Despite the difficulties in deploying One UI 7 on its devices, Samsung plans to introduce One UI 8 based on Android 16 this summer.
Samsung Vice President and Head of Smartphone Planning Minseok Kang spoke about the company's collaboration with Google during the presentation of The Android Show: I/O Edition, and also shared plans for the future, including the rollout of Android 16.
In the video, Kang does not specify details, so the launch could take place either in June or at the end of August — unless, of course, another postponement occurs. At the same time, several possible scenarios for the announcement can already be assumed.
In the summer, probably in July, Samsung Unpacked will be held, where new foldable smartphones will be presented, which may already have One UI 8 with Android 16 on board. You definitely shouldn't expect an earlier release, because the stable version of Android 16 will be released in June.
Reports that the Galaxy Fold 7 and Flip 7 would receive One UI 8 appeared back in early April. Before that, there were also reports that Samsung was testing the new shell on Galaxy S25 smartphones. The rollout on other devices will most likely begin after that.
As for the update itself, you shouldn't expect any major changes. The main changes will be related to Android 16, and the rest of the aspects will be just improvements over One UI 7. In particular, Samsung is preparing several changes to the Quick Share and Gallery functions. At the same time, the beta version of the new firmware is expected by the end of May.