After officially releasing One UI 8.5 to Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S24 phones, which included a suite of advanced new AI tools, Samsung is now rolling out the update to older flagships and midrange Galaxy phones globally, but they won’t receive all of the AI features that launched with the Galaxy S26.
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The Galaxy S23 Ultra will receive the new One UI 8.5 update today. (Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Samsung began rolling out One UI 8.5, which is its latest software update built on Android 16, on May 6th in South Korea, starting with the Galaxy S26 series. The global rollout expanded on May 11th, initially reaching the Galaxy S25 series and the latest foldables. The Galaxy S24 series followed shortly after.
Today marks the third major wave, with the update landing on older and cheaper Galaxy phones globally. Galaxy S23 users in Germany, Pakistan, Portugal and Spain are reporting that they’ve received the update. Meanwhile Galaxy A56 owners in South Africa, Norway, Egypt and other countries are also getting the update.
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To check if One UI 8.5 is available on your device, go to Settings and then Software Update.
Today’s wave includes the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy A56, and Galaxy A36. The Galaxy S23 FE is expected to follow soon.
The full list of devices eligible for One UI 8.5 now covers most Galaxy phones released in the last three to four years, including the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy S26 series, Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 and upwards, and select A-series devices.
The headline features are a redesigned interface with floating pill-shaped menus, new Quick Panel and Lock Screen customisation options, and AirDrop compatibility via an updated Quick Share integration.
The major AI upgrades are the real story, though they don't come to every device equally.
If you own a Galaxy S24 series phone or newer, One UI 8.5 brings four AI tools that originally debuted on the Galaxy S26 earlier this year. Audio Eraser lets you isolate and adjust specific sounds, including voices, music and background noise, while streaming content through the Quick Panel.
Creative Studio is a generative AI image editor that transforms sketches into finished artwork or completely changes the style of an existing image. Call Screening answers unknown calls and transcribes them in real time so you can decide whether to pick up. And an updated Photo Assist uses text prompts to add or remove objects, or change specific details like clothing colours.
However, these four AI tools won't make it to the Galaxy A-series phones or the Galaxy S23 range.
Galaxy S23 users will, however, get the upgraded Bixby, which is now powered by Perplexity AI. It understands natural language to find and change settings on your phone without you needing to know their names. Tell it your eyes are strained and it turns on Eye Comfort Shield, for example. Or, ask how to save battery without losing too much functionality and it returns a list of tips. It works surprisingly well and quietly solves one of the longstanding problems with feature-rich smartphones: most people don't know half of what their phone can do.
For Galaxy S23 owners, the missing AI tools may also affect resale prices. The series is now in the second half of its promised software support window. One UI 8.5 arriving without the full AI suite could affect its trade-in price, as we've seen before when Samsung has dropped support for older flagships. Read my full Galaxy S23 trade-in guide here.
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