Samsung One UI 8.5 Update Starts Rolling Out to Galaxy S25 Series With Major UI Changes and Android 16 Features

Samsung has officially begun its roll-out of One UI 8.5 update on the company's flagship Samsung Galaxy S25 range of devices. The latest version of One UI will bring new design, improved artificial intelligence-based editing capabilities, better user experience, and more Android 16 integration. Following its launch with the new flagship Samsung Galaxy S26 Series devices, the latest version of One UI has now found its way to last year's Samsung Galaxy S series phones in various markets.

Having spent several weeks testing this new software package, it now seems that Samsung is ready to launch this One UI 8.5 update. As seen from reports posted by users on the social media networks X and Reddit, the One UI 8.5 software update is now being rolled out to Samsung Galaxy S25, Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, and Samsung Galaxy S25 FE handsets. Moreover, Samsung has also apparently begun rolling out One UI 8.5 to Samsung Galaxy S24 FE models in South Korea.

One UI 8.5 Stable Update Rolling Out in Multiple Regions

The release was first started in South Korea, which is typically where the release process begins for firmware updates from Samsung. But according to reports, people from other areas like North America, India, Europe, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Latin America, and Southeast Asia should soon start getting this update.

Like all OTA updates from Samsung, the update will be rolled out phase by phase. Some will receive the update right away, but others might have to wait a couple of days or even weeks before receiving the update notification.

This new firmware update is said to come with a file size of 4GB, and the number can increase depending on the Galaxy device and regional firmware variant.

One UI 8.5 Focuses on Better Reachability and Easier Navigation

One of the most impressive features of One UI 8.5 is Samsung’s new dedication to one-handed usage and accessibility. In fact, throughout the years, Samsung’s One UI skin was renowned for its approach to making the use of big-sized phones more convenient, and One UI 8.5 makes it even more so.

Search bars, along with some other elements located in the top menu, have been moved to the lower part of the screen in many native applications. Among them are applications like Settings, where the search option became more accessible for one-handed operation. What seems like a minor tweak actually makes using the phone much more convenient, particularly on larger-sized flagships.

Galaxy users were waiting for such an update for quite some time, and it seems that Samsung finally took their concerns seriously.

Samsung Revamps First-Party Apps With Modern Visual Design

There have been some changes made by Samsung to redesign some essential applications that have a more elegant appearance. This includes the Calculator, Clock, and Settings application which has new features such as gradients and improved layout designs.

While this helps to enhance the appearance of the application, it will also ensure the text is easier to read and navigation is more consistent.

This shows that there is a trend towards a more fluid design with better aesthetics as well as one that retains the clean design of One UI.

Quick Settings Panel Gets Massive Customisation Improvements

The other big improvement that comes with the launch of One UI 8.5 is the enhanced Quick Settings menu. Finally, Samsung will let people tweak around with the look and feel of the quick settings menu.

Now, users will be able to customize and move around all the quick toggles and sliders. The new level of customization offers users more freedom about how they want their device interface to behave.

For people who use the quick toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness, hotspot, and media controls, the new change will come in handy.

Quick Share Now Works Better With iPhones

It is quite a refreshing initiative by Samsung to work towards greater compatibility with Apple products. Quick Share feature of One UI 8.5 supports transfer of media from Galaxy phones to iPhones in a more seamless manner.

This would make it easier for people using different operating systems to share their media content. Compatibility issues have been an issue due to increased usage of multiple platforms.

AI-Powered Photo Assist Receives Major Upgrade

Samsung is also heavily expanding Galaxy AI capabilities through the upgraded Photo Assist feature.

The latest version now supports:

• Text-prompt-based image editing

• Continuous AI image generation

• Improved object removal

• Enhanced object addition tools

• Edit history support

These features make Samsung’s photo editing tools far more advanced and competitive with modern AI-powered image editing platforms. Users can now perform complex edits directly on-device without relying on third-party apps.

The improvements also align with Samsung’s broader push toward AI-focused smartphone experiences in 2026.

One UI 8.5 Built on Android 16

While One UI 8.5 is built on top of Android 16, Samsung follows its well-established tradition of rolling out incremental One UI updates in-between significant Android releases.

Such updates allow improving the user experience as a whole while introducing novel changes to the look-and-feel of the software, additional functionality, and improvements to usability before the next OS update is released.

This approach has made Samsung one of the Android manufacturers that can boast the richest set of features.

OPPO Also Refreshes ColorOS With New Live Space Feature

Interestingly enough, the Galaxy series is not the only range of smartphone brands to be getting an upgraded software experience. This time, OPPO has released the latest version of ColorOS known as 16.0.7, or more officially as ColorOS 16.1.

Among the most noticeable features of this software update is the ability for users to try out the new “Live Space” lockscreen system. The system allows the user to use full-screen music albums while featuring a pill-like capsule that could notify the user about ongoing tasks and other activities.

The system seems to have been borrowed from other flagship ecosystems, although OPPO is trying to introduce their own visual experience.

The company seems to have an interest in enhancing the usability of the Galaxy handsets with One UI 8.5, which enhances the user experience instead of offering any gimmicks.

Going forward, Samsung plans to release One UI 8.5 around the world within the next few weeks. When released, Galaxy S25 users will be able to enjoy a vastly improved software experience that runs on top of Android 16.