AI now lives in everyone’s pocket, and most of us have already leaned on it—whether to erase a distraction from a photo, hush a noisy background, or get a quick answer faster than we can search. But not all mobile AI is created equal. Some brands lean into camera magic, others focus on privacy and restraint, and some try to do everything at once.
In this hands-on deep dive, we put popular phones through a four-part stress test:
- AI Eraser (from easy to brutal edits)
- AI Noise Removal (indoor café noise + outdoor traffic)
- Visual Intelligence (what’s in this image? should I water this plant?)
- Voice Assistant Skills (everyday requests that real people make)
Along the way we’ll explain settings, show typical pitfalls, and give you clear use-case recommendations—so you know which device’s AI matches what you actually do. We’ll also share practical steps to try these features on your phone right now, plus a short FAQ to help you troubleshoot.
Take a breath—so far we’ve set the stage. Now let’s roll up our sleeves and start with the crowd-pleaser: AI Eraser.
🧽 Round 1: AI Eraser (Easy) — Removing a Simple Object from a Clean Background
Scenario
We started with a straightforward photo of a balloon dog figurine sitting on a table—a classic case for AI erasers. The background and reflections are relatively simple, the edges are distinct, and the subject doesn’t intersect with faces or hands.
What we looked for
- Speed: How quickly the tool returns a result
- Clean plate: Does the background look natural afterward?
- Reflections & textures: Do tables, wood grain, and highlights remain believable?
- Edge work: Are there halos, smears, or repeated patterns?
Observations at a glance
- Fastest tools: iPhone and Vivo returned results quickly. Samsung took longer; Honor timed out with a network error more than once.
- Most realistic results: Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel produced removals that felt like the subject was never there (especially in table reflections).
- Surprising misfire: Xiaomi decided to… replace the balloon dog with mandarins. Creative? Absolutely. Correct? Not really.
- Middle of the pack: Vivo outperformed iPhone on realism but still left slight weirdness on the table surface. OnePlus and OPPO looked nearly identical—usable, but you could still spot minor artifacts.
- Connectivity hiccups: Honor struggled to complete the task despite identical Wi-Fi conditions across devices.
Round-1 scoreboard (easy removal)
- 🥇 Samsung Galaxy — 3 pts
- 🥇 Google Pixel — 3 pts
- 🥈 Vivo — 2 pts
- 🥉 iPhone / OnePlus / OPPO / Xiaomi — 1 pt each
- ❌ Honor — 0 pts (network error)
Tip: For best results on any brand, paint a slightly larger selection than the object and let the AI re-synthesize both the subject’s footprint and immediate surroundings. If reflections are involved, zoom a bit and include the reflected region in your selection.
🧽 Round 2: AI Eraser (Harder) — Removing a Remote Partially Covered by a Hand
Next, we raised the difficulty: removing a TV remote while fingers, a ring, and hand contours overlapped the object. This is where many erasers stumble—human anatomy and jewelry demand graceful synthesis.
Standouts
- Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel: Again, excellent. Fingers looked natural, and ring edges were preserved without plasticky smears.
- Xiaomi: A major comeback from the mandarin mishap—nailed it this time.
- Apple: The iPhone removal sliced the hand in a way that looked… intentional but unrealistic (as if we preferred carpet to anatomy).
- Vivo: Generated a confusing reconstruction around the hand.
- OnePlus / OPPO: Produced nearly identical results that looked like added brass knuckles plus an extra finger. Not ideal.
- Honor: Returned an output that defied polite description.
Round-2 scoreboard (hand overlap)
- 🥇 Samsung Galaxy / Google Pixel / Xiaomi — 3 pts each
- ❌ All others — 0 pts (results unusable in this scenario)
Let’s take stock: so far, Galaxy and Pixel feel like the most dependable “clean-plate generators.” Xiaomi showed it can be brilliant; consistency is the next test.
🧽 Round 3: AI Eraser (Brutal) — Removing Sunglasses from a Human Face
This is where ethics and policy meet technical ability. Removing parts of a person’s face or body crosses a line for some platforms.
Policy roadblocks vs. output quality
- Google Pixel: Refused to perform human-feature edits (an explicit policy/ethical boundary).
- Honor: Failed to complete the task.
- iPhone: Produced a stretchy, Elastigirl-style facial warp—technically responsive but uncanny.
