After months of using the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, I recently began using a budget Android handset as my daily smartphone.
I don’t need to waste time explaining why I’ve stopped using Samsung’s newest powerhouse — I’ve already written about how I accidentally smashed it to smithereens — and, after a sojourn to the Galaxy A57 to check out the brand’s budget blower, I’ve since moved to Motorola’s pastures.
I wasn’t expecting the experience to be the same. Samsung’s phone has a top-end processor, four rear cameras, a stylus, and a massive screen. The Motorola Edge 70 Fusion only has the last of those.
But I was surprised to discover that none of these were what I missed most about the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Nope, I’m finding it hard to adjust to life without one little software feature.
I tested the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the Privacy Display has to be seen to be believed
The world-first feature is very special, but there’s a lot more to the phone
Samsung’s software won me over
It’s the One (UI)
I haven’t loved all of Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s software. I’m one of many people who’ve replaced Samsung Keyboard with GBoard due to its predictive problems, and I totally ignore plenty of AI features.
But I’ve enjoyed some other things. I wrote previously about Audio Eraser and how it’s a neat little extra for fixing video, and how the stylus is a really useful part of my life.
If I were to make a list of my favorite and least favorite software features of the Samsung and One UI 8.5, though, there’s one I wouldn’t even think of adding: Finder.
And yet when I moved over to the Motorola, it was what I found myself missing most.
What even is Finder?
Let me Find-er glossary
So what is Finder? Basically, it’s an advanced way of searching for what’s hidden away in your phone.
You can access it on a Samsung phone by swiping up on your home screen to reveal your app drawer and by pressing the search bar at the bottom.
Plenty of phones have something like this, to search via apps or settings on your handset, and Finder didn’t use to be that special.
On the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, though, there are a few changes.
Firstly, you can now find Finder on the home screen, which makes it a little quicker to access.
The most important change, though, is that Finder has access to more than just your apps. This is an upgrade that Samsung calls Search with Finder, and it does just that: search.
And it’s hard to go back
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra’s version of Finder can look through your phone to find little bits and pieces, breadcrumbs left through your time with the device, which makes it a really handy smartphone companion.
When I flew to Barcelona to cover MWC, I could type “boarding pass” into Finder, and the tool would find it hidden away in my email attachments, downloads, or wherever else it was stored on my phone.
That’s the magic. I didn’t need to know where it was, and I didn’t need to waste time hunting it down as I would on another phone. A quick search term, and there it was.
The same thing happened when I tried to find the itinerary I’d been sent for the trip, or later needed to sign and return a document I’d been sent weeks prior, and had totally forgotten about.
No need to waste time jumping between messaging apps, trying to remember where I’d received it; it was on my phone in seconds.
When I was working on a film project and sharing different versions of the script, shot list, and schedule with different people on different platforms, I could easily use Finder to find the specific document I needed and share it in seconds.
Finder can also search within certain apps, your photo tags, and information from your widgets. I haven’t used those functions as much, but they’re still handy when they crop up.
Since moving to the Motorola, I’ve already lost these documents in my phone about four times.
It’s impossible to keep track of multiple files shared internally, attached via emails, or sent on WhatsApp, and I think I’ve become far too accustomed to Finder hunting down documents for me.
Search with Finder has quickly proven the hardest feature to live without, as it was easy to get used to but hard to go cold turkey from. And I’m frankly surprised Samsung hasn’t used it more.
The Samsung Galaxy A57, for example, doesn’t have the full package. While it fixed one of my frustrating cheap-phone pet peeves, it only has the non-Ultra version of Finder, which feels less special by comparison.
Search with Finder feels like the ultimate tool to roll out on all Samsung phones, to win over users to One UI, and prove it better than other brands’ Android equivalents.
Through the highs and lows of Samsung’s One UI, I’ve slowly been won over by the software, and I love how easy it is to navigate with tools like Finder.
I’d call it a must-steal feature for other mobile brands, but some Android Police writers argue the iPhone’s version is better, so people who’ve used both will have to judge.
8/10
- SoC
-
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- RAM
-
12GB / 16GB
- Storage
-
256GB / 512GB / 1TB
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a world-first new feature called the Privacy Display, which hides the phone screen from prying eyes. The phone is lighter, thinner, and more powerful than its predecessor.