Lightroom Classic 2026's AI-assisted culling praised, other AI features inconsistent

Assisted Culling stole the show in TechRadar’s hands-on review of Adobe Lightroom Classic, with the reviewer calling it "AI at its best" and saying it is "actually a great time saver" for photographers facing large shoots. The review frames Lightroom Classic (2026) alongside a reference to "Lightroom 9.2" and singles out Assisted Culling as a feature that genuinely speeds up the cull-and-choose phase of post production.

The article makes clear this is a revisit to a mature product: "It’s been a while since I last reviewed Adobe Lightroom, and as always with Adobe, many features have been added and a host of others have been improved, so let’s take a look at Lightroom 9.2 and see what it’s all about." TechRadar also reminds readers that there are "two versions of Lightroom: Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic," and that this review focused on the locally-focused offering in Adobe’s Lightroom ecosystem while testing the latest AI features and workflow changes.

TechRadar’s appraisal reiterates that "Lightroom Classic was already an excellent application to organise, edit and share your photos," and highlights concrete strengths: "Very well designed interface," "Many tools to catalog and edit," and "Multiplatform." Those interface and cataloguing strengths underpin why Assisted Culling can clip minutes or hours off a tethered studio session or a landscape shoot that yields hundreds of frames.

At the same time the review flags significant caveats about the new AI additions. TechRadar lists "AI can be hit and miss," notes that "Generative Credits can be expensive," and states plainly "Firefly not integrated into Lightroom Classic." The verdict cautions that "The latest - mostly AI - features add new options which can help speed up your work, or have fun with AI to edit your shots, for an additional fee - if you’re into that sort of thing," while the review excerpts do not provide numeric pricing for generative credits.

The TechRadar page that houses the review also contains a set of illustrative assets and alt-text that emphasize the hardware and AI context the reviewer used: "Ai tech, businessman show virtual graphic Global Internet connect Chatgpt Chat with AI, Artificial Intelligence," "Apple iPhone 17 Pro in Cosmic Orange color in front of a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra in blue titanium color, both from the back showing the camera arrays," "Canon EOS R100 camera in the hand," "The Aura Aspen with bright rhododendron blossoms on it, on a table with a lamp, reed diffuser and plant in front of a pink background," "Nikon Z6 III camera in the hand, front on," "Top plate of theFujifilm X100VI in the hand," and "Honor MagicBook Pro 14 (2026) [...] Many tools to catalog and edit."

Steve Paris authored the in-depth review for TechRadar, published March 5, 2026, and the page carries TechRadar’s usual credibility notices, including the line "We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test," and the affiliate disclosure "When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works."

Taken together, TechRadar’s read is pragmatic: Lightroom Classic remains powerful and well designed, and Assisted Culling stands out as an immediate productivity win, while other AI tools deliver mixed results, may require extra fees, and currently lack integration with Adobe Firefly. If you value faster culling in a locally focused workflow, Assisted Culling delivers; weigh that benefit against the potential cost of generative credits and the absence of Firefly integration.