What happened
Which?, the UK consumer organization, published a comparison of the AI features of three flagship phones on 1 August 2025. Its testers ran the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra side by side in its labs. One test covered visual search, which gives information about an object when the user points the camera at it. Which? names Apple Visual Intelligence and Circle to Search on Android as such tools. It found that all three phones performed excellently and received comparable ratings. The information was useful and typically correct for a variety of objects, from a guitarist's finger trainer to a longboard. The article gives no count of the objects tested or of wrong answers. It does not describe the models behind the tools.
Sources
-
Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.
Which? (Adam Speight). Apple vs Google vs Samsung: which phone has the best AI? 1 August 2025. Which? tested the phones' AI features side by side in its labs. Section on search and chat shortcuts, visual search test.
In our testing, all three phones performed excellently and received comparable ratings. Information was useful, and typically correct when used for identifying and providing information on a variety of objects, from a guitarist's finger trainer to a longboard.
AI shortcuts aim to speed up common tasks on your phone. This can range from suggesting one-tap replies to your messages to visual search tools that let you find information about anything on your screen just by circling it.
Details
AI system
- Workflow
-
Which? Tested visual search on three phones side by side in its labs. The tools identified objects and gave information about them.
- Relation to AI
-
Which? Tested the tools directly, so the answers that it judged were the tools' own output. It compared the three phones with one another and did not compare the tools with a manual web search. The article presents visual search among the phones' AI shortcuts and does not describe the models behind it.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
-
The phone must offer a visual search tool such as Apple Visual Intelligence or Circle to Search on Android.
Entry details
- Sector
-
Consumer technology (visual search).
- Purpose
-
Apple built Visual Intelligence and Google built Circle to Search to give users information about what the camera or screen shows.
31 more questions not yet checked
model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, AI contribution, beneficiaries, reach, distribution and access, duration, every measurement question, every money question, ownership and control, dependencies, cross-border connections, geopolitical implications, replication attempts, availability, institutional decision, grounds, action and result, success criterion, every evidence question, observed or intended, alternative assessments, related entries, other identifiers, category mappings.
Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Visual Intelligence and Circle to Search identify objects in tests (AIBD-1055). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1055.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)