The Galaxy S9 and S9+, Samsung’s most recent flagship products, have captured the spotlight and the interest of tech journalists during the past few weeks. The new smartphone features a lightning-quick processor, an industry-first camera setup with variable aperture, and of course, a more ergonomic fingerprint sensor positioning.
But if you explore the Galaxy S9’s user interface, you’ll find a tonne of new adjustments that are rather clever, albeit not all of them are genuinely beneficial as some of the new features seem to be merely gimmicks (I am pointing towards you, AR Emoji). Let’s look at the new software features and gimmicks introduced by the Galaxy S9, which, fanboying and criticism aside, you should certainly try if you’ve bought Samsung’s newest flagship.
15 Cool Galaxy S9 Features and Tricks
Notably, we tested all of these novel functions and techniques on the Galaxy S9 Plus, although the S9 should also be compatible.
1. Variable Aperture of the Camera Sensor
The Samsung Galaxy S9’s variable aperture camera sensor, which no other smartphone has, is one of its best features. The function gives users the option of using either the f/1.5 (excellent for low light photography) or the f/2.4 aperture values (for clicking photos in normal lighting conditions).
Just open the camera app and select Pro mode to alter the aperture value. The aperture value can be changed by pressing the pill-shaped button on the left side of the screen after the Pro mode has been opened and the lens icon with the aperture value written beneath it has been touched.
The camera examples that follow demonstrate how the variable aperture feature alters photographs.
2. AR Make-up Effect in selfies
Image taken with varying apertures: f/2.4 (on the left) and f/1.5 (on the right) (Right)
Image taken with varying apertures: f/2.4 (on the left) and f/1.5 (on the right) (Right)
3. Dolby Atmos
The Galaxy S9’s camera app also cleverly incorporates augmented reality (AR) with its make-up effects, which can be used to preview their results in real time. In the Selfie mode of the Galaxy S9’s camera software, users can decide to choose options like lip colour, eyelashes, eyebrows, etc. by default. Additionally, Samsung and ModiFace recently collaborated to provide the AR make-up effects to the Galaxy S9’s camera app, and users will soon be able to access them in the Bixby Vision area.
Open the selfie mode, tap the glitter icon on the right side of the screen, choose a filter, then tap the pencil icon to select the AR effect you want to utilise.
- Go to Settings > Sounds and Vibration > Sound quality and effects
- Slide the Dolby Atmos toggle to on position
- Tap the Dolby Atmos option to select from the four modes viz. Auto, Movie, Music and Voice.
4. 4K Video Recording at 60fps
The Galaxy S9 now has Dolby Atmos audio technology, which is a unique feature that did not garner much notice at the Galaxy S9’s launch event and subsequent marketing campaigns. The new Samsung flagship can give a 360-degree surround sound experience for improved audio output when the Dolby Atmos function is turned on. When I compared the audio playback on the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S8, I found that the Galaxy S9’s Dolby Atmos capability produces better music than its predecessor.
5. Intelligent Scan
These procedures can be used to activate the Dolby Atmos functionality.
- Open the Settings menu and tap on the Lock screen and security option
- Open Intelligent Scan to register your iris and face scan data for enabling the feature.
6. Create an App Pair for Split Screen View
The ability to record UHD films at 60 frames per second is one of the Galaxy S9’s camera’s most noticeable advancements over its predecessor. Open the camera app’s Settings menu and select the Video Size option under the Rear Cameraheader to start recording a UHD video at 60 frames per second. Select the UHD (60fps) option when you get there, but be aware that you can only record a maximum of 5 minutes of UHD footage at a 60fps frame rate.
- Open two apps and minimize them. Now, open one of the apps and long press the multitasking button. Doing this will let users select the other app they want to multitask with.
- Once the two apps are open in a multi-window format, tap on the trapezoid icon with a + sign in it to create an app pair on the home screen.
7. Super Slow-Mo Videos
Samsung has included three forms of identification on the Galaxy S9: face unlock, iris scanning, and fingerprint sensing. But if you rely on the latter two, you may be aware that their performance suffers in low light. To address the issue, Samsung included an Intelligent Scan feature to the Galaxy S9 that combines iris and facial recognition data to speed up and increase the security measure’s accuracy, enabling it to function well even in low light. In order to turn on the security feature:
It’s nice to be able to use two apps simultaneously, especially if you do it frequently. However, sometimes it can be annoying to choose the two programmes and then activate the multi-window/split-screen multitasking feature. The Galaxy S9 includes a clever feature that enables users to create shortcuts for two apps that, when clicked, open both in a multi-window format. So, how can we create a shortcut for an app pair? Well, it’s simple; simply adhere to the guidelines below:
The Galaxy S9’s capacity to capture Super Slow-Mo videos at an astounding 960FPS, which is genuinely incredible, has been one of its most heavily marketed capabilities. The Samsung flagship can capture slow-motion footage lasting 0.2 seconds, stretched out to a 6-second movie with 720p resolution.
