Samsung Galaxy AI vs. Apple Intelligence [Part 5]: Language translation

As the world is progressing, more and more people around the planet are connecting with each other. However, language differences make it harder for them to communicate. Fortunately, artificial intelligence can solve the problem. What is even better is that the world's top two mobile brands, Samsung and Apple, are using AI to put real-time language translation tools into people’s hands via the devices they use the most, their smartphones, helping them overcome the language barrier.

Samsung is offering those using Galaxy AI’s Call Assist in the Phone app, via the AI suite’s Interpreter app, and using Google‘s Ciricle to Search across the UI. Apple hasn’t given features offering this capability names, but the brand is offering it in the Translate app and via Apple Intelligence (and ChatGPT) throughout the UI. Well, in this episode of our Samsung Galaxy AI vs. Apple Intelligence series, we are comparing their translation capability to see which one is the best.

Note: For our Samsung Galaxy AI versus Apple Intelligence series, we are using Samsung’s Galaxy S23 running One UI 7.0 beta and Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max running iOS 18.4.1. The Galaxy S23 is an older device, but it handles AI features equally as well as newer devices like the Galaxy S25.

Samsung’s Galaxy AI can translate language in four ways. First, it offers the Interpreter app, which provides real-time language translation for face-to-face conversations. Second, while you are on a call, it offers you Call Assist and Live Translate, which can translate what you say into the language of the other person and what the other person says into your language in real time.

Third, it can translate transcriptions and summaries of call and voice recordings into other languages, which we discussed in our previous article. Fourth, it can translate any piece of text in the textual format into other languages. Plus, Samsung devices come with Google’s Circle to Search, which can translate text on the screen into other languages, even if it is part of an app, image, or video.

Apple's iPhones can translate language in three ways. First, their Translate app offers Conversation mode, which provides real-time language translation for face-to-face conversations. Second, it can translate a piece of text in the textual format into other languages. Third, Apple Intelligence can translate text on the screen into other languages, even if it is part of an app, image, or video. So, feature-count-wise, Samsung is ahead of Apple.

To start using Interpreter, open the quick panel (you can directly open the quick panel by swiping down from the right corner of the screen, or by swiping down once to bring up the notifications menu and then swiping down again) and tap the Interpreter toggle.

Alternatively, Interpreter can be accessed from the edge panel. First, if they aren't already activated, go to Settings » Display, and activate Edge Panels. Now, swipe left from the right edge of the display, which should bring up the Edge Panel, and tap on Interpreter.

By default, Interpreter opens into the Conversation mode. The app also has a Listening mode, but let’s discuss the Conversion mode first.

In the Conversation mode, you will see two sections, one for you and one for the other person. The app gives you an option to make the two sections face you or have one face the other person for when they're sitting across you.

Now, select the language you speak in your section and the language the other person speaks in their section. Once you do that, tap on the microphone icon in your section and speak whatever you want the Interpreter to translate. Now, Interpreter will translate what you said into the other language and show it in the text format and speak it out loud.

Similarly, the other person can also tap on the microphone icon in their section and speak whatever they want to say to you. Galaxy AI will then translate it into your language and show it to you in the text format as well as read it out aloud. It will also give you both options to play the translation’s audio again or mute it.

The whole arrangement makes it very easy for you to converse with people who speak a different language. As we have mentioned in our Galaxy AI vs. Apple Intelligence article about transcriptions, Galaxy AI currently supports twenty-nine languages from across the globe.

As for the Listening mode, it offers one-way real-time language translation. That is, it will listen to any speech the microphone picks up and convert that into your language. This feature is great for when you are attending speeches or are in a classroom and the speaker is using a language that you don't understand.

Listening mode will also translate any other speech it picks, so if you're watching a YouTube video on your phone or another device close by, words spoken in that video will also be translated. What's even more interesting is that if you minimize the Listening mode, it will keep working in the background, translating the speech and reading out loud while you are performing other tasks on the phone.

