Samsung looks to be getting ready to open a One UI 9.5 beta for the Galaxy S26 series. Samsung’s Korean and US update servers have reportedly started listing an S26 Ultra tester build, labelled S948BXXU6ZZK3.
Nothing is official. Samsung has named no beta date, and registration is not open, so there is nothing to install yet. A tipster called Kailash passed on the find, and fans read the ZZ in the version string as a sign of a beta-stage build.
Last year’s cycle hints at the timing. The One UI 8.5 beta started on 8 December 2025 for the Galaxy S25 family, and Samsung’s final One UI 8.5 arrived on the S26 in February. This year the One UI 9.0 beta went live on 13 May, and the stable release shipped on 22 July with the new foldables. One UI 9.5 is also built on Android 17 and is tied to the Galaxy S27, which is likely to launch in January or February 2027. Fan sites guess anywhere from later this month to mid-December for the beta.
Joining should work as before. Once Samsung opens registration, enrol through the Samsung Members app and fetch the build from Settings > Software update. Samsung’s earlier betas covered only Germany, India, Poland, South Korea, the UK and the US. Carrier-locked phones were left out of the last one in the US, so a locked S26 may only get the final version.
For now only the S26 Ultra build has surfaced, though other S26 models should be next in line. Fan sites expect older flagships and the latest foldables to be invited as well. Last cycle, Samsung brought the 8.5 test to a long list of older devices, among them the S24 range and the Tab S11, only in late March, months after the first wave.
Forecasts for the opening day vary: early December from one fan site, November from another, mid-December from a third, with a slide into January possible. All of them lean on one earlier mid-cycle release as a template, so the server sighting is the better clue.
Bugs can be reported from inside Samsung Members. Whoever remains enrolled to the end moves to the final One UI 9.5 by ordinary update when Samsung ships it.
Back up with Smart Switch before you try it. Leaving the beta in Samsung Members does not roll the phone back. Getting off it takes a cable to a computer and a Smart Switch downgrade, and your data goes with it. Anyone with a single phone should think twice before enrolling.
