Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
Samsung’s been testing One UI 8.5 internally, but has yet to get a public beta underway.
Multiple sources now suggest that Samsung’s One UI 8.5 beta could formally launch on December 8.
Following that, we could also get Beta 2 in late December, and Beta 3 in early January.
By this point, it’s got to be pretty frustrating being a Samsung Galaxy user who keeps hearing about all the great stuff being implemented in One UI 8.5 — and yet you still don’t have the chance to try any of it out. We’ve been tracking information gleaned from One UI 8.5 leaks going back months now, but the manufacturer has yet to get the ball rolling on a public beta. We just learned that a Galaxy S25 build of One UI 8.5 had surfaced on a test server, making it look like Samsung might get started soon, and now some new rumors attempt to nail down exactly when.
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Over on X, prominent leaker Tarun Vats responds to a post from @ya_sking12767, with both throwing their weight behind the idea of Samsung’s One UI 8.5 beta getting underway on December 8.
Obviously, this still isn’t proper confirmation, but learning that multiple sources are sharing the same timetable certainly has us paying extra attention to this possible schedule.
If Samsung’s able to keep up that breakneck pace, it sure looks like it will be in a place to get its One UI 8.5 updates for existing devices started roughly around the same time we see the Galaxy S26 launch — even as sources argue over whether that could be in January or February. The S26 should arrive with One UI 8.5 out of the box, but it’s nice to think that the rest of the Galaxy family may not be far behind.
Being based on Android 16 QPR2, there are a ton of new features and upgrades Samsung could be planning to implement in this release, making us all the more excited to learn that we may finally get the chance to try it for ourselves in just another couple weeks.
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