Galaxy S25’s One UI 8.5 Beta May Extend Beyond S26 Launch

On February 25, Samsung will take the wraps off its Galaxy S26 flagships. The devices will start reaching customers in early March, running One UI 8.5 out of the box. However, existing Galaxy users may have to wait longer for this update. Samsung seemingly isn’t done beta testing One UI 8.5 for the Galaxy S25 lineup, with more builds planned for the future.

One UI 8.5 may see a sixth beta release in the coming weeks

Yesterday, Samsung surprised Galaxy users with an unexpected One UI 8.5 beta release. It was the fifth beta build for the Galaxy S25 series, introducing a Bixby upgrade with Perplexity integration. Shortly after that, the company started internal testing of a fresh beta build, signaling that the stable One UI 8.5 rollout for current Galaxy devices may still be some time away.

This development suggests that beta activity could continue even after the Galaxy S26 lineup arrives on store shelves. While the software already feels highly stable and polished, Samsung may be taking extra precautions to avoid any potential issues once the update reaches millions of Galaxy devices worldwide. It may want to iron out every minor glitch before a stable rollout.

There has also been some chatter around potential beta rollouts for other devices. But Samsung may have decided against it now. The One UI 8.5 Beta Program remains limited to the Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra in India, Germany, Poland, South Korea, the UK, and the US.

The Galaxy S26 series is expected to enter general sales on March 11. Samsung may roll out the final One UI 8.5 version for the S25 lineup in the second half of March. It may also push a new update with bug fixes and optimizations to the new flagships shortly after their release. We will keep a close eye on the ongoing developments and let you know when we have more information about Beta 6.