- Samsung Galaxy: Managed a respectable reconstruction—even with this tricky ask.
- Xiaomi: Performed an identity swap rather than a faithful reconstruction.
- OnePlus / OPPO: Replaced sunglasses with clear glasses—plausible in some contexts, but not truly a removal.
Round-3 scoreboard (facial edit)
- 🥇 Samsung Galaxy / Vivo / Xiaomi — 3 pts each (most usable outputs in this restrictive category)
- 🥉 OPPO / OnePlus — 1 pt (somewhat usable as a “glasses replacement”)
- ❌ iPhone / Honor / Pixel — 0 pts (either unusable or blocked by policy)
Ethics note: Tools that decline to edit human facial features aren’t “worse”—they’re respecting policy and safety. Depending on your values (and region), that might be a feature, not a bug.
🎧 Round 4: AI Noise Removal — Café Noise and Traffic Chaos
Now for sound. We tested how well each phone removes background noise across two common environments:
- Indoor café ambience (espresso machines, plates, human chatter)
- Outdoor heavy traffic (wind, tire hiss, intermittent honks)
Only iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel currently offer on-device AI noise removal the way we needed it for this test.
What we heard
- iPhone: Quietest backgrounds and clear voice with surprisingly few robotic artifacts. The output volume is lower than Samsung’s, but the signal-to-noise is excellent.
- Samsung Galaxy: Louder and very usable, but some residual ambience and occasional voice artifacts slipped through.
- Google Pixel: Volume closer to iPhone, but more background murmur and a muffled voice character at extreme settings.
Noise removal ranking
- 🥇 iPhone — best overall cleanup with natural speech
- 🥈 Samsung Galaxy — great clarity, a bit more residual noise
- 🥉 Google Pixel — audible cleanup but more muffling
Pro tip: All three let you tune intensity. Maxing effects often increases artifacts. For client calls or voiceovers, try 60–80% strength and monitor on headphones.
🧠 Visual Intelligence: “What am I looking at?” (Gemini Live vs Apple Visual Intelligence)
Time to test camera-assisted understanding—what we’ll call “Visual Intelligence.” Think: identify a plant, summarize a book cover, or suggest care tips.
- Gemini Live (Android; works on many modern devices): real-time visual conversation.
- Learn more: gemini.google.com
- Apple Visual Intelligence (on recent iPhones running the latest iOS): tap-to-ask about what’s in frame.
- Learn more: apple.com/apple-intelligence
Test prompts & results
- Identify a cactus → Both nailed the ID and offered correct watering cadence (wait until soil is fully dry; longer gaps in winter).
- Identify a Samsung phone model → Both guessed Ultra correctly but called it an S23 when it was an S25. Hardware families can look similar between generations; don’t expect perfect SKU-level recognition without distinct cues.
- Summarize Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? → Both delivered solid, concise summaries and offered places to buy (online & local bookstores).
Callout on pipeline
Apple’s system may route some answers through a partner model (e.g., ChatGPT) for general knowledge. That’s not a knock; it’s a design choice—Apple leans on external LLMs while adding on-device privacy layers and safety checks.
Verdict
For visual Q&A, both were reliably helpful. Gemini’s live, conversational style felt more fluid in motion; Apple’s tap-to-ask is polished and privacy-minded.
🗣️ Everyday Assistant Tasks: Gemini vs Siri
We threw typical consumer requests at each assistant to simulate day-to-day use:
- “Generate an image of a cat riding a horse on a beach.”
- Gemini: Generated an image as asked.
- Siri: Surfaced generic web/photo links—no generation.
- “Compare Pixel 9 Pro XL vs iPhone 16 Pro Max.”
- Gemini: Produced a structured comparison (specs, AI features, trade-offs).
- Siri: Returned web search results.
- “Play the Friends theme song.”
- Gemini: Opened YouTube Music and played the correct track.
- Siri: Opened YouTube Music but played an unrelated “friends” track.
- “What is this song?” (music identification)
- Gemini delegated to Google Assistant; Siri delegated to Shazam.
- Both correctly identified the track.
- “What’s the subject of the latest video on [target site/channel]?”
- Gemini: Returned the accurate, recent upload title and timing.
- Siri: Provided links rather than a direct summary.
