What you need to know
- Samsung has reportedly started rolling out One UI 8.5 Beta 6 to Galaxy S25 users in India ahead of other regions.
- The patch fixes several issues that have plagued users since Beta 5, such as a Bixby wake up phrase issue, Now Brief/Now Bar card problems, and more.
- The Galaxy S26 series launched this week, bringing the Ultra’s Privacy Display, a slimmer build, and much more.
If you were also expecting an official One UI 8.5 announcement for the Galaxy S25 series, think again, as another beta has been reported.
Following Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked, prominent X tipster Tarun Vats reported that another One UI 8.5 beta has been spotted for the Galaxy S25 series (via 9to5Google). This means that One UI 8.5 Beta 6 is on its way. Vats adds that the patch has been spotted late this week in India for enrolled Galaxy S25 users. Each model will see build versions S938BXXU8ZZAO, S938BOXM8ZZAO, and S938BXXU8CZAO for the S25, S25 Plus, and the S25 Ultra, respectively.
For its changes, the included screenshot lists a few bugs that Samsung is looking to squash (hopefully) before an official launch.
One issue concerns Now Bar and Now Brief. Samsung is rolling out a fix for “text, icons, and AOD visibility” for the feature’s recommendation cards. The patch also fixes an issue where “two ‘View Previous Image’ buttons appeared when using the sketch conversion feature in the Gallery.”
Bixby’s wake-up phrase in Labs > Create is getting a fix for users who might’ve found problems after Beta 5.
- Fixed a force close issue when changing the camera area settings in Settings > Display
- Fixed an issue where the lock screen style of Basic mode was changed in Modes and Routines
- Improved animation related to notification cards
Unpacked is done; One UI 8.5, you’re up
Other regions should slowly begin to notice this next One UI 8.5 beta soon.
We certainly hoped it was “one last call” for Samsung’s One UI 8.5 beta when Beta 5 dropped five days before Unpacked. That patch was pretty light, as Samsung’s only major highlight was an “applied” Bixby version update. There were assumptions that this was a big Bixby overhaul for the software, which would then roll out onto the Galaxy S25 series.
Samsung was pretty quick to talk about those Bixby changes as Beta 5 was making its rounds. The company confirmed that Bixby is now capable of understanding more “natural conversation” when users speak to it for assistance. Users can lean on the AI for help with their settings and much more, alongside real-time online searches. While this new Bixby is flying high in One UI 8.5, it’s pretty much just the Galaxy S26 series that’s enjoying it.
Galaxy Unpacked fully revealed the Galaxy S26 series and the attractive Privacy Display for the S26 Ultra. Pre-orders are readily available for users looking to get in on the next-gen phones.
Android Central’s Take
Hopefully—and I sincerely mean this—Beta 6 is the last we’ll see of One UI 8.5’s testing. We’ve been down this road for a few months, and it’s likely Samsung needs to polish more aspects of its software than we realized. There’s a lot of interest surrounding this upgrade, as it’s more significant than a smaller v0.1 update would’ve been. More than that, its newest series already rocking it, so people like me with a Galaxy S25 series model want in on that, too.
