I tested OnePlus’ OxygenOS 15 and it’s much better than I expected.

DT English-language journalist Andy Boxall tested OnePlus’ new operating system: OxygenOS 15, and here are his first findings.

To OnePlus will announce OxygenOS 15Oppo showed off ColorOS 15, which is largely inspired by Apple’s iOS software. Considering how closely related the two software are, I suddenly became worried that OxygenOS 15 would go down the same path.

Now I’ve had some practice with the latest OnePlus software. Is it as derivative as you feared? Surprisingly, no.

This is not a complete iOS clone.

Thankfully, OnePlus hasn’t adopted all the “iOS-inspired” features available in ColorOS, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t adopted some of them. Perhaps the most obvious is a copy of Dynamic Island called Dynamic Cloud, which features a tablet-shaped floating window at the top of the screen surrounding the front camera of my OnePlus 12. It works with some standard apps, like Voice Recorder, and third apps. party apps like Spotify, but not with other logical apps like YouTube Music or the OnePlus O Relax app (at least for now).

You can slide it in and out while it’s active, which is nice. With one tap, the window expands to show Spotify music controls and actions for the Recorder app. It seems to work great and I like the little “music playing” animation, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the phone. Android with this feature.

The new dynamic lock screen is another carryover from iOS, with the ability to create and switch between different lock screen and home screen styles. Just like on iOS, you can change the style of the clock and add a depth effect to make photos of people or pets stand out from the background.

The wallpaper has a weird Word Art feature that adds a word to the background or foreground, but you can only choose from several examples consisting of embarrassing phrases like “Keep Moving,” “Game On,” “Fast,” and “Cute” ” Not being able to add your own words is weird, but not being able to completely remove stupid OnePlus words is very annoying. This continues with other new wallpaper styles, and the phrases get even worse. I will never, ever want to use a wallpaper that says “True to the Core” or “Be the Legend,” but OxygenOS 15 assumes I will. Also, the fact that the word Fast looks like “fart” behind a photo of a man’s butt is an unfortunate but childishly funny coincidence.

ColorOS 15 seems to have more options for customizing the look of the lock screen and widgets, many of which seem to be taken directly from iOS but are missing from my version of OxygenOS 15. You can still change the look of the lock screen, but not as much. like in ColorOS 15, and judging by some of the terrible options available, you’ll probably want to stick with the old background anyway. Otherwise, Google Assistant will still be the default assistant on my OnePlus 12 running OxygenOS 15, but for later OnePlus phones it will be switched to Google Gemini.

Is it still fast and smooth?

OnePlus has always emphasized the speed and flexibility of its OxygenOS software as a huge advantage, and with OxygenOS 15 it introduced parallel processing. This technology is designed to make animations and app switching work smoothly, especially for heavy users who often multitask and need to access multiple apps very quickly. Whether you’ll notice differences depends on whether you’re putting these demands on the system, watching a slow-motion animation closely, or directly comparing different phones at the same time.

I’ve generally used OxygenOS 15 and it’s certainly fast, but whether you think it’s smoother than before will depend on your definition of the word. It’s a tried-and-true cliché to compare smoothness to butter, and I think OxygenOS 15 is the kind of butter that’s too cold in the refrigerator. In its quest for smoothness, the software can feel a little cumbersome (even with the Settings menu set to “Fast”). When I compare basic animations and navigation to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, the Samsung phone with OneUI feels faster and more accurate to my finger movements. I think OnePlus oil needs to sit at room temperature for a while before use, but not everyone will agree with this.

The Games app has an updated set of tools with a number of new features, including the ability to increase frame rates, a 4D rumble mode, a quick launch feature, and a way to track the time you play a game. when I was playing for Asphalt Legends Unite, The 4D vibration feature was not available, but I used Adaptive Frame Booster and Hyper Resolution. The game runs well and looks fantastic on the OnePlus 12, but I’m not sure how much of that has to do with the game mode settings or the impressive display and powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. Either way, playing It is one of the best. OnePlus 12’s strengths.

Artificial Intelligence Photo Editing Tools

Open the Gallery app and you’ll find OnePlus’ new AI Editor tool, which includes AI Eraser and three new features: AI Detail Boost, AI Reflection Eraser, and AI Unblur. Using existing photos saved on my OnePlus 12, I tested AI Eraser and AI Detail Boost and was impressed with the results from both.

The AI ​​Eraser tool has successfully removed the person from the photo and filled in the background in a way that you’ll have to look closely to realize it was created by artificial intelligence. However, the tool automatically recognized only one person in a photo of two people, and it is impossible to add a second one, so the tool removes both. To do this, you need to use the Smart Lasso tool. You can’t edit his choice either, so in this photo he took the dog’s leash off. It’s not as smart as Google’s Magic Eraser.

To test AI detail enhancement, I cropped an existing photo and ran it through the feature. It effectively focuses the image, eliminating blur and pixelation that occurs when an image is cropped. This is most noticeable on the driver’s safety vest, where the text has lost all its blurriness. The resolution has jumped to 4096 x 3072 pixels, so there are more than a few basic settings. This is an effective tool that really improves the appearance of cropped images.

Other news from OxygenOS 15

What else is new in OxygenOS 15? There’s a new icon design to try, a subtle change to the Settings menu (which emphasizes space and minimizes clutter), and the ability to split notification and shortcut shadows between the left and right sides of the Home screen.

The OnePlus shelf has been updated with new colors and design options. A fancy iPhone Share feature has been added for seamless file sharing with a competing device, and there’s also a OnePlus Open photo attachment shortcut to speed up photo sharing. Theft protection is a fancy new feature that uses the accelerometer and a number of other factors to assess whether your phone has been stolen and then automatically locks it.

Apart from AI-powered photo editing tools, OnePlus also uses Google Gemini models for various productivity tools. In AI Notes, you can create summaries, change formatting, enhance text, and even expand bullet points. The AI ​​reply feature works on WhatsApp, Snapchat and Instagram and can contextually understand messages and generate responses. Smart Search scans all the local files on your phone for a single search phrase and generates an answer to your question, but it doesn’t look like it will work on all OnePlus phones. The search circle will also be coming and will be one of the most useful AI features, but it is also available on many other Android phones.

Better than expected

After a few hours of using OxygenOS 15, it seems that OnePlus has eliminated most of the ColorOS iOS paraphernalia from the software, and I’m very happy about that. Most people will appreciate the speed and smoothness of the operating system, but it may need some work as I prefer Samsung’s approach to smoothness. The AI ​​photo editing tools are great, but the wallpaper and lock screen settings are strangely limited, and most of the other AI features won’t be ones you use all the time.

One small issue is that OnePlus hasn’t confirmed that all the features discussed will be available on the OnePlus 12, as it has stated that Google Gemini and Smart Search will be limited OnePlus 13. That aside, and given my trepidation when I started using it, OxygenOS 15 was a pleasant surprise and I think you’ll enjoy using it.