Samsung One UI 9.5 Leaks Reveal Tiered AI Features Across Galaxy S-Series
Leaked builds suggest the Galaxy S26 will receive full AI capabilities while older models face hardware-driven omissions.
Samsung is preparing a tiered rollout of One UI 9.5 that grants the newest hardware full capabilities while limiting features on older devices. Leaked internal builds indicate that while the Galaxy S24 will receive the update, it will miss high-demand AI tools due to hardware constraints.
The upcoming One UI 9.5 update introduces a redesigned dialer featuring AI-powered search, a native App Lock, and a Satellite Connectivity Hub based on Google's Satellite SOS. Visually, the interface is shifting to a "Liquid Glass" aesthetic, which incorporates glossy edge highlights, blurred layers, and soft drop shadows. However, these features will not be distributed equally. The base Galaxy S24, equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 8GB of RAM, is expected to miss the new AI dialer search. In contrast, the Galaxy S26 is designed for these workloads, utilizing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a redesigned vapor chamber specifically engineered to manage the heat generated by constant local AI inference.
The Shift in Update Strategy
This distribution reflects a broader change in Samsung's development cycle. The company has transitioned to a strategy where major One UI x.0 updates, tied to Android versions, arrive in the second half of the year with minimal design changes. These are followed by incremental updates, such as version 9.5, which introduce more significant refinements. This shift coincides with the aggressive integration of generative AI, which demands substantial memory and thermal management. As a result, a functional divergence is emerging between hardware generations, even when they run the same software version.
The End of Feature Parity
This trend signals a fundamental shift in the Android flagship experience. For years, the industry's "support promise" focused on the number of OS updates a device would receive. However, as Ben Khalesi of Android Police notes, "Your phone may get updated and not upgraded." The current trajectory suggests that OS versioning no longer guarantees feature parity. Users may find their devices technically current in terms of software version but functionally obsolete regarding the most marketed AI capabilities. This effectively creates a hardware-locked software tier where the flashiest features are no longer backported as a matter of course.
What to Watch
As Samsung moves toward this model, the industry will be watching to see if this becomes the standard for all flagship manufacturers. While the visual refresh of One UI 9.5 will likely reach most supported devices, the specific list of AI omissions for the S24 and S25 remains to be officially confirmed. The primary point of contention will be whether RAM limitations are a genuine technical barrier or a strategic tool to drive hardware upgrades.