4 clever camera tricks for your Samsung Galaxy phone

Samsung's best phones no longer feature the absolute best camera hardware, but they still pack the most versatile setups around.

With a bunch of sensors, they give a level of shooting flexibility that few other smartphones can match.

And when you pair that versatility with some smart camera features, you can capture pictures from a different perspective altogether.

Check out these four clever camera tricks that will make capturing photos using your Galaxy phone even better.

4 Save pictures in HEIF

Save your storage space

Flagship Android phones nowadays come with 256GB or 512GB storage. That's more than enough for daily use, even if you are someone like me who clicks a lot of pictures and videos.

Since I use Google Photos to back up all my media to the cloud, I need to be mindful of storage usage.

I'm just a few hundred gigabytes away from maxing out my 2TB plan with photos and videos. That's why I shoot pictures in high efficiency image format (HEIF) on my Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Compared to shooting in JPEG, where each 12MP picture weighs around 3MB to 5MB or even more, HEIF pictures are typically around 1MB to 2MB in size.

While this might not seem like a big deal on a per-picture basis, it leads to considerable space savings over a longer period.

You can switch to saving photos in HEIF format on your Galaxy phone by going to Camera app settings > Advanced picture options and turning on the High efficiency pictures toggle.

Similarly, jump into Advanced video options from the settings menu, and switch the video format to HEVC (high efficiency). Like HEIF, this video format provides significant space savings over H.264 encoded videos.

This is not a trick that will allow you to capture better pictures with your Galaxy phone. It's one that helps you take more of them.

3 Kill the shutter lag

Almost...

Despite featuring a versatile camera setup, Galaxy phones don't stand out for their image quality. They suffer from a few longstanding issues — shutter lag being one of the most notable.

Unlike other Android phones, there's a noticeable delay between you pressing the shutter button and the device capturing the image.

Switching from an iPhone and a Pixel, I found this delay frustrating, as it led to missed shots and unexpected motion blur.

Samsung's Camera Assistant Good Lock module takes care of this problem to a large extent.

Simply turn on the Quick tap shutter and Prioritize focus over speed toggles. The former option ensures the phone will take a picture as soon as the shutter button is pressed.

You can install Camera Assistant from the Galaxy Store. Unlike other Good Lock modules, it will appear as a standalone app on your Galaxy phone's app drawer.

2 Use voice capture

Say cheese!

Your Galaxy phone lets you snap photos and record videos in more ways than just tapping the shutter button.

On my Galaxy S23 Ultra, I frequently use the S Pen as a remote shutter. It helps when taking group photos with the rear camera.

On the S25 Ultra and other non-Ultra Galaxy devices, you can use your voice as a shutter.

With the camera app open, say "Smile," "Capture," or "Shoot" to capture a picture. And to record a video, say "record video."

The only bummer is that this only works in video mode. Plus, there's no way to stop a video recording session through your voice.

The voice shutter feature is incredibly handy when taking group shots or when you can't reach the shutter button.

It's a simple yet effective trick that avoids the hassle of fumbling with timers, especially when shooting solo.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

SoC
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy
RAM
12GB

Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra leaves the Note-like design behind for the very first time. With flat edges, curved corners, and a massive 6.9-inch display, this is a modern flagship through and through — and yes, that S Pen is still here too.

$1300 at Samsung $1300 at Best Buy $1300 at Amazon
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1 Record the night sky

Turn long nights into epic time-lapses

I love capturing the night sky using my phone's camera. It's a great example of how far mobile photography has come in the last decade.

Previously, you had to manually play around with the manual controls in the camera app to capture the night sky.

That's not the case anymore, with Samsung including a dedicated Star trails Hyperlapse mode. It lets you capture footage of the stars streaking across the night sky.

For this, open the Camera app on your Galaxy phone, tap the More tab, and select Hyperlapse. Then, tap the speed indicator on the top bar and select 300x.

You should then see a star trails icon on the viewfinder. Tap to activate it. Also, ensure that you have set the recording resolution to 4K UHD for the best quality.

Now, prop the phone on a flat surface, point it towards the night sky, and press the shutter button to start recording.

Since you're shooting a hyperlapse video, you'll need to let your phone record for an extended period to get a decent-length clip.

A 15-minute recording session will give you a 3-second clip, while a 30-minute recording will output 6 seconds of footage.

You can also always click a picture of the night sky, but you'll need to use Samsung's Expert RAW camera app for this.

It contains an Astrophoto mode, which automatically changes the camera settings to capture the night sky. Plus, it's customizable, so you can set the capture time to Short, Medium, or Long.

Shoot smarter, not harder, with these Galaxy camera tricks

None of the above tricks will boost the quality of the pictures and videos you take with your Galaxy phone. But they will make snapping pictures with a different perspective easier, while saving storage space on your phone.

If you want to take your Galaxy phone photography to the next level, try Samsung's Expert RAW app. It gives you more control over exposure, focus, and image detail, making it perfect for those looking to move beyond auto mode.