As is usually the case, I didn’t expect the update to be faster than what my S23 Ultra launched with. Initial reviews and reputation, and likely correspondigly heaviest QA budget in mind is hard to beat by a mere “update” ROM.

However, OneUI 6.0 feels noticeably less smooth than 5.1 was. While there aren’t big visible stutters or anything the like, it just doesn’t feel quite as flawlessly smooth anymore. Even scrolling on Reddit is not as silky smooth as it used to be. And what used to be an immediate response by the UI, now feels slightly delayed, with the screen responses trailing my finger. Plus, I’m not really noticing any positive changes.

I surely experienced this with all of the earlier Samsung phones I had where the last firmware wasn’t as buttery smooth as the launch ROM, but I was hoping that with the 4-year update cycle this would improve. I guess I’m a bit bummed out that what was a literally flawless out-of the box software experience for the initial months was if only so slightly nerfed, and the update is probably needed to continue getting security updates.

I don’t see many complaints, and I see people wait for it in anticipation. This makes me wonder why. Are others not experiencing the slight slowdowns compared to 5.1?