One UI 7
Credit: Samsung
Samsung appears to be accelerating its software update cycle; the company appears to be already testing One UI 8 based on Android 16. A Geekbench screenshot shared by tipster Tarun Vats on X shows the Galaxy S25 (SM-S931B) running an early build of One UI 8. This is news because last year, Samsung's Android 15 test builds weren't seen until May.
Internal test builds for the Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 8 have also been found on Samsung's servers, which confirms that Samsung is working on it. Android 16 is expected to include new features, such as better management for external displays. As reported by Android Central, this will let users move their cursor smoothly between screens and improve multi-display setups.
Google plans to release Android 16 by May or June 2025, initially for Pixel users and later for others. Samsung's early testing means it could give its users access to One UI 8 sooner than usual. This would be a change from previous years when Samsung typically rolled out its updates several months after Google's official release.
As Samsung users are already waiting for One UI 7, which will begin rolling out on April 7, 2025, this news about One UI 8 seems too distant in the future and may raise expectations for a quicker transition to Android 16 later this year. How true will these expectations be? Only time will tell.