Our analysis of Samsung beta programs (One UI 7.0, 8.0, and 8.5)
Samsung opens beta programs for select Galaxy devices every time they plan to release a new version of One UI. Those beta programs exist to gather user’s feedback and bug reports to help improve the software, and new beta builds will be released to fix issues and add more features prior to the official release.
We have analyzed Samsung’s beta programs that were run recently, and the results are in. To summarize, One UI 8.5 has the longest beta program duration, while One UI 8.0 is the shortest, with One UI 7.0 in the middle, according to the start and the end dates of the program for the first device, inclusive. Please note that we have only taken the first device that joined the beta program, not the overall beta program duration that spans multiple devices, as the ending date reflects the official rollout start date.
One UI 7.0
Anticipation started when One UI 7.0 got leaked to the public back in July 2024, and several appearances were made before the official beta program started. The Galaxy S24 was the first device to join the beta program on December 5th, 2024, and the stable version was released to the Galaxy S25 on January 2025. It was anticipated that February 2025 would be the release month, but that didn’t materialize until April 7th, 2025, when the beta program closed.
One UI 7.0 had a rough start when the release was made, because a serious bug caused Samsung to pull the update from the servers on April 12th. Then, five days later, One UI 7.0 was released again. We will still, however, use April 7th as the marker for the ending of the beta program, as well as the Korean region, for more accuracy.
The following beta builds were released for the Galaxy S24 series:
- Samsung Galaxy S24 / S24+ / S24 Ultra
- One UI 7 Beta 1 (build ZXKZ): December 5th, 2024 (article, recruitment)
- One UI 7 Beta 2 (build ZXL5): December 16th, 2024
- One UI 7 Beta 3 (build ZXLJ): January 6th, 2025
- One UI 7 Beta 4 (build ZYBA): February 19th, 2025
- One UI 7 Beta 5 (build ZYC6): March 17th, 2025
- One UI 7 Beta 6 (build ZYCE): March 26th, 2025
The stable release happened after the sixth beta, with the stable release that followed it:
- Samsung Galaxy S24
- Build BYCG for KOO: April 7th, 2025 (taken down April 12th)
- Build BYCG for EUX: April 10th, 2025 (taken down April 12th)
- Build BYD9 for KOO: April 17th, 2025
- Build BYD9 for EUX: April 23rd, 2025
Suppose that build ZXKZ was released on December 5th, 2024, for the beta program participants, and that BYCG was released on April 7th, 2025, to the public, we have calculated the date difference between those two dates, with April 7th being included.
Therefore, our analysis shows that 4 months, 3 days was the duration of the program for the Galaxy S24. Other devices’ beta programs are shorter, but they are irrelevant for this article. One third of a year with 3 more days were spent on adding features and making improvements.
The development history of One UI 7.0 is available by clicking on this link.
One UI 8.0
Shortly after One UI 7.0 concluded its beta program and got expanded to more devices, One UI 8.0’s beta program started on May 28th, 2025, with the Galaxy S25 as the first participant of the beta program. This also introduced a new way to enter the beta program, which simplified things a lot, compared to One UI 7.0 and earlier, because you just had to enter the beta program page and check to see if a beta program is available to you. The stable rollout started on September 15th, 2025.
The following beta builds were released for the Galaxy S25 series:
- Samsung Galaxy S25 / S25+ / S25 Ultra (S25 Edge excluded) [Beta shutdown September 15th, 2025]
- One UI 8 Beta 1 (build ZYER): May 28th, 2025 (article, recruitment)
- One UI 8 Beta 2 (build ZYF3): June 12th, 2025
- One UI 8 Beta 3 (build ZYFA): June 30th, 2025
- One UI 8 Beta 4 (build ZYGB): July 30th, 2025 (announcement)
- One UI 8 Beta 5 (build ZYH6): August 19th, 2025
- One UI 8 Beta 6 (build ZYHB): August 28th, 2025
- One UI 8 Beta 7 (build ZYI3): September 8th, 2025
The stable release happened after 7 beta versions, and the dates are:
- Galaxy S25 / S25+ / S25 Ultra (article)
- KOO: September 15th, 2025 (BYI3/BYI3/BYI3)
- EUX: September 18th, 2025 (BYI3/BYI3/BYI3)
- Galaxy S25 Edge (article)
- KOO: September 15th, 2025 (BYI3)
- EUX: September 18th, 2025 (BYI3)
Suppose that build ZYER was released for the beta participants on May 28th, 2025, and that BYI3 was released on September 15th, 2025, for the Korean variant. We have calculated the difference between two dates, with the end date being included to make the length consistent.
