See that clever prompt at the bottom of the screen in the image above? That’s a Google Fast Pair prompt and, until now, that’s a prompt you would have only seen when pairing a brand-new pair of earbuds or some other Bluetooth device.
But now, thanks to some advancements in Google’s Fast Pair (opens in new tab) technology, the best Android phones (opens in new tab) could all take just a few seconds to set up and you’ll have all your old apps, messages, pictures, and even settings on your new phone without having to go through the hassle of yesteryear. For now, though, this is the first time I’ve seen this on a new Android phone.
Samsung recently rolled out this tech (opens in new tab) to its Nearby Devices Scanning app and its most recent OS update, One UI 5.1, includes this feature for setting up brand-new phones when you pull them out of the box, like the Galaxy S23 (opens in new tab).
So enough of the background. What makes this so easy? Here’s how the setup went for me:
- Powered on the phone for the first time.
- Accepted the prompt that appeared on my old phone to setup up the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
- Tapped wireless transfer on the Galaxy S23 Ultra to pull all the stuff off my old phone and transfer it to the new one.
- Tapped next to start the process.
So, essentially, if I didn’t have to power the phone on first, this would have been a three-tap process. That’s a massive improvement over the previous setup flow which often included having to search for the old phone via Bluetooth, inputting some kind of code, or something else that was more complicated. If that didn’t work, you had to break out a USB-C cable and hook the two phones together.
As is the case with most other types of electronics, reducing the time and difficulty of setting up new devices is key to giving people a good first impression. As we all know, first impressions are everything and a bad first impression will negatively impact your thoughts on any experience or device.
Kudos to Samsung and Google for getting this successfully implemented. Actual progress like this is a wonderful thing.
Phone deals: Best Buy (opens in new tab) | Walmart (opens in new tab) | Samsung (opens in new tab) | Amazon (opens in new tab) | Verizon (opens in new tab) | AT&T (opens in new tab)
Looking to upgrade this year? Pick up a Galaxy S23 with an amazing 50MP camera, the fastest mobile processor ever, more storage for photos and videos, and improved battery life to keep you going for longer.
