AI at your fingertips

Artificial Intelligence is making its way into our communication gadgets. Nur Zarina Othman picks eight AI-driven smartphones for your lifestyle needs

THE INTELLIGENT HELPER

BIXBY is an artificial intelligence system that’s designed to make device interaction easier. It’s found on the Samsung Galaxy S8 as well as S8+ and Note 8. Bixby’s intelligent voice interface lets you complete tasks with a quick command. It also sees what your smartphone’s camera sees.

Just tap the Bixby Vision icon in the viewfinder for a translation service, QR code detection, nearby places, calorie information, shopping and more. It also learns your routine, so you’ll always have the right content ready when you need it.

Bixby is built into your favourite apps, so setting reminders based on time and location is easy. Reminders also include content, like a video you want to resume when you get home. Price: From RM2,538 (Galaxy S8) at Senheng.com.my

AI AT YOUR SERVICE

POWERED by the world’s first AI processor, the Honor View 10 boasts a Huawei Kirin 970 chipset for a faster, stronger and seamless smartphone experience. Its built-in NPU (neural-network processing unit) enables deep learning based on user behaviour

Thanks to AI technology, EMUI 8.0 understands how you use your Honor View 10 and allocates resources by anticipating your behaviour. With intelligent photography algorithms, the Honor View 10 identifies 13 different types of scenes and objects where it automatically adjusts your camera settings to help you shoot like an expert. Price: RM1,789 at Vmall.my

SMART AUDIO

ASUS Zenfone 5 is an intelligent phone with cameras that detect 16 different scenes. The intelligent dual-camera system in the device thinks for you, using advanced AI features

It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 Mobile Platform with AI capability that combines smooth, responsive performance with superb battery life. Its AI Ringtone intelligently adapts the ringer volume to suit the ambient noise level. Its smart AI-powered call features let Zen Fone 5 adapt itself to your environment, so you’ll always enjoy crystalclear call quality and recordings too. Price: RM1,299 at Lazada.com.my

SUPERHUMAN INTELLIGENCE

APPLE fans can experience AI technology on the iPhone X. Its A11 Bionic Superhuman intelligence uses the neural engine, the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone, capable of up to 600 billion operations per second.

Its adaptive recognition uses machine learning for its Face ID function to adapt to physical changes in appearance over time. The A11 Bionic powers extraordinary augmented reality experiences in games and apps. Price: RM4,857 at Apple. com/my

BEAUTY 2.0

OPPO F7 utilises improved AI technology for selfie photography in addition to many more AI powered operational features. The AI Beauty 2.0 technology on F7 can scan 296 facial recognition points, with upgraded recognition capabilities, including age, gender, skin colour and skin type for up to four individual subjects.

Everyone is beautiful in his or her own way — and thanks to AI learning, the phone identifies your beautification preferences and automatically creates similar adjustments to new photos.

So the next time you take a selfie and want that perfect skin tone, exotic eye shape or other fun facial feature, F7 knows precisely what to do. Price: RM1,299 at Oppostore.com.my

INTELLIGENT MUSIC PLAYER

GOOGLE Pixel 2 offers the Now Playing feature, which uses machine learning to recognise when a piece of music is playing. It then displays the song and artiste names on your lock screen. Now Playing is one of many features on Pixel 2 that is made possible by pairing AI with the right hardware and software.

The other is Portrait Mode, a setting that allows people to take professional-looking, shallow depth-offield images on a mobile phone without any manual editing. Federated Learning decentralises the learning process, enabling devices to collaboratively learn improvements without sharing data. Price: RM2,582 at Ubuy.com.my

PROFESSIONAL FRAMING

Huawei P20 uses its AI-driven 3D facial modelling technology to follow the contours of your features and adjusts for the most flattering of selfies. With the support of Master AI, it is able to identify, in real-time, 19 different categories for professional photography results.

Utilising built-in AI at chipset level, the photography system in P20 is able to recognise the scene you’re framing and colour balance your photograph automatically. For landscape photography lovers, P20 will instantly offer intelligent layout suggestions to improve composition, bringing images up to professional standards without any extra effort. Price: RM2,452 at V mall. my

INTELLIGENT GAMING PARTNER

THE Vivo X21 unlocks using face access and in-display fingerprint scanning. For faster night-time unlocking, Face Access features an in-built infrared light sensor. Via Dual Pixel Sensors, the X21 camera has an incredible 24 million photographic units for clear, vivid pictures even in backlight or low-light situations.

There’s also AI Face Beauty, which tailors facial enhancement effects to each individual. With the all-new AI Game mode, your X21 knows when you play games and transforms into a dedicated game console, with features to eliminate distraction.

The Background Calls feature means you can stay on calls without stopping the gaming fun. Game Mode will prevent accidental touch operations, ensuring you only make the moves you intended. Price: RM2,299 at Shopee.com.my