8. AR Emojis
Open the camera app, then hit the Super Slow-Mo option at the top of the screen to use the feature. You can modify the background music, set the slow-motion video as your smartphone’s wallpaper, and choose between Auto and Manual mode to shoot the slow-motion video.
Keep in mind that the functionality only functions effectively in outdoor settings with plenty of natural light or in indoor spaces with strong illumination.
9. Live Focus & Selfie Focus
Samsung’s Galaxy S9 includes AR Emojis as payback for Apple’s introduction of the Animoji idea. Why not? Open the Galaxy S9’s camera app, switch to the selfie mode, then hit the AR Emoji option at the top of the screen to begin experimenting with them. To add entertaining effects to your selfies, you can pick from a variety of AR effects including stickers, wallpapers, tags, animal faces, etc.
But the coolest part is making your own personalised augmented reality emojis by hitting the Create My Emoji button. Your AI avatar, whose skin tone, outfit, and haircut may all be customised, will be created after you’ve taken a sample selfie. Additionally, during talks, the AI emojis can be saved and sent to others.
10. Device Security Scan
Nowadays, bokeh and background blur effects are huge, and Samsung is all too aware of this. The background blur effect is now available in selfies and photos taken with the rear camera on the Galaxy S9. Simply turn on your selfie camera and choose the Selfie Focus setting to take stunning pictures; however, a small amount of distance adjustment may be necessary.
- To run a security scan, head to Settings > Device Maintenance.
- Choose the Device Security option from the bottom pane and tap on the Scan Phone button.
11. Bixby Vision
The Galaxy S9’s flagship device excels at using background blur when it comes to practical applications. To take images, simply launch the camera app and select the Live Focus option. Photos are then saved in two forms in the gallery: a close-up shot with the blur effect and a wide-angle shot without any bokeh effects. The Live Focus feature allows you to modify the background blur effect’s intensity, which is a really useful addition.
12. New Edge Lighting Effects
We are well aware of the serious threat posed by malware on smartphones, and occasionally even Google’s internal security checks are unable to spot malicious apps on the Play Store. Samsung has included a Device Security feature on the Galaxy S9, powered by McAfee, to guard users from the threat. This tool does a full security scan of the entire system and alerts users to any threats.
The camera app on the Galaxy S9 now includes Samsung’s Bixby Vision, which is similar to Google Lens and performs admirably. Simply select the Bixby Vision icon on the left side of the screen, which is above the black bar in the camera app, and you will be presented with six options, including Text (for translating text on an image), Image (to search for similar images), Food (to find details about a dish, such as its calorie count, etc.), Place, Wine, and QR code scanner. The handy function surprised me with how useful it was for the limited time I used it.
- Open the Settings menu > Display Edge Screen
- Activate the Edge Lighting toggle, tap on the text and select Edge Lighting style
- Choose the edge lighting effect and adjust its settings
13. Enable Landscape Mode on Home Screen
Even if the Galaxy S8’s Edge Lighting function for notifying users of incoming alerts was already great, the Galaxy S9 has enhanced it even more by adding new lighting effects and controls. Users can now pick between a Glow effect, Basic monocolor illumination, Glitter effect, and Multicolor effect. Additionally, users can set the width of the lighting band surrounding the display as well as the transparency levels and colour of the Edge Lighting.
- Go to Settings > Display > Home Screen
- Disable the Portrait mode only option.
14. Enhance Touch Sensitivity While Using a Screen Guard
By doing the following, you can utilise the enhanced Edge Lighting feature:
- To enable the feature, head to Settings > Advanced Features
- Activate the Touch Sensitivity toggle.
15. App Shortcuts
An Android smartphone’s home screen layout for apps typically has a portrait orientation and only changes to a landscape position when an app or functionality is activated. When you are playing a game or viewing a video and have to minimise it in order to adjust your smartphone’s position in your hand to the home screen’s portrait orientation, it becomes annoying. The ability to switch the orientation of the home screen to portrait mode on the Galaxy S9 is a tremendous comfort in this regard. Just carry out these actions.
It may take some getting used to using a screen guard on a smartphone because the extra layer on the display makes it harder for the touch input to be registered. By adding a new touch sensitivity function that improves the display’s touch reception while a screen protector is used, the Galaxy S9 has fixed this problem.
Users could only move, change, or uninstall an app by long pressing its icon up until now, but the Galaxy S9 has given a completely new level of functionality to this feature. Now, when you hold down on an app’s icon for a long time, an enlarged tray will slide out, allowing users to carry out a variety of useful actions related to the programme.
The Best Galaxy S9 Features and Tricks. Tried One Yet?
For instance, if you hold down the YouTube icon for a long time, quick access options for the “Subscriptions” and “Trending” sections of YouTube appear. Tapping on either of these controls will take visitors to the appropriate page. Similar to how they can quickly access Twitter’s New Tweet, New Message, and QR Code scanning options without having to open the app and look for them.
A REVIEW OF THE GALAXY S9 PLUS’S CAMERA THAT REDEFINES SMARTPHOPHOTO
