Millions of Samsung users loving latest free upgrade for older Galaxy phones

Much as we love the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra here at T3 – it's the 'best premium' entry in our best Android phones feature for 2024 – there's lots of good to be said for older-generation handsets too. You needn't own the latest and greatest to benefit from a host of over-the-air updates for free upgrades.

Indeed, millions of Samsung users have downloaded the latest One UI 6.1 software, available for the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy Tab S9 and more models, to benefit from the upgrades – and are loving it. Samsung has quoted that 8.8 million users have benefitted so far since its rollout, but that's only the beginning – the target is for over 100 million users.

As previously reported on T3, the addition of One UI 6.1 brings some of the artificial intelligence (AI) features that adorn the Galaxy S24 series, except to older Galaxy models. Samsung is staggering the rollout, with additional models getting the update this month (May) to cover the Galaxy S22 series, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 foldables, and the Galaxy Tab S8 series.

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It won't end there either: the plans are to extend One UI 6.1 back to the Galaxy S21 series and beyond, meaning the free software upgrade will land on millions of other Samsung users' devices over the coming months. And it's not just for flagship models either: the Galaxy A55 mid-ranger, for example, also benefits. 

If your Galaxy phone doesn't benefit then Samsung has even introduced the Try Galaxy app, which simulates a Galaxy S24 homescreen experience so you can get an experience of these AI features before you buy. The company is really keen for its Galaxy AI features to reach as many users as possible. 

And it's clear to see why: Galaxy AI, which includes Live Translate, Live Transcribe, Chat Assist, and Circle to Search, is a suite of genuinely useful features. You can park your phone on the table and watch is transcribe spoken word into text in real-time. You can finger-draw a circle around any interesting element on page to search in Google. It's a great set of features. 

However, the full suite of Galaxy AI is only available on the latest devices. So if you're looking for the Generative Edit tool – to resize, remove or move subjects/objects within a shot – that's where the S24 Ultra will be your ideal pick. Still, as Samsung gears up for future launches – the Galaxy S25 is already rumoured – it's pretty clear that the Galaxy AI feature suite will only advance, improve and add yet more future features.