All mobile phones searchable using Google Circle

If you find something on your Android device’s screen and want to quickly look it up, you’ll probably like Google’s Circle to Search. The feature, which debuted in early 2024, makes it quick and easy to perform Google searches on text and images on your screen. Just call up “Circle to Search” and tap or draw on what you want to search.

Circle to Search is undoubtedly one of Google’s best features in recent years, but it’s not available on all devices. Although this feature is present on many of the best Android smartphones and some of our favorite Android tablets, there is no complete list of devices that support this feature. Many Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices already support it, but most Android devices from other brands do not. But that is already changing rapidly, with Google setting a goal of bringing Circle to Search to 200 million devices by the end of 2024, and extending the feature to Android devices from other brands such as HONOR and Xiaomi. We encourage you to expand.

The list of Android devices that support Circle to Search is very extensive and will only grow over time. If you’re wondering if your phone or tablet supports Circle to Search, we’ve compiled a list of Android hardware that has this feature. “Ready” means that the device is not only running the correct software version, but also declares support for Circle to Search, described below.

To create this list, we used a publicly available database provided by Google to app developers, so it should be accurate. However, the only way to find out if your specific device supports Circle to Search is to try it out. We’ll also explain how to do that below. Before that, here are all the Android smartphones and tablets that are ready for Circle to Search.

Any Android device ready for Circle to Search

google

• pixel 6
• pixel 6 pro
• pixel 6a
• pixel 7
• pixel 7 pro
• pixel 7a
• pixel 8
• pixel 8 pro
• pixel 8a
• pixel 9
• pixel 9 pro
• pixel 9 pro XL
• Fold your Pixel 9 Pro
• pixel fold
• pixel tablet

honor

• honor 200
• HONOR 200 Pro
• Honor Magic V3

motorola

• motorola edge 50 ultra
• Motorola Razr 50

samsung

• Galaxy A04
• Galaxy A05s
• Galaxy A06
• galaxy a13
• Galaxy A14 5G
• galaxy a23
• Galaxy A23 5G
• Galaxy A34 5G
• Galaxy A35 5G
• galaxy a52
• Galaxy A52 5G
• Galaxy A52s 5G
• Galaxy A54 5G
• Galaxy A55 5G
• galaxy a72
• Galaxy A73 5G
• galaxy buddy 2
• Galaxy M35 5G
• galaxy jump 3
• galaxy quantum 2
• galaxy s21
• Galaxy S21+
• galaxy s21 ultra
• Galaxy S21FE
• galaxy s22
• Galaxy S22+
• galaxy s22 ultra
• galaxy s23
• Galaxy S23+
• galaxy s23 ultra
• Galaxy S23FE
• galaxy s24
• Galaxy S24+
• galaxy s24 ultra
• Galaxy S24FE
• galaxy tab a7 lite
• galaxy tab a8
• Galaxy Tab A9
• Galaxy Tab A9+
• Galaxy Tab A9+ 5G
• Galaxy Tab Active 4 Pro 5G
• galaxy tab active 5
• Galaxy Tab Active 5 5G
• galaxy tab s6 lite
• Galaxy Tab S7FE
• Galaxy Tab S7 FE 5G
• galaxy tab s8
• Galaxy Tab S8 5G
• Galaxy Tab S8+
• Galaxy Tab S8+ 5G
• galaxy tab s8 ultra
• Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 5G
• galaxy tab s9
• Galaxy Tab S9 5G
• Galaxy Tab S9+
• Galaxy Tab S9+ 5G
• galaxy tab s9 ultra
• Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra 5G
• Galaxy Tab S9FE
• Galaxy Tab S9 FE 5G
• Galaxy Tab S9 FE+
• Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ 5G
• galaxy tab s10
• Galaxy Tab S10+
• Galaxy Tab S10+ 5G
• galaxy tab s10 ultra
• Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra 5G
• galaxy x cover 6 pro
• galaxy z flip 3
• galaxy z flip 4
• galaxy z flip 5
• galaxy z flip 6
• galaxy z fold 3
• galaxy z fold 4
• galaxy z fold 5
• galaxy z fold 6

techno

• Techno Phantom V Flip 2 5G
• Techno Phantom V Fold 2 5G

xiaomi

• Xiaomi 14T
• Xiaomi 14T Pro
• Xiaomi mix flip

How to search on Google using Circle

Using Circle to Search is very easy. If this feature is available on your device, the Home button (if you’re using three-button navigation), the navigation handle (if you’re using gesture navigation), or the action key (if you’re using gesture navigation) Just press and hold. (if you are using a persistent taskbar on a tablet). Circle to Search should be enabled by default, but you may need to move it to: Settings > System > Navigation mode Toggle it on (the location of this toggle will vary on your device, even if it exists).

