What you need to know
- The Galaxy S26 lets you use your phone as a webcam on computers via simple USB-C.
- Android has added native webcam support before, but Samsung is only now bringing it to its flagship phones.
- You can use the rear or front cameras with the high-quality mode, which streams better video but heats up the phone.
If you’ve ever joined a Zoom call and felt like the camera quality wasn’t great, you’ve probably considered using your Android phone as a webcam. The Galaxy S26 finally supports this, allowing you to use it as a webcam for video calls on PCs and laptops.
Google has introduced support for using Android phones as webcams Android 14 QPR1 In 2023. This happened shortly after the COVID period when many people used their iPhone as a webcam for video calls on their Mac. Google has added a similar feature over USB for Android.
with Android 15the company further improved the video quality, but many Android manufacturers did not actually adopt this feature. with Galaxy S26 seriesSamsung is finally bringing it.
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As seen Android Authorityyou can now use the Galaxy S26 series as a webcam for video calls on PCs and laptops by simply connecting it with a USB-C cable. Once connected, you will see a new webcam option in the USB settings.
Once selected, you’ll be able to use both the rear cameras (primary and ultra-wide) as well as the front-facing camera for video calls. It’s also worth noting that this feature supports High Quality mode, which streams higher bitrate video to your computer, although it may cause the phone to heat up a bit during use.
If you think this feature is not new, you are actually right. It has also been available wirelessly in Samsung’s ecosystem for quite some time. However, this is the first time Samsung is bringing wider USB support.
For now, this feature is limited to the Galaxy S26 series, meaning even the Galaxy S25 devices A UI 8.5 beta cannot access it. It could be hardware related, but since Google introduced it back with Android 14, it seems unlikely. Samsung can still bring older devices that have a future A UI The 8.5 update, however, is exclusive to the S26 lineup for now.
Android Central’s Take
Makes you wonder why it’s taking so long. This is something that Google and Samsung could have gotten ahead of much earlier, especially during the pandemic.
Still, it’s nice to see it finally coming. An added benefit is that if your laptop is plugged in, you can also charge your phone while using this feature, meaning you can use it for long meetings without worrying about battery life.
