I tested Galaxy S26 Ultra Photo Assist vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL Ask Photos — here's the better AI photo editor

I’ve said it countless times before: Google makes the best AI tools and features around. When it debuted on the Pixel 10 Pro XL last fall, I was utterly blown away by the performance of Ask Photos — a tool that lets me tell the AI exactly what edits I want to make.

But now that the Galaxy S26 Ultra has arrived, it brings much-needed competition with a similar tool in its Photo Assist suite. Much like Google’s offering, Photo Assist leverages generative AI to perform complex edits. From swapping backgrounds to generating new objects to add to a scene, it does it all through a simple text prompt.

That’s why I’m putting the Pixel 10 Pro XL and Galaxy S26 Ultra to the test — to find out which one actually delivers the best results. Here’s what I found.

Galaxy S26 Photo Assist vs Pixel 10 Pro XL Ask Photos: What you need to know

For this test, I’m taking five photos I’ve captured and editing them with their respective AI tools — all while using the same prompts. This allows me to determine which AI photo editing tool better takes my commands and delivers the most accurate results.

It’s worth noting that Google’s Ask Photos feature isn’t exclusive to the Pixel 10 Pro XL anymore, as it is now integrated into the Google Photos app. This means you can access this helpful tool on any phone through the Google Photos app — including iPhones.

Prompt 1: Business casual transformation

Image 1 of 3

Just like in my previous test with Ask Photos, the first thing I want to evaluate is how well each AI tool generates elements for an existing shot. In this case, I asked them to add a top hat and put me in a blazer.

Samsung’s AI editor didn’t follow the latter set of directions; I’m clearly still wearing my zip-up hoodie instead of a blazer. However, I will say that the top hat looks realistic enough.

On the flip side, Google’s Ask Photos managed to do everything I requested — including the blazer, sort of. I know the angle of the selfie is tough, but it’s still odd that it couldn’t remove my hoodie entirely. And when I look closer at the top hat, I notice parts of my hair protruding from the side. Even though it’s not perfect, Ask Photos delivered on more of my requests.

Winner: Ask Photos

Prompt 2: King Kong in the Big Apple

Image 1 of 3

Since I recently snapped a photo of the Empire State Building, I thought it would be neat to recreate a classic movie scene. For this test, I asked each AI editor to add King Kong to the scene fighting off jet fighters.

Unfortunately for Samsung’s Photo Assist, it repeatedly returned a message stating it couldn't generate the request — which I suspect was due to the specific character. I switched the prompt to a generic giant monkey, but even that failed because the AI seemed to have an issue with the Empire State Building itself. Eventually, I had to make the prompt as generic as possible to get a result.

Although it took three attempts, I really dig the realistic Kong atop the Empire State Building. Not only does the fur look natural, his hand is perfectly positioned at the spire — but it's missing the fighter jets.

Google’s Ask Photos experience was much smoother, delivering several options within seconds. While it technically addressed every part of my prompt, Kong himself looked like a poor Photoshop attempt in every variation. Despite the lower image quality, I’m still giving the win to Google for actually following the instructions on the first try.

Winner: Ask Photos

Prompt 3: Pedestrian-free walkway

Image 1 of 3

When it comes to removing pedestrians from a busy walkway near Midtown, these two AI photo editors have a habit of approaching it differently. Both use generative AI to change the scene in a substantial way compared to the original, but they at least succeed in removing every person.

Ask Photos is probably more true-to-life here because the pavement still shows the debris from the original shot. However, it does some weird things like generating illegible text. In the far background, details become quite speckled — though it’s hard to notice when looking at the image as a whole.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Photo Assist does a lot of cleaning up, almost to the point of altering the scene too much. I can’t recall ever seeing a New York City street or sidewalk looking as pristine as the shot above, and it also mashes a truck and van together in a very odd way. Similarly, it suffers from heavy artifacting that becomes much more pronounced when I zoom in.

Winner: Ask Photos

Prompt 4: Upping the contrast

Image 1 of 3

One problem I often face when editing photos is that exposure can vary across different parts of a shot. To test this, I asked each AI photo editor to up the contrast specifically for the buildings in shadow with this landscape shot. I really like the original image, but I felt the buildings on the left and in the middle could pop more, similar to the one on the right.

Samsung’s Photo Assist totally botched my request. It didn't add the contrast I wanted for the buildings in shadow. Instead, it dulled the exposure to the point where the entire image looks flat.

I expected Google’s Ask Photos to perform better with this prompt, but in my opinion, it butchered the shot even worse. It heavily altered the buildings in the middle and on the right — in fact, the one on the right now looks like it’s been burned out and condemned for years. The craziest part is that the original, unedited shot still looks the best.

Winner: none

Prompt 5: Super car

Image 1 of 3

Finally, I took a photo of the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette I’m driving this weekend and asked each AI to simply give it a new paint job.

Although both AI photo editors managed to fulfill my request, Ask Photos was again too aggressive, generating additional elements that were not part of the original shot. As a result, the image looks messy. My intent was to preserve the distinguishable look of the Corvette while simply changing the color and adding racing stripes.

If you look closely, Ask Photos recreated entirely different side mirrors, and the air vents around the bumper also changed. In comparison, Samsung’s Photo Assist didn’t make nearly as many dramatic alterations, keeping the car's actual design intact.

Winner: Photo Assist

Photo Assist vs. Ask Photos: Verdict

This face-off ultimately goes to the Pixel 10 Pro XL and Google’s Ask Photos. Nearly every prompt I gave it resulted in an accurate edit, and I also prefer this AI photo editor because it provides a handful of options to choose from before I finalize and save the image.

Samsung’s Photo Assist on the Galaxy S26 Ultra is an excellent choice as well, and I suspect it will only improve over time. While it still has its work cut out for it to deliver on every request, I really like that it isn’t as aggressive when altering the original photo.

Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.

More from Tom's Guide

• I haven’t answered a scam call in months — this hidden iPhone feature is why
• Samsung confirms Galaxy S26 Ultra display includes 'some variation' in quality when it's held at different angles — even with Privacy Display off
• I've been testing the Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus — and it's a great phone that few people will actually want