Assistant face-off result
- Gemini overwhelmingly more capable at doing things (generation, comparisons, retrieval with summaries, precise app control).
- Siri is improving, and Apple Intelligence adds promising hooks, but for now Gemini wins the “do stuff” contest by a landslide.
Want to try Gemini? Visit gemini.google.com (free tier available).
Siri settings live under Settings → Siri & Search on iPhone; Apple Intelligence appears in eligible regions and devices as Apple rolls it out.
🧩 Final Tally — Who’s “Best” Depends on What You Need
AI Eraser (overall)
- Samsung Galaxy: Most consistent realism, even on tough edits → Winner
- Google Pixel: Phenomenal where policy allows edits; hard-blocks face/body tweaks → Tied in quality, limited by ethics guardrails
- Xiaomi: Capable of great results; occasional surreal detours
- Vivo: Often solid, occasional oddities
- OPPO / OnePlus: Similar pipelines, mixed outputs in complex anatomy cases
- iPhone: Good speed; realism lags on difficult removals
- Honor: Struggled with reliability in our trials
Noise Removal
- iPhone → Winner (cleanest backgrounds + natural voice)
- Samsung → Loud & clear, minor artifacts
- Pixel → Cleanup works but with muffled tone at extreme settings
Visual Intelligence (camera-assisted Q&A)
- Gemini Live vs Apple Visual Intelligence → Both strong; Gemini is more conversational; Apple leans privacy/policy-first
Assistant Skills (daily requests)
- Gemini → Clear winner (generation, comparisons, media control, retrieval summaries)
- Siri → More limited; often punts to web results or partner apps
🛠️ How to Use These AI Features on Your Phone (Step-by-Step)
Let’s move to the practical side. You have your phone in your hand; here’s how to try the same categories yourself.
A) AI Eraser
- Samsung Galaxy (Galaxy AI)
- Open Gallery → choose a photo.
- Tap Edit → Generative Edit / Object Eraser.
- Brush over the subject → Generate.
- Refine by selecting a wider boundary if reflections/patterns remain.
- Learn more: samsung.com/galaxy-ai
- Google Pixel (Magic Eraser / Magic Editor)
- Open Google Photos → pick a photo.
- Tap Edit → Tools → Magic Eraser (or Magic Editor on supported models).
- Circle or brush the object → apply.
- Note: May decline facial/body edits based on policy.
- iPhone (Clean Up / Retouch in Photos)
- Open Photos → pick a photo.
- Tap Edit → look for Remove/Retouch tools (naming may vary by region/build).
- Adjust brush size, paint over the object → apply.
- OPPO / OnePlus / Xiaomi / Vivo / Honor
- Open your gallery → Edit → look for AI Eraser/Remove tools.
- If your device doesn’t include one, try Google Photos (Android) for Magic Eraser on eligible devices.
B) AI Noise Removal (Video or Voice)
- iPhone
- Voice Isolation during calls: Control Center → long-press Mic Mode → Voice Isolation.
- In certain recording apps, enable Noise Reduction in app settings.
- Samsung Galaxy
- Camera/Voice recorder apps: look for Noise Reduction/Enhance voice toggles.
- Google Pixel
- Recorder app → Noise Reduction.
- Video camera: some modes include Audio Enhancement switches.
Tip: Keep effects below maximum to avoid metallic artifacts. If your voice sounds too processed, back off intensity.
C) Visual Intelligence (Ask about what’s in view)
- Gemini Live (Android)
- Install/enable Gemini → open camera within Gemini → Talk to it live or snap and ask.
- Link: gemini.google.com
- Apple Visual Intelligence (iPhone)
- Open Camera → capture → Ask (in eligible regions/devices) or long-press elements in Photos to get contextual actions.
- Apple Intelligence hub: apple.com/apple-intelligence
D) Voice Assistants
- Gemini
- Use Gemini app directly; set as default assistant (Android settings permitting).
- Siri
- Settings → Siri & Search → enable “Hey Siri” / press-to-talk; explore Suggested Shortcuts.
- Music ID
- Shazam on iPhone: built-in via Control Center or download from shazam.com
- Google: “What’s this song?” in Google Assistant; or long-press power to trigger on some devices.
- YouTube Music: music.youtube.com
🤫 Privacy, Policy & Ethics (Read This Before You Edit Faces)
- Human feature edits (eyes, faces, scars) can be blocked by design on some platforms. Respect those boundaries—they exist for safety, consent, and misuse mitigation.
