The Galaxy Z Flip3 and the Galaxy Z Fold3 are the most recent flagship foldable phones from Samsung, and with many generational improvements in tow, they're also considered by some to be the company's first foldables that are truly worth their salt. If you own one, you've probably looked at our coverage on Android 12 and wondered when the update will land on your phone. Now, the forecast is a little bit clearer, as Samsung has released the first beta builds of its Android 12-based One UI 4 to both foldable smartphones, so you can stop being jealous of Pixel users and their quick (well, relatively quick) updates.
Even though Samsung foldables are among the most premium smartphones in the company's lineup, they don't do as well with updates as their regular counterparts. The Galaxy Z Fold2 famously got its dose of Android 11 in January, lagging behind the Galaxy S20 and Note20 series, and even the original Galaxy Z Flip. It seems like this scenario might not come around again, though, or at least not in the way it did previously — last year, the Z Fold2 got its Android 11 beta by the tail end of November, and was limited to Korean users. Now, Samsung's two newest foldable phones are getting their respective beta update by the end of October instead, closely following the beta for the S21 series.
On to the update itself. The Z Flip3 has it filed under version number F711BXXU2ZUJF, while for the Z Fold3, the version number is F926BXXU1ZUJF. As reported by XDA, users can now sign up to the beta program through the Samsung Members app, so if you have one of those devices and you're interested in checking out Android 12, be sure to hop into the application to get started. Just remember that beta software will always be prone to bugs, so if you don't feel like dealing with those, you should wait for the stable update instead.