The Gallery app usually isn’t where we expect to find our best editing tools. Most of us use it for basic edits, while anything more advanced usually means reaching for another app. I treated Samsung Gallery the same way until I compared its results with the editing apps I normally used. Most of those apps aren’t on my phone anymore.

I underestimated Samsung Gallery

More than crops and filters

Samsung Gallery was never the app I opened when a photo needed real work. It handled crops and filters, and anything more involved usually meant opening another app. That changed when I swiped up on a photo instead of jumping straight into the editor.

Swiping up opens a details screen, and that’s where Edit Suggestions lives. Gallery checks the photo and suggests edits that match it. The first suggestion I tried was Remaster. It appeared on an old photo that had been shared over messaging apps so many times it barely held any detail. The compression cleared up, the soft edges sharpened, and the lighting looked balanced again. A week earlier, I would’ve opened Snapseed without even checking Samsung Gallery first.

After that, swiping up became the first thing I did whenever I opened a photo. A photo taken through a car window suggested Erase reflections, and it actually removed glare I’d assumed I’d have to live with. I saw the same thing happen with a portrait shot under harsh afternoon light, where Gallery offered Erase shadows.

Then Gallery suggested something I’d never even heard of. Every time I photographed a laptop screen or TV, the image ended up covered in rainbow-colored wave patterns. I’d always assumed they were just part of photographing a display. The suggestion said Remove Moiré, and that’s how I learned those patterns even had a name. Once I applied it, the photo showed a clean screen instead of a distorted mess.

The edits I now do myself

I had a group shot with a stranger standing right at the edge of the frame. Normally, that meant opening a separate editing app to clean it up. Instead, I tried Object Eraser. It removed the stranger cleanly, but taking them out left an empty space at one edge of the photo. I held down on one of the group members, dragged them closer to the center, and pinched to resize. The AI filled in the empty space, and the photo looked like it had been taken that way.

Making WhatsApp stickers was another job I’d always handed to a separate app. Gallery’s Lasso tool lets you trace around any subject, lift it out of the photo, and save it as a transparent sticker straight into your Samsung Keyboard. I’ve used it on photos of friends, pets, and just about anything that makes a good reaction sticker. It replaced the background-remover app I’d been using for WhatsApp stickers.

Straightening a crooked horizon was an edit I usually skipped because I knew I’d lose part of the photo. Every degree of rotation cuts into the edges, and before long, parts of the photo are gone. Gallery fills those empty corners with generated pixels that match the surroundings, so the photo straightens without shrinking.

It wasn’t limited to photos, either. I had a noisy clip recorded in a crowded place that I’d normally have cleaned up in another app. This time, I opened it in Gallery instead. Audio Eraser stripped out the wind and background chatter while keeping the voices I actually wanted to hear.

It wasn’t just the AI

The editing tools were what drew me into Samsung Gallery. A screenshot, for instance, no longer had to stay a static image. Tapping the yellow “T” icon recognizes the text inside it. Phone numbers become tappable for calling, addresses open directly in Maps, and even URLs become working links.

I’ve also used it to photograph printed pages and copy the text straight into an email instead of typing everything out. Saving a QR code in a screenshot usually means finding another device to scan it. Gallery lets me long-press the QR code instead, opening the link directly from the saved image.

The feature I probably rely on most is search. Typing something like “Wi-Fi password” or a hotel name into Gallery’s search bar pulls up the exact photo containing those words. I’ve used it to find everything from hotel check-in details to confirmation numbers that would have taken far longer to scroll back through manually.

8.5/10

SoC

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Display

6.9-inch Dynamic Super AMOLED 2X

RAM

12 or 16 GB

Storage

256GB, 512GB, or 1TB

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra isn’t a massive leap in specs compared to the previous generation Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it boasts improvements in every aspect. The major differentiators are two features that will appeal to power users and content creators, called Privacy Display and Horizontal Lock.