Samsung’s One UI 7 had a rocky start, but One UI 8.5 could be a major upgrade

By Monica J. White Published April 23, 2025

If you’re among the Samsung owners who got their hands on the One UI 7 update with no issues, you might be wondering what comes next. Although nothing is set in stone just yet, leakers are already whispering about Samsung’s plans for its Android-based user interface — and those plans reach farther than most of us might have thought. Samsung is reportedly already working on One UI 8.5, and it looks like it might be a big one.

The scoop comes from Android Authority. A couple of leakers have recently hinted at a possible One UI 8.5, and tipster Tarun Vats revealed that Samsung is planning to release One UI 8.5 right after One UI 8. It’s unclear when any of this might happen, but it could debut alongside the Galaxy S26 series, so presumably early next year.

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Sammypolice has also spotted references to One UI 8.5 in Samsung’s code, which makes this more than just a leak — it really does sound like 8.5 might be happening. This would mark a huge comeback for the .5 update, which hasn’t been used since One UI 2.5 all the way back in 2020.

Rumor has it that One UI 8 will be more of a modest update. Reportedly set to launch alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Galaxy Z Flip 7, the patch might not offer a lot in the way of new features; leaks now point to 8.5 being the update that brings in all the goodies. We’ll have to wait and see where it goes.

It’s been a wild ride with Samsung’s One UI 7. First, we got the update after many delays, and we loved it. However, Samsung soon paused the rollout of One UI 7 following the reports of a serious bug that prevented users from unlocking their Samsung Galaxy S24 phones. All is well that ends well, though, because One UI 7 is finally here, and hopefully, we’ll get to keep it this time.

Monica J. White

Former Computing Writer

Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…

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