5 Hidden Samsung Phone Features You Need to Try

After nearly five years of using Galaxy phones, I thought I had mastered every trick in Samsung’s One UI. Turns out, I was wrong. Over the past few months, I’ve stumbled upon several features that were sitting in plain sight the entire time. Now that I’ve found them, I feel obligated to share them so you don’t miss out the way I did.

One of the most surprising discoveries is the compass and ruler hidden inside the Edge Panel. If you keep the Edge Panel disabled like I did, you’re missing out. Head to Settings > Display > Edge panels > Panels and enable the Tools panel. Once activated, you can pull up a built-in compass on almost any screen. It shows your current coordinates and is surprisingly accurate. Inside the same panel, tap the three-dot menu and select Ruler to turn the right edge of your phone into a measuring tool. You can switch between centimeters and inches, and even calibrate it for better results.

Another feature I overlooked is the document scanner built into the Camera app. For years, I relied on third-party apps that inevitably hit me with pop-ups asking if I was enjoying the experience. But my Galaxy phone could scan documents automatically. Just point the rear camera at a document, tap the Scan button, and it saves instantly. There’s also a built-in editor to adjust corners, apply filters, and clean up imperfections like fingers or folded corners. You can save the scan as an image or PDF. While document scanning has been around for a while, the ability to scan and edit multiple pages is currently exclusive to the Galaxy S26. Other models can only scan one page at a time, unless Samsung rolls out an update.

Router placement can make or break your Wi-Fi experience, but finding the perfect spot is tricky. Samsung phones have a Wi-Fi inspection tool that maps signal strength around your home. To access it, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Intelligent Wi-Fi. Scroll down and tap Intelligent Wi-Fi several times until you see Connectivity Labs. Inside, select Home Wi-Fi inspection, choose the network you want to test, and walk around your house. Your phone records signal strength in real time and creates a graph for reference. You can even inspect multiple networks at once. I used it to compare my router’s 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands to see how coverage changed from room to room.

I’ve largely ignored Bixby over the years, but it has a few useful tools I now use regularly. The object identifier is one of them. Open the Camera app, go to the More tab, and tap the eye-shaped icon. You can also launch Bixby Vision from the app drawer. Point your camera at anything, and it identifies objects in real time. You can even upload an image from your gallery. It’s not as precise as Google’s Circle to Search , pointing at a keyboard will just say it’s a keyboard, not the exact model. But there’s also a Color Detector tab that identifies colors, and a Text Reader that helps me read fine print on product labels or receipts without my glasses.

The feature that surprised me most is the measuring tool. I never thought my Galaxy phone could replace a tape measure, but it comes pretty close. Download the Quick Measure app from the Galaxy Store, open it, and point your camera at any object. It shows the distance from the camera lens, and it can automatically detect common shapes like rectangles, measuring their length, width, and area. If the app doesn’t recognize something, you can measure manually by tapping the plus icon and selecting start and end points. It works for calculating the area of a room or figuring out if a desk will fit through a doorway. I wouldn’t rely on it for renovations, but it’s great for rough estimates.

These are just a few of the hidden gems I’ve uncovered in my Galaxy phone. I’d like to think I finally know it inside out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still more features waiting to be discovered.