Therefore, our analysis shows that 3 months, 19 days was the duration of the beta program for the Galaxy S25, which means a quarter of a year and two weeks with 5 more days of bug fixes and new features.
One UI 8.5
Here’s when we’ve come to the present, with One UI 8.5 being released on May 6th, 2026, after the beta program was closed. On December 8th, 2025, One UI 8.5 beta was finally released, with the Galaxy S25 as the first participant. It brought the new ambient design that revolutionizes the way you use your device.
The following beta builds were released for the Galaxy S25:
- Samsung Galaxy S25 / S25+ / S25 Ultra [Beta shutdown May 6th, 2026]
- One UI 8.5 Beta 1 (build ZYL8): December 8th, 2025 (article)
- One UI 8.5 Beta 2 (build ZYLH): December 22nd, 2025
- One UI 8.5 Beta 3 (build ZZA3): January 5th, 2026
- One UI 8.5 Beta 4 (build ZZAL): February 9th, 2026
- One UI 8.5 Beta 5 (build ZZAN): February 19th, 2026
- One UI 8.5 Beta 6 (build ZZAO): February 26th, 2026 (after Galaxy S26 unveil)
- One UI 8.5 Beta 7 (build ZZC7): March 12th, 2026
- One UI 8.5 Beta 8 (build ZZCD): March 26th, 2026 (expansion article)
- One UI 8.5 Beta 9 (build ZZD5): April 9th, 2026
- One UI 8.5 Beta 10 (build ZZDD): April 20th, 2026
After ten beta versions of bug fixes and feature additions, as well as the AirDrop support on Quick Share for you to be able to share photos and other files to iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices, the stable version of One UI 8.5 was released on May 6th, 2026 for the Korean variant, with the global rollout being expected this week, including Canada, USA, India, and Europe.
So, suppose that build ZYL8 was released on December 8th, 2025, for beta program participants, and build CZDP was released on May 6th, 2026 for Korean users. Therefore, we can conclude that the duration of the beta program was 4 months, 29 days, or a third of a year and four weeks with an extra day of bug fixes and feature additions.
Which beta program is the longest?
So, our analysis has covered One UI 7.0, 8.0, and this year’s 8.5, and the beta program durations for the first participating Galaxy flagship device are in! Let’s see which beta program is the longest in the ascending order.
- One UI 8.0: 3 months, 19 days
- One UI 7.0: 4 months, 3 days
- One UI 8.5: 4 months, 29 days
We can now finally say that One UI 8.0 is the shortest of the three beta programs in duration, and that One UI 8.5 beats One UI 7.0, which was believed to be Samsung’s longest beta program.
One UI 8.5 is now available on Galaxy S25, S25 Edge, Z Fold7, Z Flip7, Z TriFold, S25 FE, and Z Flip7 FE, starting from Korea, with the expansion coming in the next few days or weeks, depending on the device model and the sales region. Samsung has also announced the beginning of the One UI 8.5 rollout in their newsroom, with more devices to get the update. You can see the changelogs of One UI 8.5 here.
To get the full experience, the Galaxy S26 provides more features, such as the 24MP camera and various new Galaxy AI features, than the Galaxy S25’s version of One UI 8.5, provided that certain features, like the 24MP camera, are exclusive to the Galaxy S26.
#Android #Android15 #Android16 #AndroidB #AndroidBaklava #AndroidV #news #oneUi #OneUI7 #OneUI70 #OneUI8 #OneUI80 #OneUI85 #Samsung #smartphone #Tech #Technology #update
Aptivi
