Galaxy A17 Camera Settings for Better Photos

Optical image stabilisation has made its way to the Galaxy A17’s main camera this time around, according to GSMArena’s review of the phone, and that has an impact on most of the advice in this guide.

The 50MP primary snapper should be your go-to camera in almost all situations on the Galaxy A17, as the 5MP ultrawide and 2MP macro cameras don’t perform well in low light.

Note that this guide applies to both the Galaxy A17 5G and Galaxy A17 4G, as they use the same set of cameras.

Galaxy A17 camera specs

Samsung’s UK spec sheet for the A17 5G confirms that the rear camera supports autofocus and image stabilisation (OIS), while the front camera lacks autofocus. It also specifies FHD as the highest available video resolution, albeit at a max of 30fps (a limitation that GSMArena’s spec sheets confirm applies to both models).

Although Samsung’s US website support page for the 5G model lists UHD 4K video recording at 30fps as a camera feature, it only lists instructions for recording HD or FHD video in its Video mode section. Expect FHD (1080p) video recording, at most.

GSMArena’s reviewer assumes that the A17 5G uses the same cameras as its Galaxy A16 5G predecessor, with the only upgrade being optical image stabilisation (OIS). Samsung says that the Galaxy A17 5G’s camera can take photos that are up to 2.5 times brighter in low light than its predecessor’s.

There’s no telephoto camera, so 2x is just a crop from the main camera and anything past that is digital zoom (which maxes out at 10x).

Best A17 settings by situation

The modes mentioned below are listed in Samsung’s user guide and on their US support page for the Galaxy A17. The findings come from GSMArena’s review of the Galaxy A17 5G. Use the table as a starting point and change one thing at a time.

The samples that GSMArena posted also suggest that the 50MP mode doesn’t offer much more detail than smaller files, but takes up a lot more space. Samsung claims that the 50MP mode only works with the primary rear camera. Our 12MP vs 50MP vs 200MP guide can tell you if a large file is worth it on any Galaxy. For selfies, the selfie camera settings guide covers selfies in wide angle and the mirror function.

Settings to change first

Launch the Camera app > Quick controls button (circle with four dots) > gear icon. All five of these take less than a minute to do and will make every picture you take from now on better.

1. 1

   Turn on the composition guide

   Composition guide under General will overlay a grid on your preview screen, which is handy to make sure your horizons are level, especially on a camera you’re likely to crop into.

2. 2

   Switch on Video stabilisation

   The 5G version of the phone is said by GSMArena to have gyro-EIS for video, but that’s not listed on the 4G version’s spec page. If you have the latter, check whether you’ve got Video stabilisation under Videos and if not, brace yourself on something solid when filming.

3. 3

   Make a volume key the shutter

   Under Shooting methods you can enable Press Volume buttons to take pictures or record video, which is handy in low light when pressing the screen might shake the phone more than using the hardware buttons would.

4. 4

   Check the shutter swipe

   The Swipe Shutter button to setting controls what happens if you slide the shutter control to one side of the screen and hold it there. We’d leave this as it is (burst shots can be handy if you’re shooting action), but choose Create GIF if you take a fancy to GIFs.

5. 5

   Turn on Settings to keep

   Finally, if you turn on Settings to keep, the next time you launch the camera app it’ll open up in whatever mode you last used, which is handy if you’re taking a series of Night mode shots.

Intelligent features also includes a Scene optimiser. For accurate colours it’s best to leave this off, although you may want to leave it on if you’re posting pictures on social media immediately after taking them. The Scene Optimizer guide covers this in more detail. JPEG images are more widely supported on computers and on the web, but you can save storage space with HEIF images by turning on High efficiency pictures.

Low light and Night mode

GSMArena found standard night shots to be noisy and flat when taken using the Photo mode, but these issues were mostly addressed, with better colour reproduction and contrast, when using the dedicated Night mode, though this is only available on the main camera.

Night shots using the ultrawide and 2x crop modes were still fairly noisy, and GSMArena’s example ultrawide shots taken at night were a little fuzzy and displayed some colour fringing.

For brighter, more stable pictures, Samsung’s instructions recommend using a tripod and holding the phone steady until shooting is complete. Prop it up on a table or wall, or brace your shoulder against a firm surface to keep things extra steady, and engage the self-timer to prevent jostling the phone when you hit the shutter button. Yes, the A17’s OIS can help offset some shakiness, but it’s no match for actual movement, so hold still while you shoot.

