Samsung announces One UI 7 is coming to older phones after all, but the launch is still a mess

The Samsung Galaxy S21 series of phones lying face down.

The Galaxy S21 series is about to be replaced. (Image credit: Samsung)

Earlier this week we celebrated the news that Samsung’s One UI 7 update finally has a release date for older devices as the company marked April 7 as the day it would begin rolling out to Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Flip 6, and Galaxy Z Fold 6 devices. This news wasn’t well received by users of older handsets, unfortunately, but now they too could have a reason to get excited.

Samsung had already teased that the update would steadily roll out beyond 2024’s flagships to older and less powerful devices including the Galaxy S24 FE, the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5, the Galaxy Tab S10 series and the Galaxy Tab S9 series, but now it seems even older phones will also get One UI 7.

At least that’s what Samsung’s Singapore team believes as its announcement also lists: Galaxy S22 Series, Galaxy S21 Series, Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy Z Fold4, Galaxy Z Flip4, Galaxy Z Fold3, and Galaxy Z Flip3 devices as being eligible.

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However, these older handsets will seemingly have to wait a little longer as the blog post tips April 14 as One UI 7’s launch date – a week later than its initial rollout.

Two Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultras in a pile — The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Image credit: TechRadar)

There’s seemingly no reason why Singapore’s phones would get the update and not the same devices in other parts of the world, so we expect OneUI 7 will be hitting Galaxy S22 and S21 phones next month in the US, UK, and Australia too.

However, don’t expect the update to include the same features on every device. Older handsets lack the hardware power to perform several AI tasks.

Writing Assist and Drawing Assist will come to handsets as old as the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Tab S9, while Audio Eraser will skip these older phones and only come to the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Flip 6, and Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy Tab S10 series.

Is it confusing? Yes. Unfortunately, on-device AI necessitates performance levels that older devices can't achieve.

The only way to secure these new features for yourself will be to snag a newer Samsung smartphone – and to help with that you can check out today’s best Samsung Galaxy S25 deals.

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Hamish is a Senior Staff Writer for TechRadar and you’ll see his name appearing on articles across nearly every topic on the site from smart home deals to speaker reviews to graphics card news and everything in between. He uses his broad range of knowledge to help explain the latest gadgets and if they’re a must-buy or a fad fueled by hype. Though his specialty is writing about everything going on in the world of virtual reality and augmented reality.