While there's understandable excitement about Samsung's new foldables that will launch late next month, it's fair to say that for Samsung fans, the Android 14 and One UI 6.0 update is the more interesting thing to look forward to as we enter the second half of the year.
Like previous years, the latest Galaxy S flagships are pretty much guaranteed to be the first to get this year's big Android update. In fact, that was confirmed earlier today when the Galaxy S23 Ultra showed up on the Geekbench benchmark website running Android 14 firmware.
The benchmark didn't offer any information about the firmware, but some eagle-eyed folks have now revealed at least one detail: the first Android 14 test build for the Galaxy S23 Ultra carries firmware version S918USQU1ZWFA. Yes, there's nothing exciting about that revelation, but it does mean we could see more Android 14 and One UI 6.0 info make its way online in the coming days as we get closer to the beta program that will let Galaxy S23 users take the new software for a test drive.
As we reported recently, Samsung could kick off the One UI 6.0 beta program in the third week of July, possibly just a few days before the company unveils the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, Galaxy Tab S9, and Galaxy Watch 6. You should keep in mind, however, that delays can — and often do — happen when software updates are involved, so nothing is written in stone just yet.
The only thing that's confirmed for now is that the global public rollout of the stable One UI 6.0 update for the Galaxy S23 lineup will start before the end of the year. In fact, Samsung is likely to bring One UI 6.0 to every compatible flagship phone before 2024 if history is any guide. Some mid-range phones could also get the update in 2023, though we will need to see it to believe it.
In addition to One UI 6 for smartphones and tablets, Samsung is working on the One UI Watch 5 (Wear OS 4.5) update for the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 5. There's already a One UI Watch 5 beta program ongoing in the US and Korea, and we're expecting the stable update to start rolling out worldwide by late July/early August.
If you own a Galaxy smartphone or tablet, you can check if it is eligible for Android 14 and One UI 6.0 in this non-exhaustive list. You should also bookmark our tracker page to follow Samsung's progress with the update and to find out when it rolls out for your device.
