Here’s every Android phone that’s ready for Circle to Search

Adamya Sharma / Android Authority

If you run across something on your Android device’s screen and quickly want to look it up, then you’ll probably love Google’s Circle to Search. The feature, which debuted at the beginning of 2024, makes it quick and easy to do a Google search on some text or an image from your screen. All you have to do is invoke Circle to Search and then tap or draw over whatever it is you want to look up.

Circle to Search is easily one of Google’s best features in years, but it’s not available on every device. You’ll find it on many of the best Android phones and a couple of our favorite Android tablets, but there isn’t a complete list of devices that support the feature. Many Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices already support it, but most Android devices from other brands do not. However, that’s already changing fast, and Google set a goal for itself to bring Circle to Search to 200 million devices by the end of 2024, prompting it to expand the feature to Android devices from other brands like HONOR and Xiaomi.

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Circle to Search on a Xiaomi 14T Pro

The list of Android devices that support Circle to Search is quite extensive and is only going to grow as time passes. If you’re interested in finding out whether your phone or tablet supports Circle to Search, we’ve put together a list of Android hardware that’s ready for the feature. By “ready,” we mean the device is not only running the right software version but also declares support for Circle to Search, which we’ll explain below.

To compile this list, we used a publicly available database provided by Google to app developers, so it should be accurate. The only way to know for sure whether your particular device supports Circle to Search, though, is to actually try it, which we’ll also explain how to do below. But first, here’s every Android phone and tablet that’s ready for Circle to Search:

When you invoke Circle to Search, you’ll see an animation play followed by an overlay appearing with a bunch of tiny, color-changing dots floating on screen. There’s an X button at the top-left to close the overlay, and an overflow button in the top-right that opens a menu to show your search history, delete the last 15 minutes of your search history, or send feedback. Then at the very bottom there’s your Google search bar, a song search button, and a translate button.

Once the Circle to Search overlay appears, you can circle, scribble, or tap anywhere on screen to perform a Google search on the text or image you select. Since Circle to Search works off of a screenshot, you can pan or zoom the screen with two fingers to make it easier to select what you want. When you select something, Google search results will immediately appear in another overlay at the bottom. You can drag the overlay’s handle down to dismiss the search results or up to maximize them. If you’re in a region where Google’s AI Overviews are supported, you may see an AI-generated answer at the very top of the results.

The Circle to Search overlay works in most scenarios, though it’s intentionally disabled in apps that block screenshots. It’s also worth noting that Circle to Search currently doesn’t work on top of messaging bubbles, but that’s set to change in a future release of Android. On some devices, it also doesn’t work while you’re using split-screen mode, though a fix for that is already in Android.

If you need to look up something in the real world using your phone’s camera, though, you’ll need to use Google Lens instead of Circle to Search. Circle to Search recently dropped its Google Lens shortcut, though, so you’ll need to open it using the Google search home screen widget or the Lens app icon.

For starters, Google’s initial release of Android 14 — which is the OS version most devices on the list run — didn’t have code to handle long pressing the navigation handle. That code was implemented in the first quarterly platform release (QPR) of Android 14 with the code-name “LPNH” (Long Press Navigation Handle). However, most OEMs don’t update their operating systems with the changes Google introduces in QPRs, so they instead have to cherry pick that code.

Furthermore, long pressing the home button invokes the default digital assistant in the initial Android 14 release, which means that in order to use Circle to Search, you’d need to use Google Assistant or Gemini to enjoy Circle to Search. In order to not lock users into one or the other just to use Circle to Search, Android needs to be updated to invoke Circle to Search when the home button is pressed.

That’s why Circle to Search, in many cases, requires an OS update to function. Samsung devices had to update to One UI 6.1 to get the feature, while the Xiaomi 14T series needed a post-launch OTA update to OS version 1.0.11. In addition, devices need to declare the feature flag ‘android.software.contextualsearch’ to tell the Google App that they support Circle to Search. This feature flag is declared on every Android device that currently supports or is ready for Circle to Search, which is how we were able to compile the above list.

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