OxygenOS 13 will seemingly bring back the clean, close to stock Android experience that OnePlus phones were known for before its merger with Oppo.
OnePlus made a few big announcements at Mobile World Congress 2022 today, February 28. The OnePlus 10 Pro finally has a global (India included) launch window—this is end of March. There seems to be an extremely affordable 5G OnePlus phone in the works, also, set to launch sometime this year. New IoT devices, too, are incoming. Oppo has separately announced a 150W SuperVOOC fast charging solution, that will debut in an unannounced—and unnamed—OnePlus phone in Q2, 2022. Last but not the least, there’s some good news coming for long-time OnePlus fans as well—OxygenOS 13 will seemingly bring back the clean, close to stock Android experience that OnePlus phones were known for before its merger with Oppo (though it will continue to share the codebase with ColorOS so OnePlus can roll out speedy updates).
All of these are big pieces of information in their own right. Take the OnePlus 10 Pro global launch for instance. This phone—which is the latest and greatest phone that OnePlus makes today—was launched first in China earlier this year and has since remained a China-exclusive. This was apparently done to better compete with increasing competition in OnePlus’s home market. We’re assuming launching a phone in its home market would—also—be quicker considering how it would require relatively less approvals while also giving OnePlus ample time to optimise software before a wider global release.
Speaking of which, probably the most exciting bit of information coming out of OnePlus’s MWC 2022 announcements is the fact that OxygenOS lives.
OnePlus, back in September 2021, had announced that it would merge the codebase for both OxygenOS and ColorOS to create a “unified” operating system, a move that did not sit well with fans. Today, it has seemingly taken a U-turn on that decision confirming “OxygenOS and ColorOS will remain independent brand properties.” With the upcoming OxygenOS 13, OxygenOS will revert back to its “familiar” look and feel— light, clean, and close to stock Android.
“We understand users of OxygenOS and ColorOS want each operating system to remain separate from each other with their own distinct properties,” OnePlus founder Pete Lau said, adding “With OxygenOS 13, we want to deliver an experience that long-time OnePlus users will be familiar with while ensuring it upholds hallmarks of OxygenOS, like a fast and smooth experience, burdenless design, and ease of use. OxygenOS 13 will retain its unique visual design and a range of exclusive customisation features.”
Clearly, OnePlus has realised and, in a way, also acknowledged, it was a mistake to unify OxygenOS and ColorOS globally after getting a lot of heat from the community as is evident from Lau’s words:
“This new course was taken in accordance with feedback from our community – we understand users of OxygenOS and ColorOS want each operating system to remain separate from each other with their own distinct properties.”
At the same time, it must be understood that even though OxygenOS will remain independent—with OxgenOS 1 3—it will continue to share codebase with ColorOS. More granular details about the extent of differentiation and feature set will only be known when OxgenOS 13 arrives. This should ideally happen sometime later this year. Regardless, the news should come as a major sigh of relief for users.
In other news, OnePlus will launch its “most affordable 5G smartphone” in India and Europe yet, this year, while also introducing a new retail model in India that will allow buyers to order a device online and pick it up “immediately” from offline.