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What you need to know
- A report claims that Samsung is preparing to roll out a One UI 8.5 beta program for its Galaxy users late this fall in November.
- It's unclear from the rumor if Samsung will begin the test at the same time for everyone, but there's a chance regions like the U.S. and Europe could see it sometime after South Korea.
- Earlier One UI 8.5 rumors questioned whether or not Samsung would consider a beta for this 0.5 OS, and it seems there's a chance.
The One UI 8.5 rumors aren't stopping, and it seems there's major speculation going around about a potential beta.
Recent rumors from SamMobile claim Samsung is continuing down an atypical route with One UI, as it could seek a One UI 8.5 beta program. According to the publication, Samsung is supposedly preparing to launch a beta period for its 8.5 OS software later this year. Rumors suggest that this beta program could start arriving for Galaxy phones late next month, on the week of November 24.
It's unclear if this beta program will begin for users in the U.S., Europe, and other regions, as it likely would (if true) for South Korea. If anything, other regions would see a gradual rollout at the end of November, rolling over into December.
It's suspected that Samsung's current wave of devices with One UI 8 will see this One UI 8.5 beta. However, it's still unclear just how wide a net (and how quickly) Samsung would do such a thing if that's where it's headed.
Users might get their wish
What's more interesting about this rumor is that tipsters speculated about the possibility of a One UI 8.5 beta back in September. It was during that time that tipsters had allegedly found Samsung's early test build for One UI 8.5 on its internal test servers. The company was reportedly testing the software using its Galaxy S25 series, though One UI 8.5 isn't expected to roll out until the Galaxy S26 launches.
The root of the matter is that there was very little to unpack, as the software had only just appeared. However, users questioned the potential for a beta, and there was nothing concrete about it, until now—allegedly.
Speculation claims this 8.5 OS version could pack a serious punch regarding features and new elements to unravel, rather than a simple "8.1" update. These rumors have continued, as a more recent report claims Samsung is working on a Call Screening feature, similar to Google's Pixel. This is AI-fueled, and could automatically "answer, transcribe, and filter spam or unknown calls for users." There was another report that purported Samsung was also beginning testing for a Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, too.
