Samsung’s beta programmes usually leave a paper trail before the download button appears, and the Galaxy A35 has now left two. The first was a One UI 9 build with firmware version A356NKSUAZZH5, spotted on Samsung’s test servers in Korea. The second is a screenshot posted by a Samsung user on the company’s community forum, showing a dedicated beta section for the Galaxy A35 — the kind of scaffolding Samsung normally puts up shortly before it opens registrations.
Neither is an announcement. As of September 6, 2026 Samsung has not said when the One UI 9 beta programme will open for the A35, and no date has been published. But the sequence is familiar: server-side firmware, then a forum section, then sign-ups.
What makes this interesting is the queue Samsung is running. According to GSMArena, stable One UI 9 has so far reached only the Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra, Z Flip8 and Galaxy S26 FE, while the Galaxy S26 series is still in beta. Samsung’s own newsroom confirmed a September expansion of the beta to the Galaxy Z Fold7, Galaxy Z Flip7, Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 FE across India, Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. A two-year-old mid-ranger sitting in that same testing pool alongside last year’s flagships is not the usual order of things.
It is not unprecedented either. SamMobile notes that Samsung has opened the One UI 9.0 beta to more Galaxy phones than it did for One UI 8.0 or One UI 8.5, and that the Galaxy A36 already picked up a One UI 9.0 beta build that few expected it to get. The A35 following its successor into the programme fits that pattern rather than breaking it.
A quick refresher on the hardware in question. The Galaxy A35 was announced on March 11, 2024 and released on March 15, 2024, built around a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED panel at 1080 x 2340 with a 120Hz refresh rate, an Exynos 1380 chipset, a 50MP f/1.8 main camera with OIS, a 13MP f/2.2 selfie camera and a 5,000mAh battery with 25W wired charging. Samsung’s UK product listing promises four OS upgrades and five years of security updates, and adds IP67 water and dust resistance plus Knox Vault. One UI 9.0 is based on Android 17 — which, counting from the Android 14 the phone shipped with, would be the last of those four promised upgrades.
That is the real story here. For A35 owners, this is not just an early look at new customisation, accessibility and productivity features; it is the software update that closes the book on the phone’s support window. Getting it in beta form, ahead of flagship owners waiting on stable builds, is an unusual way to reach the finish line.
Earlier on GismoLand: Samsung Galaxy A35 and A56. Beta software may arrive out of order.
