According to a new report, the One UI 8.5 beta program is slated to begin in November for a select few devices. One UI 8.5 is expected to be the next major update for Samsung devices, and will likely be released with the Galaxy S26 series in January next year.
A report from SamMobile suggests that the One UI 8.5 Beta program will begin in late November. “We’re told the beta could start in the final week of November, or during the week beginning November 24,” the report read. It is unclear as of now as to which devices will be included in the program but the latest flagships, such as the S25 series and the Z Fold 7, should be there when the program launches.
The usual regions where Samsung launches the beta, such as India, Korea, USA, Germany, etc., should be a part of the beta program. However, an official confirmation is still awaited from the brand’s side.
Samsung typically doesn’t hold any beta programs for “.5” versions of One UI but a report from earlier this year suggested that the company will be refreshing its major One UI updates rollout strategy starting this year.
It stated that each new generation of foldables will receive major One UI version updates aligned with Google’s new Android release schedule where the new version of Android will be released sooner than before, like what happened with Android 16 this year. “For example, One UI 8 will be based on Android 16, and One UI 9 will sync with Android 17,” the tipster said.
Further, the new One UI Updates rollout strategy will include One UI X.5 versions for the Galaxy S-series. For instance, the Galaxy S26 series will get One UI 8.5 out of the box as per this plan. And these “.5” updates are expected to be more major releases than what the foldables will get, which means that Samsung needs to do testing with the general public to gather feedback for the new features and UI updates ahead of the official/stable release.
Leaks suggest that the One UI 8.5 update could also bring features like Call Screening to Galaxy devices, where AI will automatically answer, transcribe, and filter spam or unknown calls on behalf of the user.