I don't love phone manufacturers adding excessive AI features to grab attention, though some of them are genuinely handy and solve real problems, or at least try to sound like they can.

There aren't many, but they exist. The most impactful one I have tried recently is available on both my favorite Google Pixel phone and on the Samsung Galaxy handset I use as my primary phone.

I say this after getting my hands on the contextual suggestions features on both devices. Google did it a year before Samsung with its Magic Cue features, while the latter responded with a feature called Now Nudge.

I recently used both features extensively to see how similar they are and whether one is better. After weeks of testing, I found a clear winner.

I used Pixel 10's Magic Cue and Galaxy's Now Nudge side by side, and only one showed up when I needed it.

They are both keen to know what's happening on your screen

Google launched the Magic Cue with its Pixel 10 release last year, and it had everyone talking. The excitement died down as users found out the functionality was limited. Samsung did the same a year later and received a better response.

Both Magic Cue and Now Nudge are what many label as "Proactive Assistants." That's an accurate name because the features anticipate your next move when you use an app on your phone and suggest the most logical actions.

For example, if your friend asks for details about a , Magic Cue and Now Nudge can automatically pull that information from the relevant apps and show it on your screen. All you do now is tap the suggestion.

I also used both to quickly share specific photos with my friends and partner. Instead of endlessly scrolling to find the shots, I relied on Magic Cue and Now Nudge to bring those photos onto my screen. You don't need to switch apps to do this.

The "proactive AI features" can also save time in other ways, such as simplifying travel prep, adding events quickly, making a call, replying to a message, and more.

However, I couldn't get the full experience of these on-device . That's unfortunate because I tried to test both in situations where I couldn't use them organically.

I didn't mess up. Check any social media or forums, and you'll find stories of how unreliable Magic Cue and Now Nudge are. That's where things went wrong, though I found the one that's worth relying on more often.

Magic Cue was highly unreliable when it launched, but it has gotten better

Magic Cue showed up when needed

Now Nudge and Magic Cue support all the apps I need, but the real issue is that they aren't equally good at getting triggered when I need them to.

In my testing, Magic Cue recognized the on-screen content and was triggered more often than Now Nudge. This was unexpected because I saw many contradictory reports online, where people couldn't get Magic Cue to work.

This doesn't mean Magic Cue gets triggered every time you expect it to. It fails more often than it works, though its success rate is still higher than Samsung's Now Nudge. It was worse when it launched.

Additionally, I found that Now Nudge offered suggestions based on previous requests and not the current one.

I also had a terrible experience getting Now Nudge to work on my Galaxy phone. I gave up on it at one point, but after a couple of weeks, I discovered that Now Nudge doesn't work with the Gboard keyboard.

Since Now Nudge shows suggestions through the Samsung Keyboard's toolbar, it won't work if you set Gboard or any other keyboard app as the default.

I've been using Galaxy phones as my primary handsets for several years, but I never set Samsung Keyboard as the default.

These two keyboard apps are quite different, and Samsung's isn't even good enough to .

Magic Cue has a better chance of being successful than Now Nudge

I use Google's apps more often than Samsung's. This is true for most Android users, including those who use a Galaxy handset. This also means Magic Cue has a broader ecosystem of popular apps and services to work with.

The Mountain View tech giant can use Magic Cue in ways Samsung can't because the South Korean tech giant doesn't have a robust ecosystem like Google's. Think of it as how Google lets its wallet app automatically add items from Gmail.

However, Samsung's Now Nudge can still work and make users happy. It just needs to push unique features that take advantage of the company's strengths.