The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2024–2025
Samsung's Live Translate (2024): two-way call translation inside the phone dialer
Galaxy S24 debuts Live Translate: calls translated live, on-device, in 13 languages — no third-party app; Galaxy AI's flagship feature.
Samsung Electronics
What it had to solve
At Galaxy Unpacked in January 2024, Samsung launched the S24 series into a flat smartphone market and made AI the reason to upgrade. Its flagship feature targeted the phone's most basic ritual: a voice call between people who do not share a language.
How it works
At Galaxy Unpacked on January 17, 2024, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra together with a new umbrella brand, Galaxy AI, described as a new era for mobile. The marquee feature was Live Translate: two-way, real-time voice and text translations of phone calls inside the native call app, in up to 13 languages at launch, with no third-party apps required. Samsung emphasized that on-device AI keeps conversations completely private.
The design bet was that AI should solve the phone's oldest task — talking to another human — rather than add a separate translation app. CNET's hands-on had the S24 Ultra translate a reservation call to a Korean-speaking restaurant in near-real time, the caller's words repeated in English and the reply translated back. Samsung promised the same features for the Galaxy S23 line through an update, signaling that Galaxy AI was a software platform, not a one-model perk.
Live Translate quickly became the most-cited reason Samsung's 2024 flagships were 'AI phones,' and Samsung kept extending it: by October 2025 Galaxy AI supported 22 languages, adding Filipino and Gujarati. The company reported that Galaxy AI reached 200 million devices in 2024 and was tracking toward more than 400 million by the end of 2025, with over 70 percent of Galaxy S25 users engaging regularly with the AI features.
Why it lands
- It removed friction from an existing ritual (a phone call) instead of inventing a new app, so adoption had zero learning curve.
- On-device processing turned a privacy objection into a selling point — conversations never leave the phone.
- Launching inside the native dialer meant it worked with anyone, whatever phone the other person used.
- Samsung packaged one flagship feature as a platform story, so a single demo became the reason to upgrade the whole product line.
What it did
Live Translate became Galaxy AI's signature, setting the 2024 template for 'AI phone' marketing. Samsung expanded support from 13 languages toward 22 (Filipino and Gujarati arrived October 2025), and reported that Galaxy AI had reached 200 million devices in 2024, tracking to more than 400 million by the end of 2025.
What you can take
Put AI where the user already is: the winning feature removes friction from the most ordinary ritual, and running on-device turns privacy from a risk into the selling point.
Since then
Galaxy AI was extended beyond the S24 line in 2024 through software updates, keeping Live Translate as the suite's centerpiece. By October 2025 the feature set supported 22 languages — Gujarati and Filipino were the latest additions, developed with Samsung Research centers in India and Indonesia — and Samsung reported Galaxy AI had passed 200 million devices in 2024, on track for 400 million-plus by the end of 2025. Samsung also said more than 70 percent of Galaxy S25 users regularly engage with Galaxy AI and Google Gemini features, with engagement reaching 91 percent in India.
Sources
- Enter the New Era of Mobile AI With Samsung Galaxy S24 Series
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra First Look: Circle to Search, Live Translate, More AI
- Galaxy AI Expands Support to 22 Languages
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