Review of One UI 8.5 on Galaxy S26 Ultra: How great is it?

One UI 8.5 on Galaxy S26 Ultra with a transformed Quick Panel interface and smart Galaxy AI feature, handling work faster than ever.

After many days of waiting for the test versions, I finally got my hands on the Galaxy S26 Ultra running the official One UI 8.5 version. The first feeling is “pleasure” and extremely smooth.

Samsung not only refreshed the appearance but also deeply integrated artificial intelligence into every smallest task, turning the phone into a true assistant. Let’s take a look at the most valuable changes in this “huge” update.

Buy Galaxy S26 Ultra to experience the latest One UI 8.5:

Quick Panel and Settings interface: Exquisite and neat

The first impressive change is the completely redesigned Quick Panel. Icons have more relief, colors are more vibrant and vivid.

What I like is the extremely high customization ability: You can change the size and rearrange every button to your liking with just a few drag and drop operations.

The Settings menu has also been cleaned up, removing cumbersome subsections, making finding features more intuitive. In particular, the Finder bar is now always “on duty” at the foot of the main screen, helping to search for everything on the device with just a quick tap.

Galaxy AI “Now Nudges”: Understands users’ thoughts better than their lovers

The Now Nudges feature is a big step for Samsung in turning AI into a personal assistant. It works silently in the background and makes extremely smart suggestions based on screen content.

For example, when my friend texts me asking: “Are you free this February 27?”, Galaxy AI will automatically scan the calendar and immediately display that day’s schedule notification for me to respond without having to open the Calendar app. Or when someone asks for a photo, the device automatically suggests related photos in the Gallery for me to share immediately. It feels like everything is going smoothly, without a single unnecessary move.

Get creative with Creative Studio and AI Photos

Regarding photo editing, One UI 8.5 allows you to describe requests in text instead of just drawing with the S Pen as before. I tried asking the machine to “change the water bottle to blue” or “naturally add a pair of headphones to the table”, and the result was that the AI ​​handled the light and shadows extremely realistically.

In particular, Creative Studio (upgraded from Drawing Assist) is now like a miniature design studio. You can create invitations, stickers or even unique wallpaper designs from just an inspiration photo and a few lines of description. This feature is also deeply integrated into Samsung Notes, which is super convenient for office workers who need to make quick profiles or cards.

Camera Assistant and 24MP Resolution

With One UI 8.5, Samsung brings the default 24MP resolution option to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Practical experience shows that 24MP images retain details much better than 12MP (especially small details such as grass grains or wall patterns) while the file size is still very optimal.

In addition, Camera Assistant also has the ability to adjust the speed and sensitivity of autofocus (Autofocus). You can choose lightning-fast focus for action scenes or slow, smooth cinematic focus for “chill chill” videos.

Conclude

One UI 8.5 on Galaxy S26 Ultra is not just a regular software update, but a comprehensive upgrade in user experience. From the sophistication of the interface to the outstanding intelligence of Galaxy AI, it all proves Samsung’s leading position.