OnePlus 9 Series Confirmed to Ship with Oppo’s ColorOS 11 in China

Mar. 22, 2021

OnePlus, if you did not know, ships its smartphones with two different yet similar Android-based OSes in China and globally. OnePlus users in China run HydrogenOS, which is the same as OxygenOS – minus the Google apps and services. However, the company today confirmed that its upcoming OnePlus 9flagship serieswill ship withOppo’s ColorOS 11instead of HydrogenOS.

OnePlus 9 Series Will Run ColorOS 11

OnePlus CEO and co-founder Pete Lau recentlymade the announcementon Weibo. He wrote that the Chinese giant is ditching HydrogenOS in favor of Oppo’s custom ROM, which also shipped aboard some Realme devices during the brand’s initial days. Later, however, Realme built its ownRealme UIskin but it brings only minor upgrades over Oppo’s ColorOS skin.

Now, OnePlus, being an older entity than Realme, is also ditching its own custom OS and adopting Oppo’s ColorOS 11 skin instead. This might be a part of theOppo-OnePlus partnership in the R&D department.

Moreover, as per reports, the HydrogenOS team, in its home country, is much smaller than the ColorOS team. So, with this switch, OnePlus 9 users in China will get a more stable and reliable software experience compared to the current HydrogenOS experience. You can check out thebest ColorOS 11 featuresin our hands-on video right here:

Now, if you are wondering, OnePlus will not kill the HydrogenOS platform just yet. Lau, in his announcement, wrote that the upcomingOnePlus 9 deviceswill ship with ColorOS“from the factory.”And“the HydrogenOS of the past models will continue to be maintained and updated.”So, existing HydrogenOS users in China will continue to receive updates for their devices.

Following Lau’s announcement, the official Weibo handle of Oppo’s ColorOS also shared a post welcoming the new OnePlus series under its software-umbrella.

Now, the recent announcement will only affect OnePlus users in China. Users in India and European countries will continue to use the existingOxygenOS softwareon their existing and upcomingdevices.

Alongside the OnePlus 9 series, the company will also launch an array of new devices tomorrow, on March 23. This includes a brand newOnePlus Watch, a gaming-centric OnePlus 9R, and more. So, stay tuned for more updates.

Bringing the latest in technology, gaming, and entertainment is our superhero team of staff writers. They have a keen eye for latest stories, happenings, and even memes for tech enthusiasts.