After the One UI 6.1.1 release and spread throughout the country since the first one on September 5 for the S24 series in South Korea, it started rolling out on September 9, followed by the 2023 devices on September 12. It arrived in the Philippines as of September 16.
The features that debuted on the Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 have now been introduced for older devices, including the S23, S22 series, Z Flip5, Z Fold5, and Tab S9 series. Some of these features include Sketch to Image, Portrait Studio, Suggested Replies, Interpreter, Composer, and many more.
Here is my honest review after the One UI 6.1.1 update:
1. The first one is the home screen. The song title and artist text on the Samsung Music player widget are now a bit smaller. See the difference compared to the previous version.
Onyx Black (before 6.1.1) (left); Blue (after 6.1.1) (right)
2. The next feature I tested was Sketch-To-Image, one of my first experiences after this update. I tested it many times on some demo units of the Flip6/Fold6. It's like when I draw something—stuff that you imagine. I saw some posts on the thread that had more pets, airplanes in the sky, and things like that. Samsung did well with the Galaxy AI for this feature, and it's more accurate to what you've drawn. Here is a sample of how I draw a dolphin, and the output after that:
Its so thrill and fantastic.
3. In Settings, the "Advanced Intelligence" tab bar is now "Galaxy AI" with Drawing Assist feature.
4. Regarding the camera, I have seen some S24 users’ posts in groups sharing photos that have a shadow blurring issue when zooming between 16x and 19x. Oh no, you don't, not today, Samsung. 😜 I recently wiped the cache partition after this update. Luckily, I haven’t seen any shadow blur issues yet.
Here are the photos between the Unhappy For You poster (left; 19.4x) and the Inside Out 2 poster (right; 28.2x):
5. It's now a better and smoother phone experience with One UI Home after the update. Yes, when switching between apps, the animation is smoother than before. Yeah, smooth like a melted butter. 😅
6. Portrait Studio? Yes and no. I haven’t tried this feature yet. I tried taking a selfie, but it seems accurate. It’s sketchy, and my face looks cartoonish and artistic.
7. Regarding battery life, it remains unchanged and depends on your usage. In my case, I only use ML, CoC, and other social media apps. My battery lasts about 18 hours to 2 days, but this may not accurately reflect the actual battery life. To be honest, the battery life is a bit tough as before.
8. Answering and ending calls can now be done using the "Answer Using Speaker" feature. After the update, when this feature is turned on, calls will be answered using the speaker instead of the headset or Bluetooth device.
9. My Files can now copy/move faster than before. Also, My Files can drag the file either to move it to the designated folder or drag it to the Homescreen to easily open the file. Imagine if you were using the laptop and wanted to drag the file to your home screen or desktop.
10. Lastly, the One UI version is still 6.1-based (even though it's already updated to 6.1.1) with Galaxy AI features. It's the same as the S24 series, which is the 6.1-based version of the "6.1.1" update. As per Samsung's policy, One UI 6.1.1 is only for foldable phones (excluding the Z Flip6 and Z Fold6, which already have the built-in One UI version), such as the Z Flip5, Z Fold5, and even the Tab S9 series.
And that's it for the review of the One UI 6.1.1 update. We'll look forward to the review of One UI 7 and its upcoming changes and features.
How about you? What One UI 6.1.1 features do you like the most? Share it in the comment section.
P.S. It will likely be available for the S22 series (not sure, but certainly for the ZF4) before the end of September.
