The Samsung Galaxy S25 range launches tomorrow (January 22) with the company confirming the handsets as the first to offer Android 15 with the bespoke One UI 7 software along for the ride.
Samsung has been a little behind schedule in rolling out the latest version of Android to its existing handsets this year, but that’s as much to do with the late launch from Google.
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However, while those pre-ordering the Galaxy S25 series will have access to the updates when they crack open the box on their new flagship, the wait will endure a little longer for existing owners.
“One UI 7 will be officially released with the upcoming Galaxy S series devices,” Samsung reiterated in a Newsroom post on Monday.
And, in a further blog post published in the company’s Korean homeland, Samsung added (translated) that the update will soon be applied to existing devices in the range.
The company wrote: “Samsung Electronics will supplement the user feedback obtained through the beta program and install ‘One UI 7’ from the Galaxy S series, which will be released in the first quarter, and will be applied sequentially to existing Galaxy devices.”
One UI 7 is built on top of Android 15 and has been in public beta since December. New features include a lock screen ‘Now Bar’, which the company says highlights “relevant activities across various features like Interpreter, Music, Recording, and Stopwatch”
Samsung added: “By offering instant access to important notifications, Now Bar reduces the need to constantly unlock the device and allows users to engage with key information effortlessly. Set to be supported on upcoming Galaxy S series devices, Now Bar will transform the lock screen experience, which will continue to evolve with more intelligent experiences in the future.”
Samsung is promising a boost for its Galaxy AI tools too, with call transcripts coming in 20 languages, while call recording will minimise the need to take notes when on the phone.
Advanced writing assist tools “allow users to boost their productivity where texts can be selected, without needing to switch between applications,” the company says.
One UI is more important than the Android update
Samsung might be promising users up to seven years of updates, but those same users often have to wait for the privilege. In Samsung’s defence it always accompanies its Android updates with a One UI upgrade that far exceeds what users can expect from the increasingly modest upgrades from Google.
In that respect, we shouldn’t be so concerned about when Samsung gets the Android update to users, but when One UI arrives packed with all the real improvements for Samsung users.
It’s not such a bad thing that these updates debut with a new device and then come to the existing phones. That’s a little bit more like Apple’s cadence – provided Samsung doesn’t hang about too much in the rollout after the Galaxy S25 becomes available. Ideally, we’d like it to happen on the same day.
