One UI 8.5 Beta Rolls Out to New Galaxy Phones — Check If Yours Is Eligible

Samsung is moving quickly with One UI 8.5. What started as an exclusive for the Galaxy S26 lineup is now reaching a much wider audience, and the beta rollout is accelerating across multiple device families simultaneously.

The Galaxy S24 Family Is Now in the Mix

The Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra, and S24 FE have all entered the One UI 8.5 beta program, with South Korea, India, and the UK leading the initial rollout with version number S92*BXXU5ZZCD and S721BXXUAZZCD. The firmware builds are substantial — the S24 Ultra alone requires nearly 4.5 GB — which signals this isn’t a minor patch but a meaningful software overhaul.

The changelogs point to improvements across Galaxy AI, including updates to Photo Assistant and image editing tools. Bixby is getting a notable refresh, lock screen customization is expanding, and Samsung Health is adding better sharing capabilities. The battery settings screen has also been redesigned.

What remains unclear is how much of the Galaxy S26’s exclusive One UI 8.5 experience will actually land on the S24 series. Samsung tends to tier features by hardware generation, so some AI functionality may be held back. That distinction will become clearer as beta testers dig in over the coming days.

The Galaxy Z Fold6 is close behind, with firmware already identified with version F956BXXU3ZZCD. The Z Flip6 is expected alongside it, though it hasn’t appeared explicitly in official changelogs yet. The shared changelog between the S24 series and the Z Fold6 suggests Samsung is treating this as a unified rollout rather than separate, staggered releases.

The complete One UI 8.5 beta changelog for the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy Z Fold6:

Galaxy AI

Continuous image generation
Keep creating without stopping. Photo Assist now lets you generate AI images using different Photo assist features without saving each iteration. When you’re done, you can review all your creations in your history and pick your favorites.

Bixby

Smarter device control
Talk to Bixby in your own words. Bixby is now better at finding the setting or feature you need, even if you don’t use exact commands or feature names. Just say what you need and let Bixby do the rest.

Ask anything, anytime
Whether you need a quick answer or detailed information, just ask Bixby for an instant response. There’s no need to spend time on multiple searches or switching between apps.

Conversation history
Looking back at past conversations with Bixby is easier than ever. You can now access your conversation history from the side panel in the Bixby app.

Connectivity

Storage share
Access your files anywhere. Files from your other Samsung phones, tablets, and PCs are available in the My Files app on your phone. You can also access your phone’s files on other Samsung devices, even your TV.

Quickly connect to Smart View devices
Connect to your favorite display faster. You can now add a shortcut on your Home screen to instantly mirror your phone’s screen to a TV or other display device.

Enhanced Auracast features
It’s easier than ever to listen to and broadcast sound with Auracast. Options for both broadcasting and listening are now located in the Audio broadcast menu in Settings.

Quick Share

Avoid unwanted sharing requests
You can now set Quick Share to only receive files from other devices signed in to your Samsung account or Google account.

Photo sharing suggestions
Share photos with the right people faster. When you share pictures that include friends or family, Quick Share can recognize who’s in them and suggest sharing directly with those people.

Home and Lock screens

Automatic Lock screen layout
Wallpapers with pictures of people or pets now fit perfectly every time. When you choose a photo for your Lock screen, the layout adjusts automatically so the clock and widgets don’t cover important parts of the picture.

More customizable clock fonts
Personalize your Lock screen clock. You can now adjust the thickness of more font styles to match your preferred look.

Weather

Enhanced weather widget
Quickly check upcoming precipitation in the Weather widget on your Home screen. The widget now shows a graph if precipitation is expected in the next few hours.

Pollen index
Check how much pollen is in the air to help manage your allergies. You can check pollen levels for trees, grass, and ragweed.

Clock

Weather alarm backgrounds
Wake up to an alarm that gets you ready for the day’s weather. Your alarm screen can now show the current weather conditions as a background when it rings.

Time zone converter
Compare time zones at a glance. The new slider in the Clock app makes it easy to check the time difference between places around the world.

