Google has officially announced Android 17, marking the beginning of the new software development, and in parallel, Samsung has also started working on One UI 9.

A few days ago, a new software version appeared on Samsung’s server, later identified as One UI 9. Along with this identification, it’s found that the update is designed for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 foldable.

For those who are unaware, starting last year, Samsung began releasing the foldables with a major One UI version. Specifically, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 were the first to run Android 16 (One UI 8.0), which later expanded to the Galaxy S25 series through OTA update.

This year is gonna be the same, with the Galaxy Fold 8 and One UI 9 taking the center stage at the next Unpacked event. For now, Samsung hasn’t shared any official information on the One UI 9 launch date, but we do have Google’s update on Android 17.

Android 17

On February 13, Google officially announced Android 17’s first beta. The Android maker is focusing on improving privacy, security, and performance with this major release. Besides, the update will also optimize the camera and media features, new app updates, while providing some new capabilities in connectivity and smart connected devices.

One of the major changes in this update is shifting away from developer preview to a continuous canary channel. With that, Google will continue to release Android 17 updates through 2026, including new improvements.

According to the Android 17 schedule, the software will see beta releases from February to April 2026. That said, the final release should be somewhere in the second quarter of this year.

As confirmed above, Google will conduct the Android 17 release through 2026, so there’s a possibility that the development run before launch could be shorter than previous Android versions. So, Samsung could launch the out-of-the-box One UI 9 with the Z Fold 8 in July (at the earliest) and expand this Android 17 update to older devices starting late Q3 and later.

We’ll keep you posted with new news on this matter.

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Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy S26 series on February 25. These phones will release the One UI 8.5 software out of the box, but the most important question is whether the company will share its expansion information for old Galaxy devices.

Samsung has been testing One UI 8.5 since December 2025, starting with the Galaxy S25 series. The beta updates reveal graphical upgrades over One UI 8.0 and prior releases. The key improvements are quite visible, including optimized UI controls.

Importantly, the program is still open, with Samsung releasing beta 4, while beta 5 is reportedly in the schedule. It suggests that the program could run through February. However, Samsung could still do one thing, confirming the rollout with a solid roadmap for previously released Galaxy models.

Over the past three months, Samsung has been conducting internal One UI 8.5 build tests for various Galaxy devices, including the S24, S23, foldables, and mid-range phones.

This indicates a wide One UI 8.5 rollout preaprations but the speed of the current test campaign is slow. Therefore, we’re heading to the Unpacked February 2026 to know more about the software’s full release.

There’s a slight chance that we might get a hint of when the rollout may start for existing devices. However, previous Unpacked events, such as the S25 series and Z Fold 7 events, didn’t do justice to previous flagships. To be mentioned, these two have been the first to test the One UI 7.0 beta and 8.0 beta, respectively.

Instead, it took at least two months extra for Samsung to make these updates public after official announcements. We can’t expect the same for One UI 8.5, since it’s an incremental update and has the same base Android version as One UI 8.0.

So, there’s a chance that Samsung may surprise the Galaxy S25 series users with a new update and expand gradually to old devices. However, we’ll have to see how things unfold at Unpacked.

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A recent Galaxy S26 Ultra promo image leak has revealed the bigger picture of the Galaxy Unpacked 2026 and answered one of the most important questions from this lineup.

A few days ago, tipster Evan Blass shared press renders of the top-of-the-line S26 model. The phone shows refined contours, an optimized camera design, and four colors – black, cobalt violet, sky blue, and white. You may have noticed that the word “Titanium” is missing in these color names.

For example, the Galaxy S25 Ultra had titanium black, titanium gray, titanium silverblue, and titanium whitesilver, besides the online exclusive shades. The name is an identifier for the titanium versions.

On the other hand, the render reveals a brighter color tone of the S26 Ultra than its predecessor. That suggests that the company is dropping the titanium frame this year.

Samsung started using titanium with the Galaxy S24 Ultra and retained this frame with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. These two phones have gathered praises around the globe, especially with last year’s release. This new design has improved design strength and reduced weight. Overall, contributing to a better in-hand experience.

Adding to this, Apple has also given up on titanium in favor of aerospace-grade aluminum to improve thermal conductivity, reduce weight, and optimize battery life. While Samsung remains conservative on the battery capacity, the S26 Ultra might bring better heat resistance with the next Ultra model.

Since Samsung follows the same trends, there’s a high chance that Aluminum to return with the Galaxy S26 series and titanium will be blacked out.

Besides the Galaxy S26 Ultra promo leak, Samsung hasn’t spilled any official word in this regard. However, the Unpacked is only two weeks away, with a clearer update.

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A new rumor indicates that Samsung may ship a freebie with Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra during the pre-order phase to increase early customers’ interest.

Specifically, the phone lineup is rumored to ship with a 60W super-fast charger. Samsung has been offering 45W support for all of the recent flagship phones. However, the premium lineup no longer ships with a charger inside the retail box, and users will have to buy it separately.

Since the phone also supports backward charging, such as 25W, many of the users don’t bother buying a new brick for the sake of faster charging sessions. As for me, I had a 45W charger, and it makes the charging experience a lot faster.

However, Samsung is reportedly launching 60W wired charging support for the Galaxy S26 series. This will further boost the charging speed. Besides charging, the high-end model – the Galaxy S26 Ultra is likely to retain the 5,000mAh battery capacity, which Samsung has been using for a long time now. So, why would Samsung pack a 60W charger for pre-ordering customers?

The situation lies around the current supply chain conditions, especially those created by the memory suppliers. Samsung is also part of the problem, since it’s no longer producing DRAM and other memory chips in order to increase HBM production.

This situation has created a lack of memory and storage chip supplies in the tech industry. Thus, increasing prices and making final products more expensive.

Last year, Samsung offered a free storage upgrade at the cost of a lower-end version. For example, users can claim a 512GB version of S25 Ultra at the price of the 256GB variant. The new supply chain constraint may have caused the company to shift away from this pre-order offer and offer another freebie instead.

Cost-efficient

Though it’s a rumor, Samsung could ship a 60W charger with the Galaxy S26 series pre-order campaign without sustaining a major loss.

A 45W charger costs around $50 on Samsung’s official store. So, the 60W charger should be priced around $60-$70, which is still a fair deal to trade for the early Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, or S26 Ultra pre-order customers. Therefore, offering a free charger won’t be a bigger expense than giving away a free storage, at least in the current scenario.

On the other side, users won’t have to buy this accessory on their own and experience a better charging rate, which will ease their day-to-day experience with the newly released models. If true, this will compensate well for losing the free storage upgrade offer.

Samsung will launch the Galaxy S26 series on February 25, 2026, at the Unpacked event.

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