Samsung Galaxy AI Hits ₹22,999 Phones: 800M Device Push Explained [2026]

Quick Answer: Samsung is doubling Galaxy AI devices to 800 million in 2026, bringing flagship AI features to phones starting at ₹22,999 in India. Best for budget-conscious buyers wanting Circle to Search and AI photo editing. The catch: some advanced features remain flagship-exclusive.

Your ₹20,000 Samsung phone is about to get the same AI as the ₹1.5 lakh flagship. Not a watered-down version. Not "AI Lite." The actual Circle to Search, Object Eraser, and real-time translation that Samsung's been showing off on its S-series for the past two years.

Samsung co-CEO TM Roh dropped this bomb at CES 2026's First Look event in Las Vegas. According to Reuters, the company plans to expand Galaxy AI from 400 million devices in 2025 to 800 million in 2026. That's not incremental growth—that's Samsung saying "we're putting AI in everything."

But here's what the press releases don't tell you: this move is less about generosity and more about desperation.

Samsung's India Problem (And Why AI Is the Fix)

Let's look at the numbers that Samsung doesn't want you to dwell on. According to IDC data from Q3 2025, Samsung sits at 14% market share in India—a distant second to vivo's 24%. OPPO has overtaken them in shipments. Apple is eating into the premium segment. Even Motorola grew 53% year-over-year while Samsung struggles.

The company's surveys show Galaxy AI awareness jumped from 30% to 80% in just one year. People know about these features. They just couldn't afford the phones that had them.

Until now.

What's Actually Coming to Budget Phones

Samsung India recently launched the Galaxy A26 5G at ₹22,999—their most affordable AI-powered smartphone ever. According to Samsung's official India newsroom, this device includes what they're calling "Awesome Intelligence":

Circle to Search with Google – The feature that went viral last year. Long-press your navigation bar, circle anything on screen, and Google identifies it. Works for images, songs, text—basically anything you're curious about.

AI Select – This one's contextual. The phone reads what's on your screen and suggests relevant actions. See a QR code? It prompts you to scan. Watching a video? It offers to create a GIF. It's like having a somewhat psychic assistant.

Object Eraser – Photobomber ruins your shot? Select them, tap erase, done. Samsung claims the AI fills in the background convincingly enough that you won't notice the edit.

My Filters – Take a photo you love, and the phone learns its color grading and style. Apply that exact look to future photos with one tap.

The Galaxy A36 5G (₹32,499 onwards after the January 5, 2026 price revision according to Mix Vale) and Galaxy A56 5G (₹40,999 onwards) get these same features, plus a few extras. GSMArena reports that the A56 gets exclusive access to additional AI editing tools.

Here's What You're NOT Getting

Let's keep it honest. Galaxy AI on budget phones isn't identical to Galaxy AI on the S25 Ultra.

According to Samsung's US support documentation, features like Drawing Assist and some advanced AI Select capabilities remain exclusive to flagships like the S25 series, Z Fold7, and Tab S11 line. The company lists specific supported devices, and while the A26, A36, and A56 make the cut, their feature sets are slightly trimmed.

Think of it like this: you're getting the features you'll actually use daily. The experimental stuff—AI-generated sketches, the most advanced image manipulation—stays with the ₹1 lakh+ crowd.

Whether that's a dealbreaker depends entirely on how you use your phone.

The Real-World Impact for Indian Buyers

Let's put this in perspective with actual pricing you'll encounter:

Galaxy A26 5G: ₹22,999 Samsung India lists this as their entry-point for Galaxy AI. You get the Exynos 1380 processor, 6 years of OS upgrades (per Samsung India's product page), and the full AI suite mentioned above.

Galaxy A35 5G: ₹18,999 According to Price History data, this sits even lower but with last-gen features. It has Circle to Search but misses newer additions.

Galaxy A55 5G: ₹24,999 Per 91mobiles, this sits in the sweet spot—flagship-adjacent build quality with AI features intact.

Galaxy A36 5G: ₹32,499 (8GB/128GB) After the January 2026 price adjustment reported by Mix Vale, this lands in premium mid-range territory with enhanced camera AI.

Galaxy A56 5G: ₹40,999 (8GB/128GB) Top of the mid-range stack with the most comprehensive AI feature set short of flagships.

Compare this to the Galaxy S24, which launched at ₹74,999 for the same AI features. Samsung has compressed a ₹50,000+ price gap in under two years.

What This Means for Samsung vs The Competition

Here's where things get interesting for the Indian market.

Samsung's push directly challenges Chinese brands that have dominated the ₹15,000-₹40,000 segment. vivo, OPPO, and Xiaomi have owned this space with aggressive pricing and flashy specs. But none of them have anything close to Samsung's AI ecosystem—or Google's Gemini backing.

According to the Counterpoint Research data from Q3 2025, vivo leads with 24% share, followed by OPPO at 16%, with Samsung and Xiaomi tied at around 13-14%. The premium segment (above ₹30,000) grew 29% year-over-year, suggesting Indian buyers are willing to pay more for meaningful features.

Samsung's bet: Galaxy AI is that meaningful feature.

TM Roh told Reuters that search remains the most-used AI function, but consumers increasingly use generative tools for image editing, translation, and text summarization. These are daily-use features, not gimmicks. And Samsung's six-year software support commitment (according to their official product pages) means these AI features should keep improving.

The Gemini Factor

This expansion isn't just good for Samsung—it's massive for Google.

Galaxy AI runs primarily on Google's Gemini model, with Samsung's Bixby handling specific tasks. According to the Reuters report, doubling Galaxy AI devices effectively doubles Gemini's consumer reach. In the AI model war against OpenAI and others, Samsung just handed Google hundreds of millions of daily users.

For Indian consumers, this means your Samsung phone becomes a testing ground for Google's latest AI capabilities. Whether that excites or concerns you depends on your feelings about tech giants competing for your attention.

Should You Care?

If you're shopping for a phone between ₹20,000 and ₹50,000, yes. Absolutely.

This marks the first time Samsung's bringing genuine flagship differentiation to budget devices. The Galaxy A26 5G at ₹22,999 with Circle to Search, Object Eraser, and 6 years of updates represents something new in the Indian market: AI features that aren't just marketing speak.

The catch? You're still getting mid-range hardware. The Exynos 1380 isn't competing with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The cameras are capable but not flagship-tier. And some AI processing happens in the cloud, meaning features may vary by connectivity.

But if your checklist includes "AI that actually works" and "software support that lasts," Samsung just made the budget segment a lot more interesting.

We'll update this article when Samsung announces the complete India rollout schedule for these features.