TL; DR
- One UI 8.5 beta is now live for Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6 in South Korea.
- Expansion confirmed for India, US, UK and more regions soon.
- Based on Android 16, this new update brings AI updates, smoother UI, and more customization.
Samsung has now started rolling out the One UI 8.5 beta to its 2024 foldables, the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6, starting with South Korea. The update went live in late March 2026, and users there are already able to enroll and download it through the Samsung Members app. This is basically the next phase of the beta rollout, since earlier it was limited to newer devices like the Galaxy S25 series and the Fold7 and Flip7.
Samsung had already confirmed on March 26 that the beta would expand to more devices, and now that’s happening. Alongside the Fold6 and Flip6, the beta is also planned for devices like the Galaxy S24 series, S25 FE, S24 FE, and the Galaxy Tab S11. Regions mentioned include South Korea, India, the US, and the UK, though right now the rollout has only started in Korea.
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If you want to try it, you can enroll through the Samsung Members app. There’s a beta banner there, and once you sign up, the update comes as a regular OTA download. Since this is beta software, Samsung is still recommending backing up your data before installing it.
As for what’s new, One UI 8.5 is based on Android 16 and brings updates that we already saw on the S26 series. This includes improvements to Galaxy AI features, smoother animations, better performance tuning, and updated privacy controls. On the foldables specifically, there are tweaks to things like Flex Mode, Multi Window, and the taskbar, which should improve how multitasking works.
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The rollout is expected to expand to more countries over the next few weeks, so users in India, the US, and the UK should start seeing it soon in the Samsung Members app. The stable version will come later after the beta testing phase is done, which is usually how Samsung handles these updates.
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