I’ve had my Galaxy A34 for about three years, which is long enough for it to start feeling like it belonged in a museum. I had already started looking at newer Galaxy phones when Samsung dropped the One UI 8.5 update. I didn’t expect software to change how I felt about a three-year-old mid-ranger, but a few of the changes gave me a real “Oh, this is nice” moment. They didn’t turn it into a flagship, but they did make me wonder whether I was ready to replace it or just bored with it.

The One UI 8.5 Quick Panel caught my attention

The large sliders made my Galaxy A34 feel fresher

The Quick Panel was the first thing that made me do a double-take. I can’t remember every detail of how it looked before, and I’m not going to pretend I can. Still, I don’t remember seeing these large brightness and volume sliders, the rounded control blocks, or the smooth sliding effect I noticed when I pulled the panel down.

I have the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles next to each other at the top, with the smaller shortcuts grouped underneath. It’s easy to adjust the brightness and volume since they have their own slider. The controls farther down include:

• Media
• SIM
• Smart View
• Modes

There are various options to view at a glance, but the larger blocks help me find things without sorting through one long grid of buttons.

One UI 8.5 also lets me add, remove, move, and resize controls. I have not settled on a setup yet, but I like that I can change the panel around by pressing the pencil icon at the top right and not have to unquestioningly accept Samsung’s layout. None of this turns the Galaxy A34 into a new phone, but it made the parts I use most feel noticeably newer.

I stopped calling my carrier just to hear voicemail

The message played right inside Samsung’s Phone app

When I first opened the Phone app, I wasn’t sure where the new features were. That doubt quickly vanished as soon as I saw red dots in Call settings that led me to Direct Voicemail, which was off by default. After I turned it on, I tested it with a real call. I tapped More options -> Direct voicemail, and from my other phone I called. I heard a mechanical greeting followed by a beep. The green answer button stayed on my screen while the caller recorded, so I could still pick up if I realized the call was important.

Once I left a message, I saw a voicemail banner appear in the Phone app, along with a microphone icon beside the call in Recents. I tapped it, saw a play button and the message length, and listened without having to close the app.

I know, voicemail itself is hardly exciting. The difference is that I didn’t have to dial my carrier’s three-digit number -> enter a PIN, or sit through a robot menu just to hear a ten-second message. The recording lived on my phone instead of somewhere inside my carrier’s system. Still, the One UI 8.5 update didn’t just freshen up my Samsung Galaxy A34; it gave me something that makes checking my voicemails a lot easier.

Bixby finally understood the setting I was looking for

One UI 8.5 gave it more than basic voice commands

Bixby was still speaking Spanish even though my Galaxy A34 was set to English. That was on me, not the update. I had forgotten that Bixby keeps its own language setting, so it was still using the language I chose before.

What I liked was how it handled normal wording. In Spanish, I asked it to show me how to change the wallpaper, and it opened Wallpaper and style. Then I said I wanted dark mode. Bixby showed a confirmation; I tapped Dark, and it switched over. After changing Bixby to English in the app, the wallpaper request worked there too.

Going from light to dark mode isn’t the most interesting AI demo, and Bixby could already handle voice commands before One UI 8.5. What Samsung says is new is that Bixby can understand natural language without making you remember the exact setting name. That’s what happened during my testing since I only gave it basic setting requests, but it understood what I meant in both Spanish and English and saved me from having to go through my phone’s Settings. For a mid-range Galaxy A34, that isn’t too shabby.

My Galaxy A34 still showed its age

Some One UI 8.5 features never made it to my phone

My phone feels newer, but that doesn’t mean that it is. My Galaxy A34 still has the same specs I took it out of the box with. It still has the same camera hardware, processor, and battery it launched with in 2023. Not every One UI 8.5 feature made it to my phone, either.

The Share with Apple devices option never showed up, even after I installed every update and restarted it. The newer Galaxy A36 got it, and my A34 also didn’t get the bigger Galaxy AI features. So, if your battery is wearing out or you really want those missing features, I can see the point of upgrading.

My A34 still feels new enough to keep

The Quick Panel, Direct Voicemail, and Bixby made me wait to upgrade

True, my A34 still has the same bones it came with, and the update isn’t going to make them any better. However, the One UI 8.5 update still made a big enough difference in how I use it daily.

Those aren’t flagship-level upgrades, but they aren’t meaningless extras either. They improve several parts of the phone I regularly use, which made it feel less stale. Together, those changes took my mind off upgrading, probably proving that I had been thinking about replacing my phone because I was bored with it, not because I needed a new one.

For now, the update gave my A34 enough useful changes to make keeping it feel like the smarter choice.

My next Galaxy can wait a little longer

Despite the update, my Galaxy A34 is still three years old. However, the One UI 8.5 update made the phone nicer to use when doing my everyday tasks. I like how the Quick Panel feels more modern, Direct Voicemail saves me time when checking my messages, and Bixby takes me to the setting I need. If the update is available on your Galaxy phone, install it and use the features for a few days. After that, see whether you still feel the same need to replace it.