Hands on with One UI 2.1 on the Samsung Galaxy S10 series

Samsung launched the Galaxy S20 series with an improved version of its UI—One UI 2.1. The Galaxy S10 series is now also receiving the One UI 2.1 update with all the software features that debuted on the Galaxy S20 phones.

Samsung released the Android 10-based One UI 2.0 update for the Galaxy S10 phones back in December. The company, two months ago, launched the Galaxy S20 series, with the phones featuring a newer version of the skin—One UI 2.1. Over the past week, Samsung has sent out the One UI 2.1 update to the Galaxy S10 series, starting with Europe and slowly moving on to the US models.

I have a unit with model number SM-G975U1. In other words, the US factory unlocked S10+. I received the One UI 2.1 update alongside the April monthly update yesterday. Verizon and Sprint models supposedly also have the update.

Changelog:

AR Emoji

- AR Emoji has been updated with improvements like a manual editing feature and enhanced facial expression recognition.

※ As AR Emoji has been updated to a new version, all previously saved AR emojis will be deleted when you next open the AR Emoji app.

New Camera features

- Various menus, modes, and filters have been added, such as AR Zone, Single take, Pro video, My filters, Selfie tone, timelapse for night time, and a mode for recording videos with the front camera in FHD/UHD at 60 fps.

Gallery

- Similar images are now grouped together for a more organized viewing experience.

- A feature has been added that allows you to merge multiple different groups of albums into one group, or merge different groups and albums into one group.

- An improved search feature has been added to find pictures based on information such As the time or place pictures were taken.

- The Quick crop function has been added to enlarge and crop parts of high-resolution images.

Samsung keyboard

- A multilingual translation feature has been added.

- A feature has been added for searching for Various items, such As emojis and stickers, at one time.

- A text undo/redo feature has been added.

(Swipe two fingers left or right on the keyboard.)

- An icon to open Samsung Pass has been added.

Quick Share

- Files can now be quickly and easily shared with nearby Samsung devices using Quick Share.

Music Share

- Music Share now lets you share music with your friends using a Bluetooth audio device.

The update weighed in at exactly 1446.89 MB and took about ten minutes to install after downloading. Samsung continues to refuse to implement seamless updates, and that's a shame. In any case, going from One UI 2.0 to One UI 2.1 isn't a major change, and apart from a few features, the differences are mostly subtle.

When you turn on your phone, you're greeted by the first major change: a new fingerprint unlock animation. This animation appears to be faster and smoother, but the previous one hardly raised the bar high. Unlocking itself doesn't appear to have become any faster, but the animation may make it feel so.

Pulling down the notification panel also shows a slight difference, with new rounded corners. Pulling down further reveals the quick settings tiles, and there are a few new options: Music Share and Quick Share. Kids Home has now also been renamed to Samsung Kids.

The share menu also sees some changes in icon design. And now, when you plug in a USB cable and open the menu, it gives an option for Transferring Files/Android Auto.

Other than those, the biggest changes are to the camera app. The One UI 2.1 update brings a number of camera features including Single Take and My Filters. Single Take works by recording a short video, then splitting them into "fun" gifs and shots with filters. 

Pretty gimmicky, really, is it's done entirely by the phone and you have no input other than just recording. However, this feature could be interesting for those with pets and/or kids around. Plus, well, it's fun. My Filters allows you to create a custom filter using the color palette of an image on your phone. It's...interesting at the very least. 

Pro Video Mode also makes a return after Samsung removed it with the Pie update last year. It's solid; not as good as what you'd get on an LG flagship, but adequate enough. There's also a new function to record videos with the selfie camera at 4K60FPS.

There doesn't seem to be any difference in photo quality. Not in color profiles or HDR. I don't have another phone on One UI 2.0 with me, however, so I can't provide a scientific comparison.

Have you received the One UI 2.1 update on your Galaxy S10 series phone? Let us know in the comments below.