Why I Disabled Half of the Samsung Galaxy S25’s New Tricks – and Loved It Even More

When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S25, the message was everywhere. It was a true AI companion, designed to understand you, anticipate your needs, and handle tasks before you even asked.

Consider real-time call translation. Generative photo tools. Assistants who anticipate. A camera designed to recognize scenes before you press the shutter button.

I believed in the vision. I imagined a future where my phone worked alongside me and AI made my life easier without demanding attention.

Then I started living with the S25. Something unexpected happened. I started turning things off. Not because they failed. Because the experience was more peaceful without them.

The first 72 hours were magical

For the first 72 hours, the Galaxy S25 felt flawless. It delivered the futuristic moments Samsung promised. It seemed like the hype was real.

The first taste came during a weekend on the coast. I framed a nice photo of a lighthouse against the sky, but a tourist walked into the photo.

Normally I would correct this in Photoshop. Instead, I opened the photo, circled the person and pressed Generate. A few seconds later he was gone and the cliff was convincingly reconstructed. It was quick, on-device, and required no skills.

Even routine tasks seemed radically different. Faced with a dense 20-page industry report in my inbox, I opened it in the Samsung Internet app.

Instead of spending the next half hour reading, my phone gave me a concise, bulleted summary in less than ten seconds. My first conclusion was simple.

My new phone anticipates what I want and solves the tasks I usually avoid. He made the future practical.

Suggestions started to get in the way and convenience crossed the line

The magic started to fade on the fourth day. My patience wore thin little by little until I noticed that it was gone.

It all started with the Samsung keyboard. I was typing a normal message and the smart suggestions contained phrases that had nothing to do with what I wanted to say.

Then the suggestions started popping up everywhere. It felt like these prompts were following me on the phone. Instead of helping, they continued to promote their own ideas and I got tired of rejecting them every time.

Even the summaries tripped me up at first. I was supposed to read and grasp the key points of a document, but I let the phone do it. The summary sounded confident, so I trusted it.

Later, someone asked me a question about a key point and I missed it. I was challenged and realized that “magic” was a shortcut with hidden costs.

It’s fine to overlook some details for casual or leisure reading, but serious work requires a full read or at least a second check.

The tipping point came when I was trying to read a book on the S25’s gorgeous screen, and it should have been peaceful. Instead, I kept taking unintentional screenshots because of my large palms.

Notifications came in informing me about power saving mode. The screen woke up and dimmed as the face tracking hiccuped. I hung up the phone and realized the relationship had become toxic.

Learn good manners on my phone

I didn’t intend to turn the S25 into a stupid phone. I was trying to manage his intelligence. I preferred an intentional technology setup. My values ​​were concentration, calm and control. Everything that intersected them had to go.

I opened the settings with a clear plan. Samsung, to its credit, makes this relatively simple. Most of the AI ​​and other smart features are conveniently grouped together Settings > Advanced features > Galaxy AI And Settings > Advanced features.

Then, feature by feature, I went on a deactivation frenzy. The first thing I noticed was the silence. I stopped receiving suggestions for no reason.

Then the practical advantages appeared. The autonomy, already good, has become excellent. Without background AI, eye tracking, or gesture detection, the phone consumed less power.

I still had a high-end phone with a 200MP camera, a great AMOLED screen and a high-end version. But now it had silent, intentional software that I controlled, not the other way around.

I still like AI, but not everywhere

Let’s be clear: this is not an anti-AI manifesto. Anyone who knows me knows that I love AI, especially AI that you barely notice. My purge was refinement.

I consciously kept AI features that work silently in the background or activate on my command. The AI ​​that edits my photos is always on. Circle to Search is always enabled.

Rather than getting rid of the smart ones, I got rid of the invasive ones. I taught my phone some manners by turning off half of its tricks, and I like it more now.