Samsung Health

Enhanced weekly reports
See a fuller picture of your health each week. Weekly reports now include data from your medication tracker and mindfulness sessions.

Upgraded Sharing Experience
Share your workouts your way. Mix and match your exercise stats with photos from your workout to create the perfect social media post.

Start meditations from your watch
Find calm right from your wrist. You can now start favorite or recommended meditations directly on your Galaxy Watch without picking up your phone.

Antioxidant measurements from your watch
Check your antioxidant levels anytime. Measure directly from your Galaxy Watch, even if it’s not connected to your phone. Works with Galaxy Watch8 and Galaxy Watch Ultra.

Security and privacy

Theft protection
Keep your phone and data safe in case it is lost or stolen. Turn on Failed authentication lock to automatically lock the screen in case there are too many failed attempts to verify your identity using your fingerprints, PIN, pattern, or password. Identity check also protects even more settings than before.

Turn off Auto blocker temporarily
If you need to temporarily disable Auto blocker’s security protection, a new option lets you turn it on automatically 30 minutes later so you don’t forget.

Battery and power

Revamped battery info
See your battery use more clearly. The redesigned Battery settings screen makes it easier to check remaining time, charging status, and daily usage over the past week.

Improved Power saving
Use Power saving to make your battery last longer without charging. Choose Standard for moderate savings and customizable limits, or choose Maximum to turn off all non-essential features and make your battery last as long as possible.

Accessibility

Easily control Bluetooth hearing aids
Access settings for your Bluetooth hearing aids directly from the Accessibility shortcut. A pop-up will appear that lets you change your hearing program, turn Ambient sound on or off, and more.

Control magnification with mouse or keyboard
Keep what you need magnified in view with these new options. You can make the magnified area follow the cursor as you type or move when you change focus using the keyboard. When using a mouse, you can make the magnified area shift as you move the pointer to the edge of the screen.

Dwell action and Corner actions
The Auto action after pointer stops feature has been divided into 2 features. Dwell action lets you set custom actions when your mouse stops moving for a certain amount of time. Corner actions let you set a different action for each corner of the screen.

Even more improvements

Direct voicemail
Can’t answer right now? Let callers record a voice message directly on your phone that you can listen to later. The message will appear on your screen as it’s being recorded so you can answer at any time.

More customizable quick panel
Arrange your quick settings just the way you like them. You can now add, remove, reorder, and reorganize controls in the quick panel.

Early alerts for reminders
Get alerts before reminders are due to make sure you don’t forget important tasks. You can choose how far in advance to get an alert for each reminder.

Partial screen recording
Include only what you need in your screen recordings. You can now select only the part of the screen that you want to record.

Calculator nudges
Save time on calculations. Numbers and formulas copied to your clipboard will be suggested when you open Calculator so you can enter them with a quick tap.Keep window sizes in DeX
DeX now remembers your app window sizes and positions. When you open an app again, it appears just as you left it.

Galaxy Tab S11 Tablets Also getting One UI 8.5

The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra has become the first tablet to enter the One UI 8.5 beta, with a 3.4 GB firmware rolling out in South Korea with version number X936NKOU5ZZC3. The smaller Galaxy Tab S11 is expected to follow shortly. Samsung extending the beta to tablets this early is a positive signal for users who rely on the Galaxy Tab lineup for productivity.

Galaxy S25 Beta Keeps Iterating

While newer devices get their first taste of One UI 8.5, the Galaxy S25 series is already on Beta 8. This latest build includes a new Gallery story type, several camera and video bug fixes, improved notification behavior, and the March 2026 security patch. The Galaxy S25 FE is also now entering its first beta phase, opening in South Korea with an approximately 4.5 GB download.

The number of fixes in Beta 8 suggests Samsung is approaching the end of the S25 testing cycle, which would put a stable release within reach relatively soon.

Samsung has confirmed the beta program now officially covers the Galaxy S24 series, Z Fold6, Z Flip6, S25 FE, S24 FE, and the Tab S11 series across India, South Korea, the UK, and the United States. More Galaxy devices will be added to the program in April.

If you’re in one of those regions, enrollment is available through the Samsung Members app.