Switching between a Galaxy and a Pixel keeps me honest about what truly matters in day-to-day use. Google’s software is crisp, efficient, and increasingly cohesive, but there’s one Samsung app I can’t stop pining for whenever I move to a Pixel: Samsung My Files. It’s the rare preinstalled utility that feels professional-grade, and it highlights how much a good file manager still matters on a modern phone.
Why Samsung My Files outclasses Files by Google
Google’s Files app is fine for most people. It’s lightweight, tidy, and smart about cleaning up clutter. But My Files behaves like a proper file hub rather than a pretty viewer. It gives you control beyond the device itself, it digs deeper when you search, and it makes moving around nested folders painless. When your phone doubles as your camera, scanner, and portable workstation, that difference compounds quickly.
Network storage that actually works
If you use a NAS or a home server—even casually—My Files feels indispensable. Through its Network Storage Manager, it natively connects to SMB shares and FTP servers, auto-discovers hosts on your network, and remembers credentials. On a Galaxy, I can tap into a Synology or TrueNAS share, stream a 4K file, and copy documents without reaching for a third-party client.
Files by Google doesn’t offer the same. It plays nicely with Google Drive, but there’s no native SMB or FTP support, and no easy way to mount a local share within the browsing view. For households that have leaned into home storage—an audience that’s grown as photo and video sizes balloon—this is a practical limitation. Samsung’s longstanding partnership with Microsoft also shows up here; OneDrive integration inside My Files is a bonus for Windows-first workflows.
Smarter, deeper search on-device
Search is where you’d expect Google to dominate, yet My Files often finds what Files misses. Samsung’s app can look inside PDFs and other supported documents for keywords when you enable “Search inside files.” If you keep invoices, contracts, or manuals on your phone, this saves minutes that add up. I’ve located an expense form by searching for a tax phrase I remembered, despite forgetting the filename—exactly the kind of real-world rescue a file manager should deliver.
This is less about benchmarks and more about task completion. On ultra-mobile workflows—scanning receipts on the go, revisiting reference PDFs at the airport—content-aware search is a quiet superpower.
Navigation and media handling polish
My Files uses a breadcrumb path at the top of the screen, so if you’re five folders deep, a single tap jumps you back to any level. It’s small, but it transforms navigation speed. Files by Google opts for a cleaner look that often means more back taps to get where you need to go.
Samsung also bakes in a capable media player. Scrubbing through large videos over a network share is surprisingly smooth, and the player respects file formats you’re likely to encounter on a NAS. For creators, families archiving old footage, or anyone moving big files across devices, this reduces friction more than you’d expect.
Where Files by Google pulls ahead
To its credit, Google’s app nails the basics and a few niceties. The Clean tab is genuinely helpful, surfacing duplicates, giant downloads, and temporary junk. If you back up to Google Photos, the “free up space” suggestions are almost foolproof, which matters on entry-level storage tiers. Google’s Safe Folder, protected by a PIN or pattern, is also a simple way to hide sensitive files—something My Files lacks out of the box.
The Share tab—now aligned with Android’s Quick Share branding—makes local device-to-device transfers straightforward, and the built-in document scanner is handy for one-off paperwork without opening another app. Design-wise, Material You theming gives Files a calm, cohesive look that’s very approachable.
What Google could borrow next
For power users, My Files sets a bar that shouldn’t be reserved for only one brand’s owners. Native SMB support, content-aware search, breadcrumb navigation, and a robust built-in media experience are table stakes for a phone that already replaces your laptop in a pinch. Given Google’s focus on AI and on-device intelligence, extending Files to index document contents and browse local network shares feels like a natural evolution.
The reality is that both apps cover the mainstream well. Files by Google boasts billions of installs on the Play Store and serves as a reliable default; Samsung’s My Files raises the ceiling for those who need more. When I’m on a Pixel, I miss My Files because it treats my phone like part of a larger, multi-device ecosystem. That’s increasingly how we all use our tech—and where Google has room to make its file manager truly great.