The Galaxy S26 FE went on sale on September 4 and brings many of the flagship features of the original Galaxy S26 series at a lower price. It even has one advantage over the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra: it runs Android 17 and Samsung's One UI 9 out of the box.

Whether you are a long-time Galaxy user or switching to Samsung for the first time, here are five features worth trying on your new Galaxy S26 FE.

Suppose you record a video containing several people at a concert or another event. My FanCam lets you select one of those people and create a cropped version that follows them around. Galaxy AI keeps the person centered even as they move, while everything outside the selected frame is cropped out.

Unlike the Auto Framing feature in the camera app, which follows people while you are recording, My FanCam lets you choose whom to follow after the video has been saved.

To try it, open a video in the Gallery app, tap the Galaxy AI icon, and select My FanCam. Choose an aspect ratio, then select and frame the person you want to follow.

If My FanCam cannot find anyone, use the seek bar to move to a point where the people in the video are easier to see.

Now Brief provides personalized briefings throughout the day using information available on your phone. Samsung includes several predefined categories that determine what can appear, but those categories may not always show what you want.

One UI 9 adds a Custom cards section that lets you create up to three cards of your own. Available categories include weather, health, and videos.

You can select one of the suggested options or write your own prompt. For example, you can enter “Show me my sleep and energy scores” and choose when the card should appear. Now Brief will validate the prompt, create the layout, and show you an example of the finished card.

You can also create cards that recommend videos about a particular player, sport, or subject. Any custom card you create can be edited or deleted later.

The Galaxy S26 FE can permanently display Samsung Finder and Google Search at the bottom of the home screen.

Pinch the home screen, tap Settings, and select Show search on Home screen. You can enable Samsung Finder, Google Search, or both.

Google Search provides quick access to the web, while Finder searches the content stored on your phone. It can help you locate apps, settings, contacts, files, and even Samsung Calendar entries without opening the app drawer first.

If you enable both options, you can switch between them from the search bar. Disabling both brings back the regular home screen page indicator.

The Galaxy S26 FE supports Super Steady video recording with Horizontal Lock. It uses the phone's sensors to keep the horizon level even when you tilt or rotate the device while recording.

Open the Camera app, switch to Video mode, and tap the running person-shaped Super Steady icon. Then tap the icon showing a running person with a diagonal line through it to enable Horizontal Lock.

Once you start recording, try rotating the phone all the way around. The phone may turn, but the orientation of the recorded video should remain the same.

Horizontal Lock can be particularly useful when recording sports, outdoor adventures, or any other activity where keeping the phone perfectly steady is difficult.

The Quick Panel on One UI is highly customizable and gives you plenty of control over its appearance.

Open the Quick Panel fully (swipe down from the top right corner of the screen) and tap the pencil-shaped edit button to start customizing it.

You can move toggles and widgets almost anywhere, remove the ones you never use, and switch the brightness and volume sliders between horizontal and vertical layouts. You can also resize the display brightness slider, volume slider, and media player widget.

There are enough options that you may spend some time finding the perfect arrangement. Once you do, however, the features and controls you use most will always be exactly where you expect them.