Galaxy A72 May 2021 update brings video call effects feature

The May 2021 security update is rolling out to more and more Galaxy devices as the month progresses, as Samsung continues to show the competition how to lead in the software support game, and the Galaxy A72 is now joining the club. A new update is rolling out to the Galaxy A72 with the latest security patch in tow, along with a One UI 3.1 feature that has, so far, been exclusive to Samsung’s 2021 flagship devices.

Taking Zoom calls from home? You can now remove your unkept room from the background

This feature is called video call effects and lets you add custom backgrounds to video calls made using third-party apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Duo. You can use a basic blur effect (like the blur effect you get in the camera’s portrait mode), add an opaque color to the background (the color is selected automatically by the phone), or set a custom image from your gallery. It works great, and now that it’s arriving on the Galaxy A72, we can expect more mid-range and non-flagship Galaxy phones to get the feature as well.

The May update for the Galaxy A72 also includes improvements to camera performance, call quality, and file sharing via Quick Share (similar to the May update for many other Galaxy devices). It’s available in Russia at the moment but is likely to reach more countries within the next week or two, though some markets may have to wait longer as the Galaxy A72 falls in the quarterly update schedule and that means availability of new updates isn’t as consistent as it is for devices in Samsung’s monthly schedule.

You can check if the update — firmware version A725FXXU2AUE1 — is available for your Galaxy A72 by opening the phone’s Settings app, navigating to Software update, and selecting Download and install. You will also find the latest firmware in our archive and can download it to manually upgrade your phone using a Windows PC. Just be sure to do a data backup if you take that route and follow the instructions carefully.

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Galaxy A30’s Android 11 update is out, that’s it for this phone

The Android 11 update is hitting yet another mid-range model in Samsung’s smartphone lineup. On the receiving end this time around is the Galaxy A30. The update has been released in China and comes with software version A3050ZCU4CUE1. The included security patch isn’t the absolute latest, but it is dated April 1, 2021, which is pretty solid for a phone that completed its second birthday two months back.

Speaking of which, Android 11 is the last major update for the Galaxy A30. It launched running Android Pie and is not included in Samsung’s new software update policy. The new One UI version accompanying Android 11 should be 3.1, though we can’t confirm that at the moment since the update is only available in China. Also, Samsung China follows its own schedule for software releases, so it remains to be seen how soon Android 11 will reach the Galaxy A30 in other markets.

Still, given Samsung’s recent track record, a global release shouldn’t take too long, and we’ll be sure to let you know once availability of the update expands to cover more regions. If you live in China, you can download the update over the air right away by going into the phone’s Settings app, selecting Software update, and tapping Download and install. The Android 11 firmware can also be manually flashed on the phone with a Windows PC using the relevant file that you can download from our firmware archive.

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Weekly SamMobile Quiz 73 – Come test your Samsung knowledge!

Fancy yourself as a Samsung superfan? Take our quiz and see how many answers you can get right! This is a fun activity that we do with our readers every week to test their knowledge of the Korean giant. The quiz has a mix of easy and difficult questions that most fans should be able to answer without turning to Google.

We make a new quiz for you every weekend so we hope that you’ll participate and learn a thing or two about Samsung in the process! Don’t forget to share the results of the quiz with your friends and see if you can outscore them. A little competition never hurt anybody!

Remember, if the quiz isn’t loading properly, please access the non-AMP version of this webpage.

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May 2021 security update reaches Galaxy Note10 Lite

The Galaxy Note 10 Lite is the newest Samsung smartphone to have received the May 2021 Android security update. Well, the newest to have started receiving it, to be exact. This month’s over-the-air upgrade for the iconic smartphone – identified by PDA version N770FXXU7EUE2 – has just been spotted in Spain several hours back. Much like that build number suggests, this OTA package is intended for the international variants of the device (SM-N770F).

No other country joined the deployment just yet, at least none that we can presently confirm. Still, the timing of this release coincides with the urgent manner in which Samsung tends to update the Galaxy Note 10 Lite every month. Meaning you should expect another swift international rollout to take place any day now.

