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Two things that propelled OnePlus into the mainstream back in the day were its ultra-aggressive pricing and well-balanced, near-stock software experience. While it's not been as competitive on pricing for a few years now, it’s also on the verge of dropping the ball on the software front as well. With the OxygenOS 12 beta, OnePlus is walking on a thin line, trying to balance its recent merger with Oppo’s ColorOS and a passionate user community that doesn't want OxygenOS to lose its spark. The upcoming version of OxygenOS, based on Android 12, takes heavy inspiration from its Oppo counterpart, but I'll let you be the judge of whether OnePlus has strayed too far from its roots.

Don’t call me ColorOS

OxygenOS 12 ColorOS

OxygenOS 12 is ColorOS, no matter how OnePlus tries to label it. The partly integrated version we saw on the Nord 2 was merely a glimpse of what to expect once the two operating systems were fully integrated. The settings app, app launcher, multi-tasking screen, many of the first-party apps, and the robust theming app have all been brought over from ColorOS, leaving mere traces of the old OnePlus skin. Even the major Samsung-style design overhaul introduced just last year has been abandoned because of the replacement apps that OxygenOS inherits. Thanks to these extensive underlying changes, OxygenOS has sadly lost some of its neat features, such as the swipe up to search gesture and Google’s live captions.

It's like when you don’t want people to know you by your embarrassing nickname.

Take a look at the gallery below to see for yourself everything that has changed between OxygenOS 11 and 12.

The first image in each pair is OxygenOS 11, the second is Oxygen OS 12.

It's not all bad news

Despite so many things changing with this version of OxygenOS, there still are a few new features to cheer for. Certain India-only features like Scout (OnePlus’ excellent universal search tool) and Work Life Balance will now be accessible to OnePlus users globally. Scout search now sits right within the OnePlus Shelf, which itself has received a major facelift, bringing a better organized, tiled interface and endless customization options to the main screen.

Among the other less critical changes, OxygenOS’ Canvas AOD feature, which shows a wireframe version of your images on the lock screen, has been enhanced to include textures and effects to play with. The OnePlus Notes app now lets you doodle on the screen, while the phone’s dark mode setting now has three black levels to choose from. Personalisations, the extensive theming app I mentioned earlier, is another addition that may appeal to a few people, especially since there’s no Pixel-like Material You dynamic theming options here.

The silver lining

The Oppo-fication of OxygenOS may not go down well with some diehard fans, but it's certainly not a lost cause. While the underlying code and most core apps have been borrowed from ColorOS, some of the things we like the most about OxygenOS have managed to survive the transition. Screen-off gestures and the clock app’s time zone tool thankfully remain. However, with a redesigned settings app, these options and many others have been moved around, so you may need to do some digging to find what you’re looking for.

While the OxygenOS 12 beta shares a lot with its Oppo counterpart, OnePlus hasn't completely abandoned everything in favor of ColorOS. The dialer and SMS apps are still from Google; Oppo’s Memoji rip-off Omoji hasn’t been ported over, nor has the phone manager tool or the sidebar menu, keeping OxygenOS relatively clean still. For better or worse, version 12 is just about as in your face as the previous version was. Now that’s no guarantee that it’s going to stay forever, but for now, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

My take

OxygenOS now exists merely as a launcher on top of ColorOS. Continuing to call it OxygenOS feels like when you don’t want people to know you by your embarrassing nickname. Version 12 is already at the public beta stage (a pretty solid one at that), which means there’s no going back from this point; what you see right now is close to what you’re going to get with the final Android 12 update. There sure is a slight learning curve if you’re coming from an older version, and you must be prepared to get around that, but first-time OnePlus buyers won't have much to complain about.

If you can get over the fact that this isn't what you signed up for, the switch itself probably shouldn’t be that big a deal.

But that’s far from the real problem with this OS marriage. Those who bought a OnePlus phone in the last year or two didn’t ask for ColorOS — they specifically picked up a phone running OxygenOS over plenty of Oppo alternatives. With OxygenOS 12, you don’t really have an option; ColorOS will be forced upon you when you upgrade to Android 12 sometime in the future. If you can get over the fact that this isn't what you signed up for, the switch itself probably shouldn’t be that big a deal.

OxygenOS 12 hands-on 1

How to install OxygenOS 12 beta

If all of that didn’t deter you from going ahead and trying out the OxygenOS 12 beta, you can do so by following just a handful of steps. Bear in mind that the update is available only for the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro for now, and these updates only apply to devices currently running stable OxygenOS 11.

  1. Download the correct OxygenOS Open Beta 1 package for your device and region from the links below. Do note that these packages can run into several GBs, so make sure you’re tethered to a strong Wi-Fi network before proceeding.
  2. Move the zip package to the phone’s main directory using your phone’s file manager. The package installer cannot locate these files when they’re inside another folder, like the download folder.
  3. Head to the Settings app > System > System updates > tap the cog icon at the top > Local upgrade, as shown in the screenshots below. There you’ll find the installation package. Tap on it and let it install on the phone.
  4. When the installation is complete, you’ll be asked to restart the phone, and that should be it.

As a general rule of thumb, don’t install the beta update on your primary phone, and always backup all your data beforehand to be on the safe side. In case something goes wrong or you need to roll back to Android 11, OnePlus has rollback packages and the procedure outlined in this forum post.