Underpowered Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S23 FE get overlooked as one more Galaxy S24 feature heads to older Galaxy devices

Among the many Galaxy AI features that Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S24 series, Instant Slow-mo is one of the most useful. The feature allows you to watch regular videos in slow motion instantly, hence the name. Thanks to a Samsung Community moderator named “camera1person” who is reportedly “in charge of the camera”, we now know that Instant Slow-mo, like the other Galaxy AI features, is making its way to older Galaxy devices.

When it comes to Galaxy S phones, Samsung will port Instant Slow-Mo to the Galaxy S23 (Available on Amazon), the Galaxy S23+, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Users of the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 as well as the Galaxy Tab S9 will also be able to enjoy the new slow-motion tech. Sadly, the Galaxy S23 FE and the older Galaxy S22 devices haven’t made the cut.

So why is Samsung not bringing Instant Slow-mo to the Galaxy S22 and S23 FE smartphones? The answer could be their lack of horsepower. 

Instant Slow-Mo relies on the GPU and NPU to interpolate frames and create a slow-motion video. Older devices like the Galaxy S22 apparently don’t have the necessary hardware capabilities to process the video in real-time. For instance, per camera1person, the devices need to produce new frames every 16.6 ms for a 60 FPS video to make Instant Slow-mo work. So, only smartphones that can meet this performance threshold will get Instant Slow-mo while the rest, like the Galaxy S23 FE (Available on Amazon), will have to make do without.

While we have no official confirmation of the release time, it is reasonable to assume that the One UI 6.1 update that could land in March might bring Instant Slow-Mo in addition to the rest of the Galaxy AI features.