- A UI 8 comes in “Summer” for the US
- Samsung first pushed out of a UI 7 in January
- It’s not yet clear which phones get it
We have hardly had a chance to check out a UI 7 (Samsung’s acquisition of Android 15), who first appeared on the Samsung Galaxy S25 phones in January, but a UI 8 (Samsung’s takeover of Android 16) will be with us within the next few months.
This comes from Samsung VP and head of smartphone planning, Minseok Kang (via Gsmarena). Kang said on Google’s recent Android Show event ahead of Google I/O next week, saying a UI 8 would launch “this summer” in the US.
It sets the launch date somewhere in June, July or August. At the same event, Google said Android 16 would be pushed out in June after months of beta testing, and earlier leaks suggest Tuesday, June 3rd will be the big day.
We have known for a while that Google has planned to push its large annual Android update earlier this year, far ahead of the pixel phone revelations, and it seems that Samsung is on board with the plan -and eager for a user interface.
Which phones get a UI 8?
Good news‼ ️Galaxy S22 Ultra spotted ran Android 16 with a UI 8 on Geekbench !! Single-Core: 1581Multi-core: 3680BUILD VERSION: S908USQU8GYCB PIC.TWITTER.COM/P4AEOGATEHMay 14, 2025
The next question is: Which Galaxy phones get a UI 8? Samsung has not said much about this yet, and it is not immediately clear if there are any handsets that are eligible for a UI 7, but not to a UI 8.
The well-known Tipster @Tarunvats33 has seen a benchmark showing the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra from 2022, running an early version of a UI 8-what suggests that the new software will go back to phones at least three years.
Like the current flagships, there is no doubt that the Galaxy S25 series gets the One Ui 8 update, and it is a pretty sure effort that the Samsung Galaxy S24 phones and other 2024 models get it too. In addition, we will have to wait and see.
Earlier rumors had proposed the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, which was going to come in July, would come with an UI 8 out of the box. Based on the new comments from Minseok Kang, it seems that this will be the case.
All this means that in theory, Galaxy S25, S24, S23 and S22 series, everyone must get a UI 8 and potentially also the Galaxy S21 FE.
The last three iterations of the Z Fold and Z-FLIP series must also be covered (from Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 to today’s models) along with the Galaxy tab series, which goes back to Galaxy Tab S8 from 2022, plus the Galaxy A series phones that extend back to A23 from the same year. But we will have to wait a little longer for the full official list.
