All change for millions of Galaxy owners.

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This is a critical month for Samsung and its global install base of Galaxy owners awaiting a free Android upgrade. This delivers the latest Samsung and Google security innovations, which have only been available on the Galaxy S26. The upgrade goes live imminently, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

“May 2026 is the month when Samsung will open the One UI 8.5 rollout,” SammyFans says. “Starting with Galaxy S25 series, it will expand to multiple models.” And it can’t come soon enough. “Nearly three months have passed since the official One UI 8.5 was unveiled, yet the update hasn’t arrived for older models,” with hundreds of millions of users “awaiting a digital refresh.”

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Samsung’s One UI 8.5 Android upgrade catches its users up with Pixel owners who are always first to new features. This despite Samsung outselling Pixel almost twenty-to-one. The update is billed as Samsung’s “strongest security upgrade yet.”

This free upgrade provides many of the innovations that had been restricted to the Galaxy S26, meaning users with S25s can benefit from new protections without having to buy an expensive new phone less than a year after their last purchase.

The key security upgrades make it harder for a thief to access user data or use a stolen phone. With phone thefts soaring, locking down devices even when a PIN code is compromised is critical to keeping users safe.

“One UI 8.5 strengthens device protection,” Samsung says, “and gives users clearer control over their security settings. Theft Protection keeps phones and their data secure if it is lost or stolen. For additional protection, Failed Authentication Lock automatically locks the screen if there are too many failed attempts to verify identity by fingerprint, PIN, or password. Identity check also safeguards more settings than before, adding an extra layer of protection.”

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There is also an expansion of the new inactivity restart, which returns phones to a before unlock state when unused for 72 hours. This protects against a physical compromise of a device, by using a cable to tap into on-device data.

The general release of One UI 8.5 with these free security and privacy upgrades is expected to begin next week. April 30 had been touted by leakers, but that turned out to be a false start. Now Samsung will be hoping for a smooth rollout given this is already later to phones than many users hoped or even expected.