Samsung update delivers hot new features for older Galaxy phones
Get the latest features on your older device
Quick summary
Samsung has started the update to One UI 9 with Android 17.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 models will get the update first, with My FanCam being the biggest new feature.
Samsung has flicked the switch on the One UI 9 update, pushing out a full range of new features for those with older Galaxy devices.
One UI 9 made its debut on the Galaxy Z devices in the summer, but as from 16 September, the update is rolling out to older phones. The Galaxy S26 family is the first in line, with other eligible devices to follow.
The update means that there's feature parity between Samsung's latest phones, with new features including My FanCam, new Now Brief cards and additional privacy controls.
Samsung's One UI 9 sits on Android 17, so those updating will move to the latest version of Google's software too, but with a range of additions that Samsung layers in.
Highlights include Now Nudge to help you find relevant information from messages, Creative Studio that now suggests image generation ideas, Interpreter with a new threaded view to make it even easier to follow translated conversations and a better structure to Voice Recorder.
The headline feature here is really My FanCam, which will probably be the thing that people notice the most. This allows you to select a person in a video and the focus tracks that person, keeping them centred.
It's really a social content factory, meaning you can record something like a show or performance, and then use AI to just follow one person in that video. It means you can basically create a highlight reel that's all about that one person, rather than everything else that was going on.
It's perfect for the school performance where you're only interested in your own child, but it's likely to result in plenty of videos from bands where someone is just sharing one person in that band.
Samsung has a 7-year update policy on a lot of its devices, so many will be in line for an update - but the roll-out is expected to take place across the rest of 2026. Normally the update is just about done when Samsung's next phone - with One UI 9.5 - launches.
However, there aren’t a lot of new features in this update, with most of the focus on AI features. That's drawn the ire of commentators on Reddit, with some comparing it to the fairly substantial update that came with iOS 27.
