One UI 7 has finally rolled out to most of the eligible devices—perhaps only the A-series phones haven’t gotten it yet—showing that Samsung has finally gotten its business in order after a mess of an Android 15 rollout. My S22 Ultra and I expect to receive the update in the next few days, considering that the update is available in Korea.
Nobody wants to see Samsung mess up that bad again, most of all Samsung itself. Android 16 is expected to launch next month, which gives the OEM a much smaller window to get its update ready. It knows that, though, and One UI 8 is already being cooked up as we speak. In fact, the first beta might show up next month.
Both One UI 8’s First Beta and Android 16 Could Arrive Next Month
Even though One UI 8 won’t be as revolutionary as One UI 7 was, as Android fans, one of the things we love to see is a new OS version coming to our devices. For those eligible for One UI 8, it doesn’t matter that much that we’ll only have a few months to play around with Android 15/One UI 7. Everyone wants to play with new features. Of course, it doesn’t negate Samsung’s One UI debacle.
According to Tarun Vats on X, there’s good news. We could see the first beta for One UI 8 as early as next month. It’s a surprise, but not a surprise at the same time. It’s only shocking that Samsung seems to be finding its feet this fast after the troubles with One UI 7, but it isn’t shocking because the company had to make up for things unless it plans to be eternally tardy with its new OS updates.
Users with a Galaxy S25 will be prioritized for the beta, followed by those with a Z Flip or Fold 6 (since the seventh generation won’t be out by then). We may also see a smattering of other devices join the beta. Here’s a look at some older betas and some of the eligible devices for the program.
| One UI Beta Version | Eligible Devices |
| One UI 7 Beta | Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Flip/Fold 6, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy A55 |
| One UI 6 Beta | Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Flip/Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip/Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip/Fold 3, Galaxy A54, Galaxy A34, Galaxy F23, Galaxy M23, Galaxy A52s |
| One UI 5 Beta | Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy Z Flip/Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip/Fold 3, Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy A53, Galaxy A52 |
The Stable Version of One UI 8 Is Slated for the Third Quarter of the Year
The One UI 8 beta is an exclusive club, though, and the real question is when everyone will be able to enjoy a stable release of the OS. The answer to that could be “not too long”. After Android 16 launches, we might only need to wait two or three months before One UI 8 shows up for everyone. That would place it in August or September.
Should you be super excited for One UI 8? Maybe not as excited as you might have been for One UI 7. However, Android 16 is confirmed to be bringing certain nice upgrades, like:
- Live Updates, a new class of notification for ongoing and “in progress” activities like deliveries, ride sharing, and navigation.
- Better app resizing on different screen sizes and aspect ratios.
- Support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec.
- Wider night mode camera support in third-party apps.
- Vulkan will be the official graphics API for Android devices.
