Samsung Expands Galaxy AI With S26 FE and New One UI 9 Beta Features

Samsung extends its latest Galaxy AI features to the S26 FE and S26 beta channel

Samsung announced the Galaxy S26 FE on August 27, 2026 and followed with an August 28 feature update for One UI 9 beta users on the Galaxy S26 series.

The S26 FE is the first device in the Galaxy S26 lineup scheduled to launch with One UI 9 from day one. Samsung says it combines a more context-aware Galaxy AI experience with new camera and assistant features.

This is partly a released software update and partly a product launch with future market availability. Existing eligible Galaxy S26 beta users begin receiving the new One UI 9 beta features from August 28, while Samsung says the Galaxy S26 FE itself will become available starting September 4 in select markets.

My FanCam uses AI to keep a selected person framed

One of the more concrete AI additions is My FanCam, which automatically tracks a selected person in a video and keeps that subject centered as the scene changes.

Samsung also uses the feature to reframe footage for different social-media aspect ratios, reducing the amount of manual cropping and editing required after capture.

Samsung notes that My FanCam requires a Samsung Account, may not work when there is no supported person to track and does not guarantee perfect accuracy.

Photo Assist and Gemini Omni push more editing into AI workflows

The Galaxy S26 FE includes Photo Assist, which accepts natural-language instructions for edits such as changing lighting, adding elements or restoring missing portions of an image. Samsung places a visible watermark on saved AI-generated image output.

Samsung also highlights Gemini Omni for turning photos and video clips from the Gallery into edited videos. Access requires an eligible Google AI Pro subscription, and Samsung says eligible S26 FE users receive a six-month Google AI Pro trial, subject to regional terms.

These are consumer-facing AI features rather than new foundation models developed by Samsung.

Now Brief and Now Nudge become more contextual

Samsung's updated Now Brief supports customizable briefing cards and can surface personalized information such as weather, wellness, security and privacy insights.

Now Nudge is also expanding across selected third-party messaging apps and notifications. Samsung says the feature can provide contextual suggestions intended to turn information into actions with less manual navigation.

The product launch documentation lists support at launch for selected messaging services including Google Messages, Google Chat, KakaoTalk, LINE, Signal and some regional carrier messaging apps, although availability can change by market and software version.

The S26 FE ships with One UI 9, but availability is not global on day one

Samsung says the Galaxy S26 FE will be available starting September 4, 2026 in select markets, with regional timing, colors, storage configurations and AI features varying.

The phone uses Android 17 with One UI 9 and is promised up to seven generations of OS upgrades and seven years of security updates from its global launch date.

Samsung's separate August 28 One UI 9 beta update applies to users already participating in the S26-series beta program. That means the software features can reach some existing S26 devices before the S26 FE's broader retail availability.

What is new versus what already existed

Several technologies in the announcement are extensions rather than inventions from scratch. My FanCam first appeared on Samsung's latest foldables, while Now Brief originated on the Galaxy S25 series. Circle to Search and Gemini services are Google technologies integrated into the Galaxy experience.

The genuinely new development is the broader distribution and integration of these AI experiences through the S26 FE and the latest S26-series One UI 9 beta update.

Available now: the August 28 One UI 9 beta feature update is rolling out to eligible enrolled S26-series users.

Announced and upcoming: Galaxy S26 FE retail availability begins September 4 in select markets.

That distinction avoids treating a scheduled device launch as though every user worldwide can already buy or use it today.