5 quick tweaks I made to make my Samsung Galaxy way better

I’ve been using One UI 7 on the Galaxy S25+ for the past four months, and it’s definitely my favorite software update that Samsung has ever released. It’s sleek, snappy, and introduces a variety of new features that I enjoy, including the Now Bar and new widget customization options for the lock screen and home screen.

However, when you first start using a new Samsung phone, some incredibly useful settings are surprisingly not activated right away. These settings can be easily turned on to enhance your experience, and they’re definitely worth exploring. Here are five settings I enabled on my S25+ that significantly improved my experience with the device, which I recommend you turn on as well if you haven’t already.

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5

Enable the highest screen resolution

Take advantage of your display’s maximum quality

As a tech enthusiast, I’m embarrassed to admit that when I first got my S25+, I had no idea I wasn’t using it at the best possible screen resolution until a month into using the device. It simply hadn’t crossed my mind until one day I was looking through the settings menu and realized I had the screen resolution set to FHD+ (1080p) instead of QHD+ (1440p). While the screen still looked great with FHD+ on, for watching videos and playing games, QHD+ looks much better, making the display really come to life.

Having your screen resolution set to the maximum quality drains the battery more, but it’s well worth the trade-off. To avoid making the same mistake I have, head to Settings > Display > Screen Resolution to set your display to the best possible quality. You’ll thank me later. If you know you need to conserve battery power one day, you can always switch it back to a lower resolution at any time.

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4

Change how lock screen notifications work

See your messages once again on your lock screen

One thing I immediately noticed when switching to my Galaxy S25+ on a daily basis was that, by default, notification cards don’t appear on the lock screen. Coming from an iPhone, I was accustomed to seeing my messages and notifications appear on my lock screen, allowing me to quickly check them without having to unlock my phone.

With One UI 7, notifications are displayed by default in the top-left corner of the display as icons, rather than front and center on the lock screen as bold cards that are easy to read. To change this on your Samsung device, go to Settings > Notifications > Lock screen notifications > Cards.

If you don’t want certain notifications to appear on your lock screen for privacy reasons, you can change which apps show notifications in that same menu by tapping Show content and deselecting any apps you don’t want to display notifications on the lock screen.

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3

Turn on Dolby Atmos sound

Movies and shows will sound way better

Samsung Galaxy devices offer some of the best-sounding phone speakers on the market. Since the Galaxy S9 series, Samsung has included Dolby Atmos support on its devices, but perplexingly, it remains turned off by default all these years later. Consequently, if you’re listening to music or watching a video, you won’t be experiencing the best possible audio quality that you could be getting right out of the box.

To fix this, go to Settings > Sounds and vibration > Sound quality and effects > Dolby Atmos and toggle it on. You’ll also see a few options to customize your listening experience with Dolby Atmos, including Auto, Movie, Music, and Voice. I prefer to keep it on Auto, allowing my phone to automatically adjust the Dolby Atmos settings for whatever I’m listening to, whether it’s a TV show or music. If you want to use it for just watching movies and shows, but not music, I recommend setting it to Movie mode.

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2

Turn on Always On Display (AOD)

Make glancing at your phone easier

Most modern smartphones include an Always On Display (AOD) setting. If you’re like me and check your phone periodically throughout the day to quickly see the time or check for notifications, having AOD activated is a great way to check your device without having to pick it up and turn it on. Samsung Galaxy phones feature very efficient displays, and if you’re concerned about the impact on battery life, there are useful settings you can enable to minimize its effect.

By default, AOD is enabled; however, it’s set to tap only, meaning you need to tap your screen for it to activate. To change this, go to Settings > Lock screen and AOD > Always on Display > When to Show. You will find several options to choose from, such as Tap to show, Auto, Always, As scheduled, and For new notifications. I prefer to keep it in Auto mode, as this means my phone uses the AOD feature unless it detects that I’m sleeping, it’s face down, or it has been in a dark place for longer than five minutes.

Admittedly, the biggest drawback of enabling AOD is the impact on battery life. However, there are effective ways to minimize its impact. To help conserve battery, toggle off the “Show Lock Screen Wallpaper” setting. This will hide your lock screen wallpaper when your phone is in AOD mode, reverting it to a black background. If you know when you want AOD to be active, such as during the day at work but not in the evening, you can set specific times for it to be enabled, thereby further minimizing battery impact.

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1

Customize the side button

Change its long-press and double-tap functionality to your liking

Most modern Android phones have modified the power button’s functionality, making it behave more like a side button than a conventional power button. Although the physical button remains, many have evolved into AI buttons that no longer serve their original functions of turning off or restarting the device with a long press. In this era of AI, pressing and holding the power button on most Samsung Galaxy phones activates Gemini, Google’s AI assistant.

If you enjoy using Gemini, this is a useful functionality. However, if you don’t care about digital assistants or AI, you can revert the side button to its original purpose: giving you the ability to power off or restart your phone.

By navigating to Settings > Advanced features > Side button > Long press, Samsung offers three options: Digital Assistant (Gemini), Bixby, and Power off menu. You can choose your preferred option here.

In the side button menu, there is another useful feature: the ability to change what happens when the side button is double-pressed. By default, it is set to open the camera, but you can change it to launch any app you want. Want to doomscroll? You can set it so that double-tapping the side button opens Instagram or X. Looking for a quick way to turn on the flashlight? You can set it to do that. There are countless apps you can assign it to, depending on your personal preference.

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