Samsung has just started pushing One UI 7 out to devices – sitting on Android 15 – with the Galaxy S25 models the first to get it. But with Google shuffling up the timeline for the release of Android 16, One UI 7 could have a short life on your device before One UI 8 comes to replace it.
The starting point for this story is Google changing the point in the year where it plans to release the next version of Android. Google is dragging that forward, so we should see Android 16 land around June 2025. For Samsung to avoid being even further out of date, it would have to move fast to push the next update.
This was always going to be a challenge, but that’s been compounded by Samsung’s fairly slow process of updating to One UI 7, which has made everything more complicated for Samsung.
The next major devices that Samsung is expected to launch are the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. (Yes, there’s going to be the Galaxy S25 Edge between times, but that will launch with One UI 7.) When Samsung launches its new folding phones – most likely in August 2025 – it can’t really afford to launch those with old software.
According to insiders talking to SamMobile, the Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 will run Android 16 and One UI 8 at launch.
If this proves to be true, it would bring Samsung back onto the timeline, but would also then mean that Samsung would need to update the Galaxy S25 and other models to One UI 8 in short order and avoid a new set of delays.
In the past, Samsung didn’t need to launch its folding devices with a new version of Android, because Google hadn’t released it yet. Instead, it would launch with a slight adaptation of One UI introducing new features. For example, the Z Flip 6 launched with One UI 6.1.1, before it more phones from the Samsung portfolio.
We’re expecting the Z Fold 7 to offer slightly larger displays, while it’s thought that the Z Flip 7 FE could also join the party to make folding phones more affordable.
There’s still some time to go before we reach the launch of these devices and we’re expecting plenty of leaks before we get there. The biggest question, perhaps, will be whether they do actually launch with Android 16.
Chris has been writing about consumer tech for over 15 years. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Pocket-lint, he’s covered just…
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