The last time I used a Samsung phone, it was the Galaxy Grand 2—and the TouchWiz UI put me off Samsung for years. Since then, I’ve stuck with cleaner, minimal Android experiences. But lately, Samsung has been showing up on my radar.
I’d been hearing good things about One UI 7, and before long, the YouTube algorithm caught on. Soon, my feed was flooded with videos about the new One UI 8 beta. I clicked on a couple out of curiosity—and to my surprise, I got intrigued.
One UI 7 Planted the Seed
It wasn’t just the beta that caught my attention, though—One UI 7had already laid the groundwork. That update introduced some genuinely useful features, and two that really stood out to me were the Now Bar and Writing Assist tools.
The Now Bar isn’t just a flashy new UI element. It stacks real-time activities like timers, music playback, live scores, or ongoing calls into a bar at the bottom of the lock screen.
What that does is create a clear separation between passive alerts (up top) and active sessions (down below). You’re not just looking at cluttered notifications. You’re interacting with what matters, fast.
It’s not static either. You can swipe between different active apps. For example, move from a music player to a running timer, and control them right from the lock screen. It’s surprisingly fluid and thoughtful. On my Pixel, I get a timer preview on the lock screen, but I still have to unlock the phone to pause it. Samsung simply makes it easier.
Also in One UI 7, the Writing Assist tools stand out. Long-press any text and you’re offered options to reword, summarize, or format it right there, without opening another app or switching tabs. It’s the kind of first-world problem I never thought needed solving, but here I am, appreciating how seamlessly Samsung integrates it. For someone constantly typing or editing, this kind of quick AI help genuinely saves time.
Then One UI 8 Happened
After the big One UI 7 update, I started watching videos about theOne UI 8 beta. Channels likeSamMobilehave solid coverage, and the more I watched, the more I found myself appreciating what Samsung was doing. And right in the middle of writing this piece,Android 16 dropped on my Pixel. That gave me a fresh perspective to compare both sides.
And let me be honest. The stable Android 16 build is solid, but it doesn’t bring any of the things I was excited about. Material 3 Expressive, Google’s bold new design language, isn’t part of this release. The 90:10 split-screen multitasking is also missing, at least for now. Sure, there are quality-of-life improvements, but nothing that really moves the needle.
Samsung, meanwhile, already has the 90:10 multitasking mode in its One UI 8 beta. This lets you keep one app fully visible while shrinking the second into a slim strip. It’s a big improvement over the typical 50:50 split that often limits usability.
And here’s where it really clicked for me. I use aPixel 8, which is a small phone by today’s standards. A 50:50 split just feels cramped. But the 90:10 layout makes perfect sense. I could draft notes using almost the full width of the screen while keeping a reference doc just a tap away. This feature showed up first as Open Canvas on OnePlus phones by the way.
One UI’s Visual Identity No Longer Feels Overbearing
There are some nice touches in One UI 8 that make the interface feel alive—dynamic wallpapers, new animated clock styles, and subtle system refinements that pull the whole look together. Visually, it’s very different from Google’s Material Design or even Nothing’s Dot Matrix aesthetic. But I like it.
It’s playful, confident, and—most importantly—it doesn’t feel all over the place like TouchWiz once did.
Pixel Still Feels Like Home
Now, all that said, I’m still a Pixel guy. I love the simplicity, the elegance, the design. Even though Android 16 didn’t blow me away, I’m still excited for Material 3 Expressive (which will launch later this year). That design language speaks to me: fluid animations, expressive gestures, bouncy haptics, and splashes of bold colors. I’ve writtena whole pieceon why I’m hyped for it.
Samsung may have the better feature set right now, but Google still owns the vibe I’m looking for.
UI and UX matter a lot to me, and the fact that Samsung is even on my radar again is kind of a big deal. If there ever comes a day when I can’t use a Pixel or a Nothing phone, then yes, Samsung it is.
