Samsung's Galaxy S25 free AI upgrade is no longer a rumor — it's in the build

Samsung is making good on its promise to bring Galaxy S26 AI features to the Galaxy S25. According to reliable tipster Tarun Vats on X, specific S26 features are now appearing in Samsung’s latest test build of One UI 8.5 for the S25 series, which is the clearest sign yet that the update is close.

So what exactly is coming? Samsung has optimized Advanced Audio Eraser, Creative Studio, and Enhanced Photo Assist for the S25 series — striking features the company debuted with the Galaxy S26 in February. Call Screening, the flagship AI feature of the S26 that lets an AI-generated voice answer incoming calls and transcribe callers’ responses, rounds out the headline additions. Vats also mentioned that last point earlier in the day in an X post.

This is a meaningful step forward from where things stood a few weeks ago. As we reported, Samsung confirmed in its community forums that S26 AI features would come to the S25. At that point, however, no specific features had been verified in an actual build. Finding them in this type of late-stage test build means they’ve cleared internal development and are ready to ship.

The stable One UI 8.5 rollout is expected to begin in South Korea for the S25 series on April 30, with a global rollout for S25 users anticipated a week later on May 4. These dates have not been officially confirmed by Samsung, but were noted just days ago by a Samsung support agent. The maturity of the software being built currently in testing also supports this expected timeline.

If you’re waiting to try S26 AI tools on your S25, your wait is almost over.