Here's Android L running on a Samsung Galaxy S5

Android L
It's the big L in action

Android L is drawing closer, and a new video has just popped up showing Google's next update running on a Samsung Galaxy S5.

Though the release date of Android L is still not certain, device manufacturers often get early access to the source code, helping them to ensure that their products will work with the new operating system.

A source passed on an early build of Android L, known as LRW58J, which is used for testing how well Android L works on the S5.

As is usual with early builds of operating systems, there are a number of bugs and performance issues that plague the version of Android L that sammobile has got its hands on.

Early days, lots of bugs

However, the video still gives us a rough idea of the new features of Android L, including new heads-up notifications for incoming calls, messages and low battery warning without interrupting the current activity being performed on the phone.

Google is also revamping the user interface of Android L, naming the new look Material Design. As the early build of Android L in the video is for Samsung devices, Samsung's own interface overlay TouchWiz has been applied.

This gives us an interesting hint at how manufacturers who apply their own interfaces to Android will react to Google's new design.

From the video it looks like Samsung has redesigned its own system apps such as Dialler and Messages, to fit in with Google's Material Design guidelines.

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.

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