The May 2021 update is guaranteed to reach you shortly, but we can’t say the same about another Galaxy Note Lite…

As per usual, the security patch level dated May 1st, 2021 has already been reaching several dozen Samsung devices since the turn of the month. This particular firmware that’s sanctioned for the Galaxy Note 10 Lite also appears to be bundled with some user-facing additions beyond the scheduled cybersecurity improvements. At least based on the aforementioned PDA and Samsung’s long-established software versioning practices.

Either way, anyone who’s not thrilled with the idea of waiting for the new security update to hit their device can also try triggering the installation manually. The way to do so starts by navigating to Settings > Software update > Download and install. Of course, that trick is unlikely to work outside of Spain right now, but it never hurts to try. And if it does hurt, our firmware archives are here to assist by providing you with yet another alternative for procuring the Galaxy Note 10 Lite May 2021 patch.

In less awesome news for fans of the Galaxy Note series… whelp, there is no Galaxy Note series. Not any longer, at least. As some temporary consolation, however, Samsung has at least cut the price of the entire Galaxy Note 20 range to some rather ridiculous levels as part of a perpetually refreshing deal that’s still fairly easy to take advantage of. So, how about it – one more Note for old time’s sake?

Galaxy Note 10 Lite

• Model: SM-N770F
• Dimensions: Bar: 163.7 x 76.1 x 8.7 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Super AMOLED Plus
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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Two Samsung Internet features I wish were on Google Chrome

Samsung Internet is the most popular Samsung app on Android, because it’s one of the few Samsung apps that work on non-Galaxy devices and because the Korean giant’s browser app is pretty amazing. However, I stick to Chrome on both phone and desktop thanks to the cross-syncing support enabled by having a Google account, something that you don’t get with Samsung Internet (partly because Samsung Internet doesn’t have a desktop version).

That does mean that I miss out on some of the nice features that you get on Samsung Internet, and there are two in particular — rather simple ones at that — I wish Google would adopt for Chrome on Android.

One-click disabling of autoplaying videos

I’m pretty sure no one out there likes websites that start playing videos on their pages automatically, especially those that also automatically play sound instead of autoplaying videos on mute and leaving it up to the viewer to turn on the sound. Many websites are guilty of this, including some popular gaming websites that I frequent, and it can become quite frustrating after a while.

Samsung Internet, however, has a great solution to this: You can simply go into its settings and toggle the button that says Allow autoplay videos (located inside the Useful features submenu). Chrome has no such provision. It does allow you to mute websites from playing audio, but there’s no setting to disable autoplaying videos. The mute setting is customizable and lets you mute audio on individual sites or disable audio completely, but a separate option for simply preventing all sites from autoplaying videos would be a lot better.

Automatic dark mode on websites that have a dark theme

We here at SamMobile give our readers the option of selecting a dark theme (which looks great, if we may say so ourselves), and there are many websites out there that let you toggle between a light and dark theme. Galaxy devices (and pretty much every smartphone) come with a system-wide dark mode as well, and Samsung Internet automatically switches between light and dark themes for a website based on the dark mode setting for your phone or tablet.

This is something Chrome cannot do, and that can mean you cannot turn on the dark theme on some websites at all, because some websites do not let the reader switch themes on the fly and/or require the user to login before they can do so. With Samsung Internet, that is not the case. Samsung Internet simply loads a website in its light or dark theme based on your device setting, while giving you the option to switch between the two through the browser’s quick access menu.

Considering a dark mode is present on pretty much every Android device out there, it shouldn’t be hard for Google to bake in automatic syncing of a website’s theme with Android’s dark mode. All Chrome has right now is a theme selector for the browser’s user interface, which just isn’t enough.

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What Samsung Internet features would you like to see on Google Chrome (or one of the many other browsers available on Android)?

