Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable and Use S Beam in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

S Beam is an advanced connectivity feature that can be found in the Samsung Galaxy S5. This feature works by combining NFC and Wi-Fi direct. NFC is used to pair both the devices and Wi-Fi direct is used to transfer file. Since NFC allows you to pair two devices easily by holding them close together and Wi-Fi direct allows you to transfer large file with higher speed transfer than Bluetooth, then using S Beam surely will be able to provide you an easier transfer method with the high speed transfer.


How to enable S Beam?
Before sending data using S Beam, you have to enable S Beam feature in both the devices. As the example we'll use Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy S4.

In Samsung Galaxy S5 with Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

1. Swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notifications panel.
2. Tap the Settings icon to enter the Settings menu.
3. With the Settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the "Connect and share" section and then tap NFC .
4. Enable NFC by sliding the ON/OFF switch located at the top right corner of the screen to the right.
5. Tap S Beam.
6. Enable S Beam by sliding the ON/OFF switch located at the top right corner of the screen to the right.

In Samsung Galaxy S4 with Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

1. Swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notifications panel.
2. Tap the Settings icon to enter the Settings menu.
3. Tap Connections tab.
4. Slide the ON/OFF switch next to S Beam to the right to enable this option. When the switch is on the right side or shows green means S Beam is enabled. As a note, enabling S Beam will also turn on NFC automatically.

How to transfer file using S Beam?
Actually, you can send almost everything in your phone, but as the example we'll try to send picture, video and contact from the Samsung Galaxy S5 to the Samsung Galaxy S4. To make it works, make sure both the devices are connected in the same Wi-Fi network and their screens are on/unlocked.

Send picture using S Beam

1. In Samsung Galaxy S5, open Gallery app.
2. Tap an album and then tap the required photo to view it.
3. Now, hold Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 together back to back.
4. When you see "Touch to beam" is displayed in your Samsung Galaxy S5 screen, tap everywhere on the screen to start transferring the picture.
5. When the Samsung Galaxy S5 is ready to send the picture via S Beam, separate the devices.
6. Once sending process is completed, the selected picture will be opened in the Gallery app in the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Send video using S Beam

1. In Samsung Galaxy S5, open Video player app.
2. Tap the required video to view it.
3. Now, hold Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 together back to back.
4. When you see "Touch to beam" is displayed in your Samsung Galaxy S5 screen, tap everywhere on the screen to start transferring the video.
5. When the Samsung Galaxy S5 is ready to send the video, separate the devices.
6. Once sending process is completed, the video will be opened in the Video player app.

Send contact using S Beam

1. In Samsung Galaxy S5, open Contacts app.
2. Tap the required contact to open contact detail.
3. Now, hold Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 together back to back.
4. When you see "Touch to beam" is displayed in your Samsung Galaxy S5 screen, tap everywhere on the screen to start transferring the video.
5. When the Samsung Galaxy S5 is ready to send contact via S Beam, separate the devices.
6. In the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen you'll be asked to choose the place to save the contact (They are likely: Device, your active Samsung account, your active Google account).
7. The contact detail will be displayed in the Contacts app in the Samsung Galaxy S4.

As a note, you can beam other contents on your phone by using the same steps as when you beam picture, video or contact. Unfortunately, you can't beam music due to software limitation. Thus, if you want to share music with others, you can use other connectivity features, for instance Wi-Fi direct or Bluetooth.