Oxygen OS 12: Has "THE BEST" Enthusiast Smartphone Brand Settled?

The Oxygen OS has been one of the major reasons behind the popularity of OnePlus smartphones. The OS comes with a clean UI and close to stock Android experience. The lack of ads and bloatware on the phones made them very popular among the masses, and the price always did more than just compensate for the features that the company gave the users.

However, lately, Oxygen OS has been going through a lot of changes. The Oxygen OS 11 update was a big revamp for all the OnePlus users which took them closer to the Color OS. The launch of OnePlus Nord 2 brought in more elements of the Color OS to the Oxygen OS. This was taken by the users as a part of the update but with the Oxygen OS 12 Beta version, the OS is now Color.

On installing the Beta update, you will very early realize that this no more feels like a OnPlus phone. The experience is very similar to an Oppo phone. Color OS has been getting better with every update, but Oxygen OS was liked because of the simple and clean approach that it brought with it.

The first thing users will notice in the update is that Oxygen OS is gone. You no more have the option of choosing Oxygen OS as your UI. The launcher on the Beta version is different. It is not just the launcher, the recent app screen is also different. In Color OS when you kill all apps, it kills all the apps except for the one that was used last. This feature can be seen on the Beta version of Oxygen OS as well.

The gallery app is also the same as the Color OS, the Oxygen OS gallery app is now gone. The Nord 2 had the Color OS settings page and camera UI, those have arrived on Oxygen OS 12 as well, for all the other OnePlus phones out there.

What Does This Mean?

This means that all the OnePlus phones, the 7-series, the 8-series and the 9-series along with Nord phones will now have Color OS as their update. This will not be much appreciated by the users because OnePlus phones were bought because of the user's experience and the simple UI. The true Oxygen OS experience will go and the company is now forcing the users to use Color OS. OnePlus needs to understand that if users wanted to experience the Color OS, they would have opted for an Oppo or a Realme phone, not a OnePlus device. This came as a result of the Oppo-OnePlus merger that happened earlier this year.

New Features

Some of the newest features on the Beta version of the Oxygen OS are borrowed from Color OS as well. The dark mode customization option, private safe and the theme store, have all been taken from the Color OS. This will change the experience that OnePlus provides. The phones never looked like regular Chinese smartphones, they always looked global, and the major reason behind that was the Oxygen OS. There is nothing wrong with Color OS, but it doesn't belong on OnePlus devices.

Oxygen OS was good while it lasted, but it looks like OnePlus has finally settled.