Become Mickey or Minnie Mouse using the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus

Whether Samsung intended it or not, the new AR Emoji feature of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus is one of the most talked-about features of the new devices. Samsung revealed today that it has partnered with Disney to allow Galaxy S9 owners to use Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse as AR Emoji. We previously knew that the two companies had partnered up for the project, but didn’t know which characters would be available at launch.

Heavily inspired by Apple’s Animoji for the iPhone X, the AR Emoji feature allows you to record your face transplanted onto popular Emoji characters. You can then share these custom Emoji animations with friends and family.

The Disney characters launching with the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are limited to Mickey and Minnie Mouse for now, but Disney/Samsung promise other characters from The Incredibles, Zootopia, and Frozen will arrive to the handsets soon.

This is the first time Disney properties have been officially licensed to be used in an AR environment.

Reactions to the Samsung Galaxy S9 have been mixed, but many reviews (including ours) can’t help but note that not much has changed when compared to the Galaxy S8. The AR Emoji feature, while in itself cool, is one of the most talked-about features; but that’s most likely due to not much else being remarkably different between the two designs.

The Galaxy S9 is officially available globally starting today. You can check our coverage of the Galaxy S9, including where to get yours and how much it will cost, here. And you can read our preliminary review of the handsets here and our AR Emoji experiences here.