When you call Circle to Search, you’ll see an animation play followed by an overlay of small color-changing dots floating on the screen. top left[X]button to close the overlay, and the overflow button in the top right to open a menu where you can view your search history, delete the last 15 minutes of your search history, and provide feedback. And at the bottom you’ll find a Google search bar, a song search button, and a translation button.

[サークルで検索]Once the overlay appears, you can circle, doodle, or tap anywhere on the screen to perform a Google search on the selected text or image. Circle to Search works from a screenshot, so you can easily pan or zoom the screen with two fingers to select what you want. Once you select something, Google search results will immediately appear in a separate overlay at the bottom. You can drag the overlay handle down to close search results, or up to maximize search results. If you’re in a region where Google’s AI Overview is supported, you may see AI-generated answers at the top of your results.

Although the Circle to Search overlay works in most scenarios, it is intentionally disabled for apps that block screenshots. Also note that Circle to Search currently does not work on messaging bubbles, but that is expected to change in a future release of Android. On some devices, it doesn’t work when using split screen mode, but a fix for that is already in place on Android.

Circle to Search is a very easy feature to use, but here are some additional tricks you might not know.

• If you need help finding the name of a song, you can use Circle to Search’s song search button to play, sing, or hum the song.
• If there is text on your screen in a language you don’t recognize, you can tap the Translate button to translate the text into the language you know.
• You can use Circle to Search to scan barcodes and QR codes.
• When you select an image, it will be displayed in Circle to Search.[共有]A button will appear to allow you to share the image with the app without saving it to your device.
• Circle to Search can recognize many math and physics problems and generate step-by-step solutions to them.

However, if you need to search for something in the real world using your phone’s camera, you should use Google Lens instead of Circle to Search. However, Circle to Search recently removed the Google Lens shortcut, so you’ll need to open it using the Google Search home screen widget or the Lens app icon.

Why isn’t Circle to Search available on my Android device?

Circle to Search may seem like a simple feature that Google needs to roll out to Android devices today, but it’s actually a little more complicated than that.

First, Google’s first release of Android 14 (the OS version that most of the devices on our list run) didn’t have the code to handle long presses on the navigation handle. This code was implemented in the first quarterly platform release (QPR) of Android 14 under the code name “LPNH” (Long Press Navigation Handle). However, most OEMs do not update their operating systems to reflect the changes that Google introduces to QPR, so they must be selective with their code.

Additionally, a long press on the home button will summon the default digital assistant in the first Android 14 release. This means that to use Circle to Search, you need to use Google Assistant or Gemini to enjoy Circle to Search. To avoid locking users into one or the other just to use Circle to Search, Android needs to be updated to call Circle to Search when the home button is pressed.

Therefore, an OS update is often required for Circle to Search to work. Samsung devices needed to update to One UI 6.1 to take advantage of this feature, while the Xiaomi 14T series required an OTA update to OS version 1.0.11 after launch. Additionally, the device must declare the feature flag ‘.android.software.contextualsearch‘ Tell the Google app that you support Circle to Search. This feature flag is declared on all Android devices that currently support Circle to Search or are ready to do so. This allowed us to create the list above.

One last thing I wanted to mention is that if you are issued a phone at work that runs Android 15 and is compatible with Circle to Search, you will not see this feature as your IT administrator can disable this feature. That means it’s possible.

This list is set to grow even larger in the coming months, as Google plans to bring Circle to Search to as many Android devices as possible. Watch to see if your device is added to the list.

Updated, October 17, 2024 (3:46 PM ET): We have removed some devices sold only in China from this list where Google services are not available. (h/t 9to5Google)