Samsung Camera Hidden Features Most Owners Never Find

Buried two or three menus deep on your Galaxy camera (or after downloading another Samsung app) are a bunch of useful features. Here are 15 of them (and where to find them on One UI 9) and what they can do for you.

All of these menu locations were checked on a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9 (November 2026). The table also indicates which of these features are available on other Galaxy phones, per Samsung and the Samsung news sites.

Where each feature lives, and which phones have it

Column two shows where it is on a Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9. Column three lists which phones Samsung’s instructions/news articles (see sources) say have this feature. Just because your phone isn’t listed doesn’t mean it doesn’t have this feature; just go to the relevant menu on your phone to check.

Shortcuts already in the Camera app

These five settings are either disabled or have innocuous-sounding default options that most people probably wouldn’t think twice about changing. The good news is that none of these require you to install additional software.

1. Motion photo on Auto

Best face requires Motion photo to be enabled, according to Samsung's website. This helps avoid problems like someone blinking in group photos. On a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9, tapping the Motion photo icon in the top bar shows three options: Off, Auto and On. According to SamMobile, Auto is new on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Selecting this setting means that the video will only be saved if there's sufficient movement, so photos of stationary objects like landscapes will just be saved as photos. So, if you want to make use of features like Best face for people shots but don't want videos of inanimate objects, Auto might be the best option. Our Motion photos guide will tell you how to edit and share your clips.

2. Voice, palm and a second shutter button

Go to Camera settings > Shooting methods (near the bottom in the General section) and you’ll find several handy options:

• Say “Smile”, “Cheese”, “Capture” or “Shoot” to take a photo using Voice commands, or “Record video” to film
• Hold your palm up to the front camera to take a selfie or start a video using Show palm
• Hold your phone at arm’s length or low down and press the extra shutter button wherever you’ve dragged it using Floating Shutter button

What the volume buttons do can be selected on the same screen. Tapping buttons on screen causes more vibration than using the actual buttons, which can be significant if you're using the phone at night.

3. Exposure that stays where you put it

You can compensate for lighting conditions by using the Exposure slider in the Camera app, accessible in Quick controls (the button with four dots next to the zoom buttons).

If you frequently shoot in Photo mode and want to reduce exposure to preserve detail in bright skies, adjust the Exposure slider once to your preferred setting and, since One UI 7, the camera will remember it for you. Samsung's One UI 7 notes say that the Exposure slider's position is saved until you exit the Camera app, and One UI 9's Tips app says it's saved per mode.

That said, don't forget to set it back to neutral when shooting indoors or in other low-light situations, since the same exposure compensation you used outdoors can result in too-dark images when shooting in dimmer conditions.

4. Shot suggestions

Under Camera settings > Intelligent features you’ll find Shot suggestions. According to Samsung’s Galaxy S26 user guide, it recognises the position and angle of your subject and then displays a guide on the preview screen. Line up your shot with the guide and it’ll turn yellow once you’re in line.

It doesn’t know what your photo is about, so think of it as a suggestion, or perhaps even a second opinion, but it can help if you’re not sure how to frame a shot.

5. A home-screen camera that opens in Pro mode

According to SamMobile’s report, One UI 6.0’s Custom camera widget allows you to choose which camera mode will launch when you tap it. So, you could, for example, create one widget to launch Photo and another to launch Pro (according to Samsung’s own camera FAQ, the latter could be useful if you prefer photos that won’t be processed after they’re taken). The two widgets could also save photos to different albums.

Camera Assistant switches worth finding

Camera Assistant is a free Galaxy Store app from Samsung, and when installed you’ll find it under Camera settings > General, listed last. None of the following six options will adjust an existing feature. They will add new features. Our Camera Assistant guide explains every other switch in the app.

6. Quick tap shutter

Quick tap shutter, as the name suggests, means that Samsung One UI 9 will take a picture as soon as you tap the shutter button instead of waiting for you to lift your finger.

Swipe or hold down the shutter button to take an extra snap. Handy for capturing expressions on pets and children’s faces, giving you that split-second advantage.

7. Zoom shortcuts

On a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9 there are two additional shortcuts, 2x and 10x, which use crops from the main sensor and sit next to the .6, 1x, 3x and 5x buttons. Samsung claims near-optical zoom quality thanks to the high-resolution image captured by the main sensor.

The 2x shortcut should prove especially handy as it’s well suited to portraits (think head and shoulders), letting you get the shot without needing to physically move closer to your subject.

8. Timer multi-photo

Timer multi-photo options let you determine how many photos will be taken with the self-timer and the delay between shots. When you're shooting on a tripod (say, for group photos), this can come in handy for getting that one picture where nobody blinked. Try it out with the voice option so you don't have to walk back to your phone every time! The camera timer guide explains which delay is appropriate for different types of shots, and goes into detail about delays.

