screen. Whether it’s live notifications, your currently playing music, or quick access to your favourite modes and routines, the Now Bar keeps it front and centre. Complementing this, the Now Brief 2feature provides a personalised, dynamic briefing of content you select, ensuring you’re updated throughout your busy day.

Seamless Actions Across Apps

Some of the daily tasks that the Expresso presenters have to do on set are outside their expertise, but with the perfect AI companion by your side, tasks that aren’t your strength can be simplified. In another Galaxy S25 test on Expresso, Ryle De Morny, who isn’t an master chef, demonstrated how you can use the multimodal search features powered by Google Gemini to turn the Samsung Galaxy S25 into the ultimate chef in your pocket. In one short voice prompt, he was able to get suggestions and step-by-step instructions on how to cook an amazing dish with random ingredients he had just photographed.

Last year, Samsung opened a new era of AI with the launch of the Galaxy S24 – the first AI mobile phone from the brand. One of the advancements that sets the Galaxy S25 apart is its ability to execute seamless AI actions across apps. Just press and hold the side button to activate Gemini and perform seamless interactions across Samsung and Google apps, plus third-party apps such as Spotify. For example, find your favourite sports team’s season schedule and add it to the Samsung Calendar – with a single command.

These intuitive interactions are elevated by expansions to Galaxy AI’s popular tools for communication, productivity, and creativity. In their final test of the Galaxy S25, Graeme and Carissa showed how a challenge of organising a meal with friends at a child-friendly restaurant and adding the appointment to the calendar can be executed seamlessly with one simple voice command on the Galaxy S25.

The Expresso team also explored the new Music Search feature which is set to change how people discover music. It is the kind of feature that aims to solve the life problem where you’d be hearing a great song but not know the title or the singer. The presenters tested the phone’s ability to identify a song from a live performance that isn’t widely available, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 successfully identified the song. The Samsung Galaxy S25 can also identify music even if it is hummed or sung. The Expresso presenters hummed a tune, and the phone correctly identified it and shared the Google search results that gave links to videos and wikis about the song.

^[1] Availability of functions supported within the apps may vary by country. Some functional widgets may require a network connection and/or Samsung Account login.

^[2] Now Brief feature requires Samsung Account login. Service availability may vary by country, language, device model, apps. Some features may require a network connection.