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Having used Pixel devices in the past, Google Photos has always been my go-to choice for photo management. However, since switching to a Samsung device, Samsung Gallery has quietly become my preferred option, and it beats Google Photos in several key areas.
1Superior Photo Organization and Management
One of the things that made me first admire the Samsung Gallery app was its intuitive, straightforward UI. It’s exactly the kind of user experience you’d expect from a gallery app.
For example, Samsung Gallery allows me to sort albums by name or by the number of media files within them. Additionally, there’s an option to hide albums I don’t want to see and to group albums together—both of which make browsing through my collection much more organized.
Then there’s Samsung Gallery’s suggestion feature, which I find incredibly useful. It quickly identifies and suggests duplicate and outdated photos, allowing me to delete them with just a few taps. This level of efficiency and photo management is something that Google Photos doesn’t offer.
Screenshot by Pankil Shah – No attribution required
2OneDrive Integration
As someone who’s alreadypaying for Microsoft 365, I find Samsung Gallery’s integration with OneDrive incredibly convenient. With the 1TB of OneDrive storage included in my subscription, I can effortlessly back up and store all my photos without having to worry about running out of space.
Backing up my photos to OneDrive also means I can easily access them on my Windows PC without needing to transfer or download them. This seamless integration saves me time and ensures all my photos are in one place, whether I’m using my phone or computer.
While I could achieve a similar experience bysetting up Google Drive on my Windows PC, it would require paying for additional storage on Google Photos.
3Seamless Search for Both Backed-Up and Local Photos
When it comes to finding specific photos, Google Photos undeniably offers a robust set of tools—such as face recognition, location tagging, and even searching by descriptive phrases like “sunset” or “birthday.” However, there’s a major caveat: these features only work on photos that are backed up to the cloud.
So, if I haven’t synced everything, or if I’m deliberately avoiding uploading certain images to save storage or protect my privacy, I can’t use Google Photos' search tools to find those images.
This is not a problem with Samsung Gallery, as its search functionality isn’t tied to whether a photo is stored locally on my device or backed up to the cloud. This means I can effortlessly find what I’m looking for—regardless of where the images are stored. This is a huge convenience for me that Google Photos simply doesn’t offer.
4Powerful Photo and Video Editing Tools
As someone who loves to fine-tune my media, I’ve tried both Samsung Gallery andGoogle Photos for editing photosand videos. While both apps offer solid editing tools, Samsung Gallery stands out for its powerful and versatile features.
Samsung Gallery easily removes shadows and reflections from any of my photos. It also offers handy tools for fixing red-eye and has “Face Effects” that let me adjust features like smoothness, tone, jawline, and more. Google Photos' photo editor lacks these features.
Samsung Gallery’s video editor also offers a bunch of useful options. For instance, Samsung Gallery not only lets me remove sound from a video but also allows me to add new background music stored on my phone directly within the app. In comparison, Google Photos only lets memute the video file.
Another feature missing from Google Photos but available in Samsung Gallery’s video editor is the option to reduce video file size. This is especially handy when I don’t want to delete a video completely but also don’t want it taking up too much storage space.
5AI-Powered Photo Assist
In addition to regular photo editing features,Samsung Gallery also offers advanced AI capabilitiesthat Google Photos lacks. One of my favorites is the Generative Edit, which allows me to seamlessly expand images. Whether I want to add more background or extend a landscape, it blends the new elements with the original photo effortlessly.
Another fun and creative tool is the sketch-to-image feature, which transforms my doodle into a realistic object and seamlessly integrates it into the photo.
6Option to Copy and Paste Edits
Another useful Samsung Gallery feature is the ability to copy and paste edits across multiple images. It’s such a time-saver, especially when I’ve made a few adjustments to one image and want to apply the same changes to others.
Here’s how it works: If I’ve made some edits to a photo—whether it’s adjusting the brightness or adding filters—there’s an easy option to copy those edits. I just tap thethree-dot menuin the top corner and selectCopy Edits. Then, I can quickly choose other photos I’d like to apply those exact same adjustments to. Once I’ve selected the images, I tap thethree-dot menuagain and hitPaste Edits.
Again, this is a feature that Google Photos doesn’t offer. While it may not be a major issue for many, it’s one of those nice-to-have features that make Samsung Gallery stand out for me.
7Copy Images to Clipboard for Easy Sharing
With Samsung Gallery, I can easily copy images to the clipboard for easy sharing. All I need to do is open the image, tap thethree-dot menu, and selectCopy to clipboard. Then, I can easily paste the image into any app—whether it’s a messaging app or email. What’s even better is that I can also pin that image to myphone’s clipboard, allowing me to access it later without having to dig through my gallery.
This is a feature that I use almost daily. Unfortunately, Google Photos doesn’t offer this level of integration, making Samsung Gallery a more practical choice for me on my Galaxy phone.
While Google Photos certainly has its strengths, I’ve found that Samsung Gallery’s user-focused approach and practical tools are a perfect fit for my everyday needs. From easy image sharing to seamless integration with my Galaxy phone, it offers greater convenience and flexibility. If you also own a Galaxy phone, give Samsung Gallery a try—you might just end up leaving Google Photos behind!
