Snapdragon Galaxy S9/S9+ finally gets One UI 2.1 OTA update in United States for Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and unlocked

Updated: Samsung starts rolling out One UI 2.1 OTA update for the Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the United States for all carriers including Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and unlocked variants. Download and installation instructions below.

Original: Samsung recently released One UI 2.1 firmware update for the Galaxy S10 series, Note 10 series, Galaxy S9 series and even the Note 9 globally for the Exynos variants. Most of the regions have already been covered including most of Europe (EU) and Asia. The North American region, especially the United States, is always late in delivering the latest Android updates for their carrier locked smartphones; due to several network carrier restrictions and rules. But that’s slowly changing as One UI 2.1 firmware update just hit the Verizon Galaxy S9 (SM-G960U) and S9+ (SM-G965U) devices for the Snapdragon variants in USA.

The same update came to the Verizon Galaxy Note 9, earlier this week. While we don’t exactly know the build numbers of the One UI 2.1 firmware for the locked Verizon (VZW) variants of S9 series, if we were to guess it’s the same as Note 9’s – N960USQU4ETG1 build. So the Verizon Galaxy S9 and S9+ are most likely getting the same build ETG1. The same can be expected for Sprint, T-Mobile, and Unlocked S9 (SM-G960U1) and S9+ (SM-G960U1) variants.

The reason why One UI 2.1 update is so important for the Galaxy S9 is because it includes features from the Galaxy S20 series. As the Galaxy S9 series will never see Android 11, this is your best bet. One UI 2.1 OTA for S9 includes Single Take feature that can automatically shoot photos and videos with all of the cameras and functions. Then pulls out the best shots and moments in one single album. However, Single Take may consume a whole lot of space on your phone.

Quick share is another cool feature. It is like the Airdrop (from Apple iPhones) or the Nearby Sharing feature from Google for the Samsung devices. The update also brings latest July 2020 security patch level. So if your carrier just pushed the July update, it may very well be OneUI 2.1. You will also see updated Gallery app with new functions, updated Samsung keyboard, Music Share feature, and AR Emoji. The complete changelog is listed below.

Most anticipated features come to the stock Samsung Camera app with Pro mode for videos. This allows the user to set ISO, exposure, etc. while video recording as well. Other camera updates induce AR zone, single take, professional video, own filters, selfie sound, time lapse for the night and a mode for recording videos with the front camera in FHD / UHD at 60 fps.

One UI 2.1 update features

Here are all the new One UI 2.1 features and changes that can be expected for the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Note that not all features will come to the Snapdragon Note 9 series. Read about all the One UI 2.1 features from our Samsung Galaxy S10 series post.

System

• Quick Share
• Music Share
• Deep sleeping apps
• Changes in few settings pages
• More screen zoom options
• Created seperated keyboard category.
• Added Live Captions in missing features.
• Changed the design of the list a bit.

Camera

• Single Take
• Pro Video
• AR Zone (Picture Link, updated AR Emoji)
• AR Doodle
• My Filters
• Shot Suggestions
• Selfie Tone
• Smooth zoom transition
• Recording with shutter button in Photo mode
• Swipe down gesture on the shutter button
• Night Mode on selfie camera
• Zooming in Night Mode
• Changed “Night Mode on telephoto” to “Zooming in Night Mode” because it almost always just crops from normal camera

Apps

• My Files – Network Storage
• Gallery – Quick Crop and Clean View
• Messages – Categories and custom chat backgrounds
• Samsung Dex – Snapping windows with mouse
• Link to Windows/Your Phone – Shared clippoard
• Added Clean View to Gallery app
• Added Dex and Your Phone apps
•  

Keyboard

• New design
• Better haptic feedback (for example when deleting text)
• Undo/Redo gestures
• Spotify and Netflix integration
• Search, Translate and Samsung Pass were added
• Changes in Handwriting mode

However, there are still some features missing from the One UI 2.1 that should have been added from the Galaxy S20. Here is a list of missing features:

• Night Hyperlapse
• Switching lenses, when recording
• 30s shutter speed
• Smart selfie angle
• Live Captions

Download One UI 2.1 update for Snapdragon Galaxy S9 and S9+

You can update your S9 to One UI 2.1 using two methods:

1. Download the OTA update by going to Settings > System Updates > Download OTA updates manually.
2. Flash the full stock firmware using Odin FlashTool. Here is how to download and install One UI 2.1 firmware update. Note that the latest build may take some time to show up. So stay tuned!

Source