When shooting photos in dim conditions with One UI 9, a Night button will appear that you can use to enable or disable the feature. (Samsung added this button in its updated camera app instructions for the Galaxy A17 and related devices.) Our Night mode guide explains how a Galaxy decides how long to capture.

Pro mode on the A17

The A17's user guide lists ISO, FOCUS (with a slider for manual focusing), WB (with a slider for colour temperature), SPEED (shutter speed) and EV (exposure compensation) for Pro mode. You can also choose between centre-weighted, matrix and spot metering modes, and touch and hold the preview to split the focus and exposure points.

There's not much else going on in Pro mode. Samsung doesn't say what shutter speeds are available on the A17, but some other budget Galaxy phones max out at 10 seconds, so you may want to check the slowest SPEED setting before travelling somewhere to shoot long exposures. There's no RAW shooting option listed in the A17's user guides, so you're shooting JPEGs in Pro mode (or HEIFs if you've enabled that setting). You also don't get a Pro mode for video.

If you want to shoot consistently under a certain type of light, Pro mode can be useful. If you're shooting indoors and you've got the WB (white balance) and ISO nailed down, your pictures should look similar. Likewise, manual focusing can help if you're trying to shoot something up close and the phone is having trouble figuring out what to focus on. There's a trick you can use in Photo mode to get similar results. Tap and hold on your subject and the phone should lock focus and exposure, even after you take the shot, according to Samsung. Our Pro mode guide explains each control.

Video settings and frame rates

The default camera application can record Full HD or HD videos. Unfortunately there’s no option to record at 60fps. You can’t choose the frame rate (at least according to Samsung’s US website), so you’ll always get 30fps videos (except for slow motion videos which are recorded at 120fps in HD according to Samsung’s UK website).

GSMArena managed to shoot 4K videos using a third-party camera application (Open Camera), but these didn’t offer any kind of video stabilisation and were encoded with a bitrate similar to 1080p videos, so we recommend sticking to the default application and using the Full HD video mode with Video stabilisation switched on (hold the device with both hands and avoid making abrupt moves if you want to avoid shaky videos). Also, don’t forget to check out Hyperlapse mode, which can prove useful when shooting clouds, traffic, etc. You can also record Hyperlapse videos at night speeds of 15 and 45 times faster, which are handy when shooting light trails. Our video recording tips cover framing and sound.

What to skip on a budget Galaxy

• Forget about using the 2MP macro camera as GSMArena’s sample images are lacking in detail and colours are dull. As the lens is fixed-focus, using it will be hit and miss, so we suggest cropping in on a 1x image instead.
• Get up close and personal with your subject as there’s no telephoto camera on the A17, and anything past 2x will use digital zoom from the main camera.
• Stick to using the ultrawide camera during the day as Samsung’s Night mode doesn’t support it, so reach for the main camera in low light.
• Don’t hold your breath for Expert RAW or Camera Assistant support. Although Samsung’s Expert RAW website mentions that it’s available on some A-series “models with advanced camera systems”, it doesn’t list the A17 or any other A-series phone by name. We also can’t find any mention of Camera Assistant in the Camera section of the A17’s One UI 7 or One UI 8 user guide.

Software updates and One UI 9

Both phones have started receiving One UI 9 based on Android 17. According to GSMArena, the two phones debuted with Android 15 and One UI 7 and are promised six major OS upgrades.

According to SamMobile, the Galaxy A17 5G first received One UI 8.5 in May 2026, which included new filters for the Camera app. The Galaxy A17 5G first received One UI 9 in South Korea in October 2026. Later that month, the update started rolling out globally, with India reportedly one of the first countries outside of South Korea to receive the update. The Galaxy A17 4G’s update also started in South Korea in late October.

Samsung hasn’t listed any new camera features in its summary of the changes, according to SamMobile. Likewise, we don’t see any new camera modes in the October 2026 version of the user guide for the Galaxy A17.

To see if your Galaxy A17 has received the latest update, head to Settings > Software update.

Galaxy A17 vs A15 and the A57

Upgrading from an A15? The addition of OIS should be immediately noticeable, especially indoors where photos can turn out blurry: more on that in our Galaxy A15 camera guide. Neither A15 model lists OIS. Ultimately the macro and ultrawide cameras are pretty similar, as is the ceiling of 1080p video, making the A17 more of a low-light phone than a phone with more varied cameras.

If you want 4K video, a bigger main sensor and Pro video, look at the Galaxy A57 and A37. Both of them come with a stabilised 1/1.56-inch main camera and max out at 4K 30fps video, with the A57 throwing in a 12MP ultrawide which is also capable of shooting 4K footage.