I tried Samsung’s One UI 9 beta, and it’s not the update I hoped it would be

The start of a new beta is always an exciting time, whether it’s a new Android version from Google or a new version of One UI. I expected that to be the case with One UI 9 , which is based on Android 17. However, now that I’ve spent some time with the beta on my Galaxy S26 Ultra , I can say that this is a much smaller update than we’re used to — and there’s no reason to rush into the beta program to try it for yourself.