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In an interesting turn of events, OnePlus has decided to switch to OPPO’s ColorOS software, but only in China. This move has been rumored for a long time, and it’s finally happening, with the OnePlus 9 series.
This essentially means that HydrogenOS is dead in the water. For clarity purposes, OnePlus has been developing two different software offerings for years. It ended up pre-installing HydrogenOS on its Chinese smartphones, and OxygenOS on its global handsets.
It’s official, OnePlus will make a switch to OPPO’s ColorOS in China
The company’s employee, Gary C, who is the product lead on OxygenOS, announced the change via OnePlus Forums. He basically said that the company believes ColorOS will brings Chinese users a software experience that is “better suited to their liking”.
Do note that this doesn’t really affect OnePlus’ global units in any way. OxygenOS is still the way to go, and chances are OnePlus will stick to it, at least for the foreseeable future.
Some of you may wonder why did OnePlus choose ColorOS, and decided to ditch HydrogenOS in China? Well, OPPO and OnePlus are sister companies, and OPPO became the biggest smartphone brand in China.
Tons of people use ColorOS in China, and this change simply made sense to the company, it seems. This will bring ColorOS to even more people, as it’s already used way more than HydrogenOS. That will give OnePlus one OS less to develop.
ColorOS has improved a lot in the last couple of years
ColorOS has been vastly improved over the last couple of years, and it’s a great experience on OPPO’s global units. The Chinese counterpart is somewhat similar, but without Google services, of course.
ColorOS will probably trickle down to other OnePlus smartphones in China, though that part hasn’t been explained by Gary C. One thing is for sure, the OnePlus 9 series will debut it for Chinese users.
The OnePlus 9 series is set to launch tomorrow. The company will announce the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro globally, along with the OnePlus 9R for India. The OnePlus Watch will also become official, the company’s first smartwatch.