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I love the Galaxy S21+, and I’m not sure why (it’s probably the flat screen)

For me, choosing the largest and most top-end model in every Galaxy S lineup has been a no-brainer ever since Samsung got rid of the one-size-fits-all philosophy for its mainstream flagships (which was with the Galaxy S6 series back in 2015). That’s because having the largest screen and battery capacity possible has always been important for me, and since last year, choosing the top-end model has also meant having access to groundbreaking zoom capabilities.

This year was no different: The Galaxy S21 Ultra instantly became my favorite when Samsung announced the Galaxy S21 series in late January, especially since it’s the only model among the three S21 devices that actually offers you meaningful upgrades over last year’s Galaxy S20 smartphones. However, after using both the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Galaxy S21+ in recent months, I have realized that I like using the Galaxy S21+ more, and I’m not really sure why.

I know for certain that it’s not the camera experience: The Galaxy S21+’s single zoom camera doesn’t hold a candle to the dual zoom lenses on the Galaxy S21 Ultra. I know it’s not the battery life, which, while surprisingly consistent every day of the week, is not as amazing as what I get on the Ultra model. And the rest of the spec sheet on the S21+ is pretty similar to that of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, so I’m unable to pinpoint the exact reason why I feel like I should keep using the former.

The screen might have something to do with it, though. First, I love that it’s flat. I guess not having curves on the display just feels fresh after years of curved displays on Samsung’s flagship phones, plus it doesn’t have the issue of accidental touches that plagues Samsung’s recent flagships with curved screens. The screen’s size also feels a tad more balanced despite being only 0.1 inches smaller than that of the S21+, and the phone’s lower weight makes it feel less cumbersome to use.

And despite the lower weight, the only thing you really miss out on compared to the S21 Ultra are the two zoom cameras. That’s a major disadvantage for sure, but it’s not like the Galaxy S21 and S21+ aren’t pretty good up till 10x magnification. Apart from that, you get almost everything you get on the S21 Ultra, including excellent performance (though the camera app on these phones is surprisingly laggy for me), all-day battery life, the latest software features, adaptive refresh rate tech, and the usual stuff like stereo speakers and IP68 water resistance.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the Galaxy S21+ will feel so great a few months later when the Galaxy S21 FE makes an appearance. If the Galaxy S20 FE is anything to go by, Samsung will not strip too many important features from the original Galaxy S21 trio while offering the package at a compelling price. But, for now, I’m going to continue using the Galaxy S21+ while the Galaxy S21 Ultra sits in my desk drawer, which is something I never expected to say when these phones were first launched.

Galaxy S21 review | Galaxy S21+ review | Galaxy S21 Ultra review

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The Galaxy M12 is now available for purchase in Russia

The list of regions in which the Galaxy M12 is available for purchase is expanding, with Samsung now bringing the budget phone to Russia. The Galaxy M12 is now available for purchase in two storage configurations and three color options including black, blue, and green.

Unlike the Galaxy M12 that was released in India, the version for Russia — and indeed other markets outside of India — carries a smaller 5,000mAh battery instead of a 6,000mAh unit, but it retains the 15W fast charging capabilities.

Fortunately, other specs have remained unchanged, which means that the Galaxy M12 is now Samsung’s cheapest smartphone in Russia to boast a high-refresh rate display. The panel has an HD+ resolution and a rather outdated Infinity-V display notch, but the PLS TFT LCD panel boasts a 90Hz refresh rate.

Galaxy M12 price in Russia starts at ~$175

The Galaxy M12 is coming to Russia with two memory configuration — 3GB / 32GB and 4GB / 64GB. The variant with 32GB of built-in storage is priced at 12,990 rubles ($175), and customers who may want to purchase the 64GB variant will have to pay 14,990 rubles ($202).

Samsung’s low-cost, high-refresh rate smartphone sport NFC connectivity, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and it’s powered by the Exynos 850 chipset. The Russian model has a 48MP main camera, a 5MP ultrawide shooter, and two 2MP depth and macro sensors.

You can refer to our Galaxy M12 review linked below for more details about the device, though keep in mind that our review addresses the version that was released in India.

Galaxy M12 review

• Buy the Galaxy M12 at Samsung Russia

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