One UI 7 comes with a simple, impactful and emotive design to bring a streamlined and cohesive experience to Galaxy users. Users can look forward to a simplified home screen with redesigned One UI widgets to intuitively and seamlessly customise their devices.
For added convenience, Now Bar[1] provides real-time updates that matter most right on the lock screen. Users can easily check their morning run progress and see what song is playing in your Galaxy Buds – all with a simple swipe and without unlocking their phones.
Samsung has finally started the rollout of Android 15 and One UI 7 to its existing devices, following the launch of the Galaxy S25 series which debuted the software earlier in the year.
Samsung has faced plenty of criticism for the speed at which it hasn’t delivered this update, with Android 15 officially landing on Pixel devices on 15 October 2024. It’s been nearly 6 months since the first devices got the new software – and we’re probably only 2 months away from Android 16’s launch.
Thanks to the shuffling of timelines from Google – and the delay from Samsung – Android 15 might not be on your phone for long before everyone starts looking forward to Android 16.
Samsung had previously confirmed that One UI 7 would start the rollout on April 7, but we know that it’s a phased release, so not every region will get it at the same time. It’s also grouped by devices, so not all phones and tablets will get it on day one – some will have to wait a few more weeks.
One UI 7
The first phones to get updated to One UI 7 and Android 15 are:
- Galaxy S24 Ultra
- Galaxy S24 Plus
- Galaxy S24
- Galaxy Z Fold 6
- Galaxy Z Flip 6
Although the rollout is starting today, Samsung says that it varies by region: Singapore is confirmed to start on April 14, Czech Republic is confirmed for April 10. Once these devices have received the update, you should only have to wait a week for the next round of updates, which is said to cover: Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Tab S10 series and Galaxy Tab 9 series.
Samsung hasn’t explicitly listed all the dates and all the models that will receive the update, but it should stretch back to the Galaxy S21, Galaxy Z Fold/Flip 3, Galaxy A23, Galaxy Tab S8 and probably some Galaxy M and Galaxy F models too.
Of course, while the base Android 15 is part of the package, some devices will likely get a slightly different One UI 7 experience, as not all devices will be able to run all the AI features, for example.
There’s also the Now Brief (which isn’t hugely exciting), that will give you a recap of your day at various points, although I’ve found this to mostly detail what’s in my calendar and tell me how many steps I’ve taken. There are a range of AI features, including an AI Select function, Writing Assist, Drawing Assist and Audio Eraser, while there’s deeper integration for Google’s Gemini across the device – including when searching in settings.
If you’re not sure if your device has the update yet, dive into the settings and head to “software update”, if you don’t have a notification already.
Samsung One UI 8 could launch as soon as August 2025
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.
