Samsung Galaxy S25 tips and tricks: 10 ways to get more out of your Galaxy device

Organising a brand-new telephone is certainly one of my favourite issues. Whether or not ranging from scratch or fastidiously restoring apps, messages, and images that matter to me, it at all times appears like a contemporary begin. With that contemporary begin often comes one thing new to discover, like a brand new digital camera mode, up to date AI options, or perhaps even one thing I’ve by no means thought-about. Typically, you get a little bit of all three — like with Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 sequence.

Sure, as regular, Samsung launched its new flagships with loads of tips up its sleeve, and it’s time to start out exploring. Whether or not that is your first foray into the Samsung Galaxy otherwise you’ve been away for just a few years, now we have you lined. Listed below are the information and tips we’ve discovered to get extra out of your Samsung Galaxy S25 machine immediately.

One of many first issues it is best to take a look at in your Samsung Galaxy S25 machine is, effectively, one of many first stuff you’ll see each day. Sure, it would look barely like Samsung is lifting its inspiration from Apple’s Dynamic Island, however there’s rather more to the Now Transient than that. The Now Transient solely actually covers half of Samsung’s real-time replace characteristic, working in shut live performance with the same however not similar Now Bar.

Basically, the Now Transient is an all-in-one place to verify what you’ve arising for the day. It pulls the hourly climate forecast for the day and any calendar appointments you may need lined up and pairs them with information articles you may be all in favour of, together with a Spotify playlist for the day. I like that it places simply sufficient of the stuff you may want collectively in a single place, but it by no means feels such as you’re downgrading your Galaxy S25 expertise for those who neglect to verify it a few times all through the day.

The Now Bar, then again, takes over for the Now Transient the remainder of the time. It’s nearer to Apple’s Dynamic Island in that it seems both on the high or backside of your show (relying on whether or not your telephone is unlocked or not) and might give you up to date sports activities scores, observe kitchen timers, and show driving instructions from Google Maps. Then, whenever you’re achieved with no matter info it’s offering, it disappears — no awkward Face ID sensor to disguise.

Though the Now Transient and Now Bar are brand-new options, our subsequent Galaxy S25 tip is something however. It’s a return to our favourite damaged report — a reminder that it is best to at all times, at all times, purchase a telephone case. Sure, Samsung could also be utilizing harder supplies than ever, with Gorilla Glass that retains getting stronger and the return of titanium on the Galaxy S25 Extremely, however no smartphone is invincible. All it takes is one errant drop, and you could possibly be taking a look at a spiderweb of cracks throughout your $1,000 telephone.

So, with that in thoughts, purchase a telephone case. It doesn’t need to be an costly first-party choice — although Samsung’s collaboration with Hershey’s Chocolate takes the sweet bar telephone to a brand new stage — simply please, purchase one thing. If you happen to’re not sure the place to start out, we’ve achieved some legwork for you. We’ve put collectively guides for one of the best Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus instances and Galaxy S25 Extremely instances, together with a mixture of manufacturers and case types for all three units.

You don’t have to dwell dangerously — defend your telephone.

Now, again to the brand-new options that Samsung has added to the Galaxy S25 sequence. Properly, perhaps not brand-new, however definitely reimagined. Bear in mind the great outdated days whenever you couldn’t submit a photograph to Instagram with out slapping an obnoxious outdated filter on it? Properly, these days are again once more — however they’ve grown up. Taking a web page out of Apple’s guide with its Photographic Types, Samsung has launched a brand new set of digital camera filters to the Galaxy S25 sequence, and I believe it is best to verify them out.

If it helps, you don’t have to consider Samsung’s new instruments as filters. They gained’t add canine ears or make your face sparkle like a vampire from Twilight — they’re extra like Fujifilm-level movie simulations. Samsung’s filters assist you to change the colour profile of your picture, together with the saturation, distinction, and movie grain (principally handbook management over your ISO). If you happen to’re not offered on any of the dozen default filters, it’s also possible to drag sliders for every setting to lift and decrease its depth.

Lastly, Samsung’s filters have one choice that Apple’s Photographic Types don’t: You possibly can create your individual. Whereas swiping to the left runs you thru a menu of pre-built filters, a swipe to the precise enables you to open your digital camera roll and select a picture with a shade science you want. From there, your Galaxy S25 machine will use Galaxy AI to emulate that very same profile to be used on future photographs. It’s not excellent — I nonetheless like the colours out of my Fujifilm X100V a bit higher — however I gained’t argue with the comfort of getting one machine to seize every thing.

