Did you know One UI lets you use your Galaxy phone as a webcam?

Just about every laptop has a webcam built in these days, but the quality usually isn't anything to write home about. Desktop PCs, meanwhile, don't come with built-in cameras, so you'll need a separate webcam. And depending on which one you buy, the quality can be just as hit or miss.

Your Galaxy phone's camera is a good deal better than most of them, so why not use that instead? With One UI 8.5 (and above), you can do exactly that, and you don't need any extra apps to pull it off. It works on both Windows and Mac and requires only a cable.

You only need a USB-C cable. The one that came in your phone's box will do the job. Everything else is built into One UI. There's no need to install Samsung software or companion apps on your computer.

As of June 2026, the wired webcam feature is exclusive to the Galaxy S26 series. Even after receiving the One UI 8.5 update, older devices like the Galaxy S25 don't have it.

Samsung also doesn't offer the feature on mid-range devices like the Galaxy A57, even though they ship with One UI 8.5 out of the box. However, it's highly likely that flagship devices launching after the Galaxy S26 will have support for the webcam option.

That last step is easy to miss. Until you tap that notification, you won't see the preview or any of the camera options on the phone.

Once you're in the preview, you can switch between the front and rear cameras, and on the rear you get a few zoom levels to pick from — 0.6x (ultrawide), 1x, and 2x. You can also pinch to zoom in manually beyond that and up to 10x, but keep your expectations in check here.

Unlike the regular camera app, there's no post-processing going on when you're using the phone as a webcam, so the picture quality at those higher zoom levels doesn't hold up as well as it does in the camera app.

The phone's preview screen also has an HD toggle that gives you a higher-quality output, though it can use more battery and heat up the phone, something you will be warned about the first time you use the toggle.

The feature works on both, but the maximum resolution isn't the same on each. On Windows, the feature supports up to 1080p Full HD for photos and 60fps for video. On macOS, you're capped at 720p HD and 30fps. You get better quality than a typical laptop webcam either way, but there is a difference depending on your operating system.

Something worth knowing before using the feature for an important video call: the phone only provides video output. Audio still comes from your computer, so desktop users without a built-in microphone will need to connect a separate one.