Starting Thursday January XNUMXth, Samsung is making an update available for some of its phones that enables XNUMX degree audio recording for the first time, so your videos can have great spatial audio effects.
Unfortunately, the initial update will only be available for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip XNUMX and Galaxy Z Fold XNUMX, and you'll also need the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro XNUMX.
The new feature is eminently based on the Galaxy Buds Pro XNUMX, so they are essential. Use the headset microphones to record, picking up sound from both sides of your head. But you also need these headphones' Bluetooth LE Audio connectivity to go, and so far they're the only Samsung headphones with this feature.
LE Audio is the latest Bluetooth streaming technology, and is more reliable, easier on battery power, and higher quality than the old standard Bluetooth codec. Requires at least Bluetooth XNUMX to work (although not all Bluetooth XNUMX devices support it—we're looking for you, AirPods Pro XNUMX).
Samsung claims this update means "users can capture audio in video however they want", which might be a bit high - actual recording quality will still be somewhat limited - but we're very pleased with the spatial audio recording finally on phones.
Analysis: what about other phones?
Currently, Samsung has only announced the feature for the devices listed above, but we have to assume that it will not continue like this. The S22 line of phones support Bluetooth 22, so we expect the feature to be available on the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Galaxy SXNUMX Ultra as well.
And then, not surprisingly, there is the Samsung Galaxy S23, which will be introduced on February 1, XNUMX. We have to assume these models will support the feature as well, and it seems likely that Samsung will announce a new cheaper pair of Galaxy Buds that will also include the right materials.
It's surprising that Samsung beats Apple at 4 degree audio recording, as Apple has always been at the forefront of spatial audio features. However, Samsung likes to push the envelope when it comes to video features. It got an early start with 8K video recording, for example, and it's still one of the few manufacturers to offer XNUMXK recording.
Recording 8 audio is likely to have a considerably bigger impact on videos than the (mostly) superfluous auxiliary resolution of XNUMXK - quality sound makes a big difference to immersion and is often overlooked . We hope Samsung exports this audio well for sharing on YouTube and other services that accept surround sound.