9. Focus peaking in Pro modes

In Pro and Pro video, focus peaking displays outlines around in-focus areas of your photo to make it easier to focus manually. Choose a colour that contrasts with the colours in your shot. For example, choose red focus peaking for a green field.

According to SamMobile, Camera Assistant in One UI 8.5 will also let you customise the focus peaking outline colour and thickness and have focus peaking always on.

10. Single take and Dual rec

Camera Assistant’s Additional modes contains One UI 9’s Dual rec and Single take options, and neither appears in the mode list until enabled. Single take captures multiple photos and videos during a single recording session that lasts a few seconds, and Dual rec lets you shoot on two cameras simultaneously. Our Single take guide and Dual recording guide cover each mode in detail.

11. Two switches for video shooters

• Clean preview on HDMI displays: When connected to an HDMI display, this will show the footage without the overlay of settings/buttons.
• Audio monitoring: Monitors the audio being recorded through any headphones/speakers that are connected.

SamMobile first spotted Audio monitoring back in February 2024 when it appeared on the Galaxy S24. On One UI 9 it’s tucked away under External accessories. This can be useful to make sure there’s no nasty wind noise you’ll have to deal with in post!

12. 3D capture for Galaxy XR

If you don’t own Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset, you may want to ignore this one. 3D capture adds a button for making spatial photos and videos, which can only be enjoyed in 3D on the headset.

According to a changelog spotted by SamMobile for the October 2025 version of Camera Assistant, the feature is for the Galaxy S25, Z Fold7 and Z Flip7, and may be limited to the US and Korea as that’s where the headset launched.

Pro mode, Expert RAW and Gallery extras

13. Zebra pattern

Pro and Pro video offer an exposure monitor that overlays an image with either a colour or pattern to highlight under- or overexposed areas. Samsung’s implementation in One UI 7 for the S24 series was designed with Log recording in mind, and the company describes the available overlays as false colour and zebra stripes. The Tips app for One UI 9 refers to this feature as exposure monitors (available in Pro modes) and specifically mentions a Zebra pattern. Seeing zebra stripes on, say, a cloud or white dress indicates that you should consider reducing your exposure to avoid losing detail in those areas. In our Pro mode guide we dealt with setting the exposure manually.

14. Expert RAW Labs

Samsung’s Expert RAW camera app has a Labs menu (free app by the way), accessed via a flask icon in the corner of the viewfinder. In One UI 9 on a Galaxy S25 Ultra, there are seven features, the first being Ocean mode and the last Multiple exposure. These are the four you’re most likely to overlook.

• Ocean mode helps correct the image and colour distortion common in underwater photos. According to SamMobile, the S25 Ultra got Ocean mode with an Expert RAW app update. Salt water and chlorine can degrade your phone’s water seals over time. Samsung rates its phones to survive submersion in fresh water only.
• Virtual reflector mimics the effect of using a gold or silver camera reflector to bounce light into a subject’s face to avoid a silhouette effect when photographing against the sun. It debuted with the Galaxy S26 series, but it’s also available in the Labs section of the Expert RAW app on the Galaxy S25 Ultra after installing the One UI 9 update (you may need to download the feature after installing the update).
• The Neutral density (ND) filter mode emulates an ND camera filter, letting you use a slower shutter speed in daylight to blur moving objects like rushing water or crowds of people. Samsung’s release notes for One UI 7 indicate that it beefed up the ND filter with additional 2048 and 4096 filter options for the Galaxy S23 and S24 series, as well as some of its foldables.
• Astroportrait: There’s no official information about this mode from Samsung, but Android Authority pored over Expert RAW’s code back in 2024 and believes Astrophoto’s sibling mode captures people against a night-time sky background.

Labs is only available on select devices, specifically those capable of running Expert RAW. On its website, Samsung lists phones that can run Expert RAW, and by extension, Labs, as including those in the Galaxy S20 through Galaxy S26 series, Galaxy Z Fold and Flip series, and some Galaxy A phones ("Galaxy A series (models with advanced camera systems)", Samsung writes, without specifying which Galaxy A phones can download Expert RAW). However, SamMobile says it was unable to install Expert RAW on the Galaxy S25 FE. See our Expert RAW guide for phone compatibility and setup instructions.

15. Instant slow-mo

According to Android Central, supported formats for this feature are 8-bit MP4 videos with resolutions ranging from 720p to 8K (so, for example, you won’t be able to slow down 10-bit HDR videos). Open a video in Gallery or Video Player, then touch and hold the display, and the portion of the video that you’re pressing down on will play in slow motion while your finger is on the screen. Android Central also says this feature works on Samsung’s Galaxy S23-series phones and later flagships, as well as the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 and newer. It’s also mentioned in Samsung’s S26 user guide and in the One UI 9 Tips app under tips for photos and videos. You can use our slow motion guide to save the slowed-down portion as a separate video file.