What you need to know
- A leak surfaced online that shows off test build versions of the alleged One UI 8 in development.
- Leaker Tarun Vats took to X to post a screenshot of the build version S938BXXU1BYC1/S938BOXM1BYC1/S938BXXU1BYC1 of the said software for the Galaxy S25 series.
- He claims that Samsung has started working on this build two months earlier than usual.
There has been a lot of chatter lately that Samsung could be skipping a couple of major software update steps and jumping straight to the next major software release.
It was just a couple of days ago that Iceuniverse took to X with a bold claim stating the Korean OEM will likely be skipping the One UI 7.1 and 7.1.1 updates and instead will be bringing in a major One UI 8. This is a curious move where, even before officially releasing the much-delayed stable One UI 7 build for the majority of devices, it seems to be developing the new One UI 8.
Another leaker, Tarun Vats, seems to have spotted a new build in development indicating that the One UI 8 powered by Android 16 could likely be coming to the Samsung Galaxy S25 series. He claims that the company started developing the software update two months earlier than usual and that he spotted it being internally tested on the Galaxy S25 series. The build version is as follows:
S938BXXU1BYC1/S938BOXM1BYC1/S938BXXU1BYC1
BREAKING ‼️ The FIRST One UI 8 internal test build for the Galaxy S25 series has been spotted on the server todayBuild Version: S938BXXU1BYC1/S938BOXM1BYC1/S938BXXU1BYC1Samsung has kicked off One UI 8 (Android 16) development two months earlier than usual.Repost 🔄 pic.twitter.com/hZ3G38ORngMarch 7, 2025
Samsung seems to be fast-tracking its next update in an attempt to keep up with Google’s Android 16 rollout that is set to take place in June, as confirmed by the tech giant during MWC. Also because of the lack of time to develop smaller UI builds before the One UI 8 hits devices.
Historically, Samsung drops its major software updates closer to October every year. However, this time around, with the OneUI 7, it’s a different story. There’s no doubt that the One UI 7 rollout has been continuously pushed out since last year, and now its stable version is set to drop on devices only in April.
However, if Samsung is testing out the One UI 8 two months early, we’re keeping our hopes up that beta versions of the build could show up earlier in the Fall.