To access the Listening mode, tap on the hamburger menu icon in the top-left corner of the screen and select the Listening mode. At the top of the display, you will be able to select your language and the language you want to be translated. Now, tap on the microphone button at the bottom of the display. Galaxy AI will now continuously keep listening, translate what it hears, and show it to you in the text format as well as speak it out aloud.

Furthermore, Interpreter also saves translation sessions and allows you to access them later for reference. In our opinion, the features that Conversation and Listening modes offer are everything that people can ask for when it comes to real-time language translation.

To access Apple Translate’s Conversation mode, open the Translate app and tap on the Conversation tab at the bottom. 

By default, it will show you the Side by Side layout. Here, you will see two dialogue or text boxes in a chat-style arrangement—one for your language and one for the other person’s language—and a microphone button, allowing both people to either type or speak what they want the app to translate into the other person’s language. There’s also the Face to Face view, which shows a user interface similar to that of Samsung Interpreter with two sections, one facing you and one towards the other person.

Now, you can type or speak what you want the Conversation mode to translate into the other person’s language. When you do that, it will translate what you said into the other person’s language and show it to them in the text format. It can also read that text out aloud. To access this feature, tap on the icon resembling a forward arrow. Similarly, the other person can also type or speak what they want the app to translate into your language. Unfortunately, there’s no Listening mode or session history here, unlike Galaxy AI.

On Samsung devices, to translate a piece of text into another language, select it, and from the menu that pops up, tap on ‘Translate.‘ Now, the device will automatically detect the selected piece of text's language and translate it into your language. It will also give you an option to convert it into other languages, copy it, and replace the selected text with its translated version.

Similarly, on Apple devices, to translate a piece of text into another language, select it, and from the menu that pops-up, tap on ‘Translate.‘ Now, the device will automatically detect the language of the select piece of text and convert it into your language. It also gives you the options to convert it into other languages, copy it, and replace the selected content with its translated version.

We discussed how Samsung and Apple devices can translate a piece of text (in the textual format) into other languages. But what if you want to translate a piece of text into other languages that isn’t in the text format but a part of an app, image, or a video (something that you can’t copy as text)? Well, Samsung and Apple have a solution for that, too.

On Samsung devices, to translate a piece of text that is either part of an app, image, or video, into another language, press and hold the home button or the navigation handle. That will summon Google’s Circle to Search. Now, tap on the icon resembling text conversion (next to the music icon). When you do that, Circle to Search will detect the language of on-screen content and translate the text into your language, while retaining its style and size, which is very sophisticated.

On Apple’s devices, to translate a piece of text that is either part of an app, image, or video, into another language, summon Siri and ask it to “Translate this page.” It will then use Apple Intelligence and ask if it can take a screenshot and send it to ChatGPT. If you give permission, it will automatically detect the language, translate it, and present it to you in the text format, which means that you can’t see it in its original style like you can with Galaxy AI.

As mentioned earlier, Galaxy AI also offers Call Assist. It offers real-time language translation for calls. To start using it, go to Settings » Galaxy AI » Call Assist and turn on the feature.

Now, when you are on a call, tap Call Assist and select Live Translate. When you do that, at the top of the screen, the phone will show you a tab for selecting the language the other person is speaking and the language you want the feature to convert it into. 

Now, when you say something, the device will notify the other person that the call is being translated and live captioned. Plus, it will translate what you just said into the other person’s language and convey it (speak it or read it out aloud) to the other person. Similarly, when the other person says something, Call Assist will translate that into your language and show it to you as text and speak it out loud. 

This feature enables you to talk to someone who speaks a different language on a phone call, and this is something Apple doesn't offer.

When it comes to language translation, Samsung's Galaxy AI offers all the functionalities that Apple Intelligence does and three additional features: Listening mode, ability to save translation sessions, and Call Assist. Plus, Samsung's AI suite translates text on the screen that's not in the textual format (text that is part of an app, image, or video) into another language in a much better way than Apple's AI suite as it retains the original style.

With that, Galaxy AI is much more helpful at language translation than Apple Intelligence. In Apple's defence, it is new to the AI game and the brand may soon upgrade its AI suite with more features. But for now, the win goes to Samsung here.