Samsung’s One UI 7 update was heavily delayed due to various reasons. To make up for the lost time, many leaks said that One UI 8 will release much earlier. There was some confusion on whether Samsung would issue beta testing for One UI 8. Now, a leak from Tarun Vats on X claims that the One UI 8 Betas may launch as early as June 2025.
We can assume that the beta program is only for devices that already run internal versions of One UI 8, like the Z Fold and Z Flip 6, and the S25 series. A few weeks ago, there were leaks that the Z Fold 7 series may launch with One UI 8 (Android 17) out of the box.
Samsung has not completed the rollout of One UI 7 yet. Several models have not yet received the update in some regions. However, Samsung is planning to start the One UI 8 process early.
One UI 7 was a major upgrade. It introduces much more Home Screen personalization, where you have better layouts, larger folders, and better widgets. The design is also better, and the notifications have been revamped. There’s Now Bar and Now Brief, which keep you updated. The Quick Settings panel also got a redesign, and the animations and transitions are overall more customizable and smoother.
Another credible leak from SamMobile also mentions that Samsung could start the One UI 8 beta program as early as next month. However, One UI 8 will not bring many changes. There’s a slight refinement to the animation engine, but the update will focus on improving overall optimization and battery efficiency, and will introduce blur in more areas and modernize the design aspects. It’s a refinement over One UI 7.
Since Samsung is probably releasing One UI 8 early, the company can now skip One UI 7.1 entirely. As per these reports, the One UI 8 beta is just the One UI 7.1 update under a different name. If Samsung skips working on 7.1, they can focus on just releasing One UI 8 faster.
The Android 16 update is also coming out much earlier than expected. Instead of releasing the developer previews in January, Google released them in November, and we’re already rapidly approaching platform stability. The 4th Beta of Android 16 was in April, and we can expect a stable release in May or June for Pixels.
Android 16 brings a redesign. There are new launcher animations, a different Quick Settings panel, a new status bar design, etc. However, Samsung will not adopt the Stock Android aesthetics and will only add the new features of Android 16.
