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Circle to Search, which has been exclusive to Google and Samsung phones, is set to be added to other high-end Android phones by the end of the year.
Launched with the Galaxy S24 series earlier this year and later expanded to various high-end Samsung and Google phones, Circle to Search is now suggested to come to more Android flagship phones, starting with Xiaomi and Vivo.
Although the feature has been limited to Samsung and Google, adding more Android phones to the fold aligns with Google’s expectations to have the feature available on 200 million devices by December. Leaker Yogesh Brar suggests “select” flagship phones from Vivo and Xiaomi will be among the earliest ones to receive it.
Circle to Search is coming to select Xiaomi & Vivo flagship phones by the end of this year
— Yogesh Brar (@heyitsyogesh) September 20, 2024
Even though Brar does not reveal the exact recipients, we suspect the upcoming Vivo X200 flagship series, arriving on October 14, could be among them. Additionally, a separate leak indicates the upcoming Xiaomi 14T and 14T Pro will also get Circle to Search when they launch globally next week—making these the first batch of phones outside of Samsung or Google to access the feature.
Besides these Xiaomi models, there’s no word on whether Circle to Search will come to the company’s true flagship, Xiaomi 15 series, which arrives later this year in China. With Google opening up the feature to more brands, we don’t expect others to be far behind. In fact, Tecno has even confirmed the feature will arrive on its latest foldable, the Phantom V Fold 2 in October. The timeline also coincides with Android 15’s launch, which is when Google might also make an announcement.
Google is reportedly planning to expand Circle to Search to more Android phones next month, ending the feature's exclusivity for Pixel and Samsung phones.
Multiple reviewers of the TECNO Phantom V Fold 2, including @bencsin and Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich, were told by… pic.twitter.com/jssMYP1j1C
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) September 13, 2024
While a similar visual search experience is already available through Google Lens (where you can select a portion of the display), Circle to Search is seemingly underpinned by Google’s AI—though it doesn’t explicitly reveal the use of Gemini.
With other AI features, especially Gemini, more widely available across Android phones and tablets, Google could open up Circle to Search to the mid-range and lower-end. The feature has already been rolled out to some of Samsung’s mid-range phones. However, Google could play on the exclusivity of the feature to make more people want to use it through fear of missing out.