- Cloud vs on-device: Many AI features run partly in the cloud. If privacy is paramount, prefer on-device modes where available and review each app’s privacy controls.
- Disclosure: When editing images of people—especially if the output is consequential (IDs, professional bios, news)—be transparent about edits.
🧰 Troubleshooting & Tips
- Eraser keeps smearing backgrounds
- Expand your selection to include shadows/reflections.
- Use a clone/heal tool afterward for micro-fixes (if your editor offers it).
- Noise removal sounds robotic
- Reduce intensity. Record a short test and adjust until speech sounds natural.
- Visual ID keeps mislabeling devices
- Provide more context (“Which Samsung model from 2025 is this?”). Include a clear shot of camera layout or model text.
- Assistant won’t do what you ask
- Be explicit: “Play ‘I’ll Be There for You’ by The Rembrandts on YouTube Music.”
- For comparisons, ask for bulleted pros/cons or battery + camera differences to steer the format.
❓ FAQ
Q: Why did one device refuse to edit sunglasses while another tried?
A: Platform policies differ. Some brands block edits to human features to prevent misuse. It’s a design choice, not necessarily a technical limitation.
Q: My brand’s eraser worked great once and terribly the next time. Why?
A: Scene complexity matters. Overlapping edges, hair, translucent objects, or patterned surfaces are harder. Try multiple passes or a different editing app if the first attempt fails.
Q: Is Gemini safe to use?
A: Read Google’s privacy documentation and choose settings that match your comfort level. The same applies to any assistant, including Siri.
Q: Can I get better noise reduction than the built-in tools?
A: Dedicated editors (on desktop) can do more, but for on-the-go recordings, tuning the built-in AI to moderate intensity is usually the sweet spot.
Q: What if my phone doesn’t have these AI features?
A: Update your OS/apps. On Android, Google Photos provides Magic Eraser on supported devices. You can also try third-party editors from reputable developers.
🧭 Recommendations by Use-Case
- You erase objects from photos a lot (products, tourists, wires) → Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel (if your edits aren’t human-feature related).
- You record in noisy places (vlogs, calls, lectures) → iPhone for the most natural voice isolation.
- You want conversational, camera-aware help → Gemini Live is currently the most fluid.
- You value guardrails around editing people → Pixel (policy-enforced restraint) or Apple Visual Intelligence (privacy and safety-first integrations).
- You need a do-everything assistant → Gemini outperforms Siri in generation, app control, and retrieval.
We’ve covered a lot—nice work making it this far. Let’s land the plane.
🎯 Conclusion
There’s no single “smartest” AI phone—there’s the right AI for your real life:
- If photo cleanup is your job or hobby, Samsung delivers the most consistently natural removals.
- If you record in the real world, iPhone’s voice isolation is shockingly clean without sounding robotic.
- If you want an assistant that actually does things—generates, compares, plays, summarizes—Gemini is miles ahead right now.
- If privacy guardrails matter most, platforms that refuse certain edits aren’t failing; they’re honoring safety rules.
AI on phones is moving fast. What’s “best” today might change with the next update. But with the guidance above, you can pick the strengths that fit your routine—and get more done with fewer do-overs.
⚠️ Disclaimer
Test results reflect the scenarios and configurations described here. AI behaviors depend on software versions, regional policies, device models, and connectivity. Always keep your device up to date, review privacy settings, and follow local laws and platform policies—especially when editing images of people or sensitive content.
Tags
AI eraser, mobile AI comparison, Galaxy AI, Google Pixel Magic Eraser, Apple Visual Intelligence, Gemini Live, Siri vs Gemini, noise reduction on phone, smartphone camera AI, photo object removal, voice isolation, on-device AI, mobile assistants 2025
Hashtags
#MobileAI #GalaxyAI #GooglePixel #iPhone #Gemini #Siri #AIEraser #NoiseReduction #SmartphonePhotography #VisualIntelligence #PhoneComparisons
Useful links (official):
- Gemini: https://gemini.google.com
- Apple Intelligence: https://www.apple.com/apple-intelligence
- Samsung Galaxy AI overview: https://www.samsung.com/galaxy-ai/
- Shazam: https://www.shazam.com
- YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com