Final 12 months, after I sat down to put in writing the following pointers concerning the Galaxy S24 sequence, one of many first issues I instructed was to remap the Bixby button. In any case, I hardly ever used Samsung’s in-house assistant and figured I in all probability wasn’t alone. So, when the Galaxy S25 Extremely landed on my desk, and an extended press of its energy button opened Gemini moderately than Bixby, I couldn’t assist however really feel just a little vindicated. Now, you could possibly at all times remap the button away from Gemini, too, if AI isn’t your factor, however this time, I believe it is best to give it a strive.

Not like Bixby, which at all times felt just like the second-best choice behind Google Assistant, Gemini feels completely succesful in most conditions. Whether or not you’re planning a weekend journey with Gemini Reside and asking for recommendation on nice museums in a brand new place or just looking for a suggestion for a brand new online game, Google’s AI-powered assistant picks up on rather more context than its predecessors. I additionally recognize that it’s a lot simpler to interrupt Gemini, particularly if it takes your solutions off in a unique path than you may need anticipated.

After all, for those who’re nonetheless not onboard with a button to launch your digital assistant, it’s also possible to remap the aspect key to energy off your telephone. To take action, observe these steps:

1. Open the Settings app
2. Head to Superior Options
3. Faucet Facet Button
4. Select between a sensible assistant or controlling your telephone’s energy

Simply do not forget that for those who boot Gemini off your energy button, you’ll need to entry it by way of voice instructions or the Gemini app itself.

Though you possibly can choose out of getting Gemini launch from a {hardware} button, a number of of our remaining suggestions will focus on Galaxy AI, so that you may need a tricky time escaping it altogether. For instance, Auto Trim is among the latest digital camera tips accessible on the Galaxy S25 sequence, and it’s about as simple because it sounds. Basically, Auto Trim acts like a pocket-sized video editor in your Gallery app, drawing the highlights out of your clips so as to publish a shiny Instagram Reel or TikTok a lot quicker.

Earlier than I clarify just a little extra about the way it works, although, right here’s how you can begin an Auto Trim video for your self:

1. Open the Samsung Gallery app (not Google Pictures)
2.  Faucet on the Menu button on the backside proper nook and choose Go to Studio
3. Press Begin New Challenge
4. Select the video clips that you simply need to add and press Performed
5. Faucet the icon within the backside left nook that appears like a pair of scissors in a circle

When you press that icon, Galaxy AI will scrub via your chosen clips to tug out their highlights and mix them into one video. From there, you possibly can both modify the size of the video, rearrange the person clips inside the bigger video, or add stickers or textual content overtop, identical to you’d when creating an Instagram story.

After all, it’s also possible to do all of this enhancing by hand, which supplies you higher management over the transitions from one clip to the subsequent or the flexibility to make some clips longer or shorter, however Auto Trim finds a contented medium to suit every thing into one video.

Sticking with the inventive aspect of Galaxy AI, it simply acquired a complete lot simpler to doodle on the Galaxy S25 sequence and have Samsung clear it up for you. Samsung’s model of Android 15 introduces an up to date, much-improved model of Sketch to Picture, now known as Drawing Help. It primarily works the identical method that Sketch to Picture did, taking your handheld, typically shaky doodles and turning them into sharper, extra identifiable photographs. Additionally, not like Sketch to Picture, Drawing Help doesn’t require beginning with a photograph, making it even simpler to let your creativeness roam.

In some methods, Drawing Help appears like Samsung’s reply to the Pixel Studio or Apple’s Picture Playground in that it lets you select from just a few artwork types, like Watercolor, Sketch, or Oil Portray, earlier than you begin creating. If you happen to’re not satisfied by your inventive talents, you need to use a textual content field to explain what you need Drawing Help to create, making it much more like its opponents from Apple and Google. Right here’s how you can entry Drawing Help:

1. Swipe in your Edge Panel to open it
2. Faucet the button marked Drawing Help
3. Both doodle or describe your picture
4. Press Generate

From there, it’s also possible to ask Drawing Help to generate an extra picture for those who’re not pleased with the primary model. In case you have a Galaxy S25 Extremely, you possibly can entry Drawing Help by eradicating your S Pen from its slot and choosing the choice from the pop-up menu.

One other AI-powered characteristic I’ve come to understand is that everybody desires to make looking for issues in your telephone simpler. Whether or not it’s Apple with a redesigned Pictures app or OnePlus with context-aware search, it looks as if the recent new factor is to take the guesswork out of your searches. Samsung is not any exception, and it’s beginning along with your digital camera roll.

