Clutching a brand-new Samsung Galaxy phone? Great! Here’s advice on how I set these phones up every time I use one, to help you get started very quickly.
You’ve unwrapped a lovely new Samsung phone and are keen to get into setting it up. I don’t blame you, Samsung has made some superb phones over the past year, and I’ve been lucky enough to use many of them. That means I’ve set up a lot of Samsung phones, and to help get you started with your phone as quickly as possible, here are all the settings I change and configure when I do.
The good thing is, the advice applies to almost all Samsung phones released recently, as the settings are part of Samsung’s One UI Android software installed on all its devices. So it doesn’t matter if you have a Galaxy A53 5G, a Galaxy S22 Ultra, or even a Galaxy Z Fold 4; almost all the advice will help you get the best from your new phone straight away.
I know you want to get into using your new phone right now, but let’s talk about charging. Your new phone’s battery will have some charge inside already, but my advice is to make sure it’s at 100% before you start using it, then fully discharge it before recharging it again. However, the vast majority of modern Samsung phones do not come with a charger, so you may have to find your old one, although the box should contain a USB Type-C cable to plug into the phone from the charging block.
If you want to buy a new charger that ensures you get the fastest charging speed (such as the excellent Anker 747), we have a selection here that fit the bill. If you decide not to buy a new charger, it’s fine — any phone charger will do the job, it may just be slower than a charger designed for the Samsung phone.
Samsung’s setup process is simple and straightforward, and the phone leads you through connecting to Wi-Fi, your cellular service, and transferring data from your old device. During the process, you will have the chance to add some security to your new phone. I recommend setting up the fingerprint sensor at this time, and adding a PIN code as required. However, the phone often skips ahead once you’ve added a fingerprint, and doesn’t always give you the chance to set up a face unlock feature.
Once the setup process has finished, open Settings > Biometrics and Security, and select Face Recognition. Follow the on-screen instructions, but when you’ve finished adding your face, don’t exit just yet. There’s an important setting to change. Turn off the option marked Stay on Lock Screen until Swipe, so when the phone sees your face it opens to your home screen without needing to swipe.
