OnePlus will stick with OxygenOS going forward, ditches ‘unified’ ColorOS plans with Oppo

Ben Schoon | Feb 28 2022 - 6:30 am PT

The future of OnePlus under Oppo’s roof has been largely up in the air, but today OnePlus is finally offering some clarity. In a lengthy forum post, OnePlus’ Pete Lau announced that OxygenOS isn’t going anywhere, and plans to run OnePlus phones on a “unified” ColorOS and OxygenOS merger is no longer coming.

For months now, it’s been expected that OnePlus would further merge its experience with Oppo, leading to a “unified” OS that would essentially be a combination of OxygenOS and ColorOS, and used on both OnePlus and Oppo phones globally.

Now, those plans are going out the window. Pete Lau says that Oppo and OnePlus will keep ColorOS and OxygenOS as separate experiences that split from the same shared codebase. This falls in line with the current state of OxygenOS, as debuted on the OnePlus Nord 2.

While OxygenOS and ColorOS will continue to be developed on the same codebase – to allow for faster updates and better build quality – OxygenOS and ColorOS will remain independent brand properties. 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.

Further, Lau confirmed that OxygenOS 13 is coming, but didn’t offer any real details on exactly what the update will bring to the table — not surprising, given Android 13 just made its debut as a developer preview earlier this month.

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 customization features.