As soon as once more, to faucet into the complete energy of Samsung’s Galaxy AI, you’ll have to make use of its in-house Gallery app moderately than Google Pictures. Nevertheless, as soon as there, you need to use the Search characteristic (marked by the standard magnifying glass) to search for photographs of acquainted faces — whether or not individuals or pets — or determine precisely which day you spent exploring a nationwide landmark like Independence Corridor.

It really works fairly effectively in my expertise, managing to select the individuals and locations I’m on the lookout for, however there are just a few tips to pay attention to. For starters, you possibly can’t seek for individuals or pets by title except you label them inside the Gallery app. So, if in case you have a cat named Spot, you’ll need to determine them to Samsung earlier than you possibly can hold observe of them. Fortunately, you gained’t need to tag each single picture of Spot, however it does take among the automation out of Gallery Search.

Shifting on, I’ll admit that I assumed the times of Memoji and Bitmoji have been behind us. I figured that most individuals wouldn’t be utilizing an animated model of themselves and that it will in all probability disappear from smartphones earlier than lengthy — or a minimum of be minimized. And but, Samsung has determined that 2025 is the 12 months to carry again animated avatars in a giant method. It’s rebranded AR Emojis as Galaxy Avatars and massively lowered the creepy issue within the course of.

As a lot as Samsung might have appreciated its earlier AR Emoji setup, the completed merchandise have been often just a little bit too near the uncanny valley, and in consequence, I can rely on one hand the variety of instances I ever despatched them to pals or household. Lately, although, the Galaxy Avatars are just a little bit nearer to Apple’s Memojis, which is to say they’re a lot cuter and just a little extra cartoonish — although Samsung’s mannequin appears to wrestle when your topic is sporting a hat within the reference picture.

You may make Galaxy Avatars out of your front-facing digital camera or by importing a picture from the Samsung Gallery, each of which appear to work simply nice. At the moment, Galaxy Avatars dwell inside the Superior Options part of the Settings app, which might make them tough to search out, however it’s simple sufficient to create and customise your lookalikes when you get there.

Since we’ve already mentioned shopping for a case in your new Galaxy S25 machine, let’s return to a different all-important accent: a shiny new charger. If you happen to’re utilizing a reasonably latest Galaxy machine, you may be capable of low cost this tip, however for those who’re switching from an iPhone, a Motorola machine, or any variety of different telephones, you could have to spend just a little bit extra to succeed in peak charging speeds.

Though Samsung hasn’t wavered from 25W wired charging on its Galaxy S25 or 45W speeds on the Galaxy S25 Plus or Extremely, you’ll nonetheless want a USB PD PPS-enabled charger to succeed in these most speeds. Fortunately, there are many high-speed choices, together with chargers with a number of ports and USB-C and USB-A ports. You simply need to resolve which one will greatest meet your wants.

Additionally, for those who’re eyeing a brand new wi-fi charger, you possibly can ignore every thing about Qi2 for now. Samsung’s newest set of flagships determined to skip the magnet-based wi-fi charging commonplace, that means you possibly can rely in your outdated flat charger for an additional 12 months. After all, if you wish to strive a model of MagSafe, you possibly can at all times seize a third-party case and fix it to a magnetic charger.

Final however definitely not least, don’t neglect to customise your telephone. Samsung made just a few adjustments to among the most elementary elements of One UI 7, like just a few app icons and widgets, however it’s as much as you to make the remainder of your machine really feel like house. Whether or not which means dipping into Samsung’s AI-powered wallpaper generator or just loading up just a few photographs out of your gallery, all that actually issues is the telephone feels extra like your individual.

I’m nonetheless a fan of Samsung’s generative wallpaper software, a minimum of as a result of it permits me to change up the panorama I’ve to take a look at each day. Proper now, I’m rolling with a surreal set of mountains in shades of navy blue, and it’s a a lot better look than the fundamental wallpaper that comes preloaded on the Galaxy S25 Extremely.

When you decide on a wallpaper, don’t neglect that you could additionally theme the remainder of your machine round the principle colours, together with color-matched app icons and shades for every thing from buttons within the Calculator app to Samsung’s Calendar. Curiously, the preloaded apps like Copilot and OneDrive aren’t included within the color-matching course of, making them stand out like sore thumbs you possibly can’t uninstall.

These are only a few issues I’ve been doing on my Samsung Galaxy S25 to this point, however I’m at all times open to studying new tips. If I missed certainly one of your favorites, let me know within the feedback. Additionally, for those who haven’t grabbed a Galaxy S25 machine however are occupied with upgrading, you are able to do with one of the best costs we might discover so on the widgets under: