Expansion Plans: Samsung’s Instant Slow-Mo Feature to Reach Galaxy S23, Tab S9, Z Flip 5, and Z Fold 5
Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S24 series, debuted with a suite of innovative features, among them the highly acclaimed Instant Slow-Mo function. This groundbreaking capability allows users to seamlessly view recorded videos in slow motion with a simple long press, eliminating the need for tedious manual editing or capturing content in slow-motion mode. Initially exclusive to the Galaxy S24 lineup, comprising the Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra, Samsung has now announced plans to extend this functionality to its older smartphone models.
The announcement came via an official post on Samsung’s South Korean community forum on February 13, where a moderator disclosed the expansion of the Instant Slow-Mo feature. According to the announcement, a total of eight older Samsung smartphones are slated to receive the update, including the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra, along with the Tab S9 series and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5.
Explaining the selection criteria, the post clarified that the Instant Slow-Mo feature relies on robust hardware capabilities, particularly a potent combination of Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) with a minimum processing speed of 16.6 milliseconds for 60fps videos.
Notably, all eight listed devices are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, meeting the requisite processing standards for the feature. Consequently, it appears unlikely that smartphones equipped with older or less powerful processors will receive this coveted functionality.
Interestingly, Samsung described the Instant Slow-Mo feature as “time zoom”. In the post, the moderator explained just like spatial zoom in still images, where users can stretch the image to see finer details, for the slow-motion feature, the company stretches the time taken between each frame of the video, allowing users to see the finer details in the motion and making it appear to be slowed down.
The post did not mention when this feature might reach older handsets. However, some reports suggest it could arrive with the One UI 6.1 update expected next month.
The Instant Slow-Mo feature currently only supports 8-bit videos shot between 720p to 8K resolution and in the MP4 file format. The post also highlighted that the South Korean tech giant intends to improve the feature and might add support for 10-bit videos shot in 480p resolution and MOV file format.