Hands-on with the new features in Oppo’s Android 12 update

After the official release of Android 12, the long wait for broader support begins. Oppo is among the first to release a public timeline for their version of Google’s latest Android version upgrade via its own Color OS skin. We tested an alpha version of Color OS 12 last week and here are our first impressions.

Oppo is sticking to its guns with Color OS 12, and the Android 12-based skin is an interesting mix of most of the latest features while maintaining the Color OS design aesthetic.

Oppo India provided us with a unit of the Find X3 Pro to test the operating system prior to release and the first few builds turned out to be quite buggy. Over a series of updates over the course of the week, Oppo smoothed out most of the business-damaging bugs, and the version on which we are basing our hands-on exercises was more or less ready to be used as a daily driver. Let’s take a look at all of the major (and minor) changes you can expect from Color OS 12 when it hits your phone later this year.

Continue reading: Color OS Guide – Everything You Need to Know About Oppo’s Android Skin

Oppo Color OS 12: appearance and operation

Oppo talks about skin refinement and subtle enhancements and that is exactly what you are getting. Long time users of Color OS will feel right at home, but I noticed some of the changes like better text rendering and performance.

Oppo claims that it worked with language experts to localize text in 67 languages, including 13 Indian languages, and to ensure that the text flows perfectly regardless of the language. Take the Settings page, for example. The text is laid out and aligned evenly. That wasn’t always the case in the past.

While you’re not getting a complete overhaul in the style of Material You here, Oppo has picked a few features like an automatic color picker in the wallpaper picker. The tool can adapt the color of the symbols in the basic design to the selection of the background image. Widgets like the clock have also been updated to offer a more rounded design, as per Material You’s guidelines. Additionally, the phone comes with a material-style icon pack to bring you a little closer to Google’s vision.

In the sidebar feature in Color OS, we see some of the functional upgrades. With a new streaming feature in the background, you can turn off the phone’s display while you continue to stream content from supported services. The feature worked as advertised on Netflix and Prime Video, and I can see it comes in handy when watching documentaries or videos that don’t require much active attention.

Meanwhile, the battery page in the settings has also been redesigned to give users more visual indicators to measure battery usage. A single switch has also been added to reduce power consumption by disabling features like the 120Hz display, high performance mode, and more.

Privacy improvements

Color OS 12 brings all of the standard Android 12 privacy features, including a privacy dashboard to keep track of all permissions that apps have used over the past seven days. In addition, indicators for camera and microphone access are displayed in the status bar when a particular app is accessing them. Similar to iOS, you can now opt for a more general GPS location when granting GPS access to an app.

This is beyond Oppo’s own Phone Manager app, which has also received a small visual makeover. The basic settings and additional tools are now divided into two separate tabs. There aren’t any new features here, but Color OS already has a very robust set of options for controlling permissions and in particular what your phone can or can’t do.

Long-time users will feel right at home, but the new visual indicators, cleaner look and feel, and tooltips to explain the features should make it easier for new users to take advantage of the features.

user friendliness

Oppo has also built on the performance improvements in Android 12. The company claims that storage usage has decreased by 30%, while the backend’s power consumption has also decreased by 20%. It’s hard to test these effectively on a flagship that already has a top processor and 12GB of RAM. However, the benefits should translate into a faster experience on low-end hardware. In addition, background tasks also reduced battery consumption by 20% – a change that was clearly noticeable in later builds of the software, where the Find X3 Pro regularly lasted for over a day.

Features of Color OS 12: Extra bits

If the update looks incremental to you, then you’re not mistaken. Color OS 12 brings with it a minor amount of visual tweaks and the essential privacy features of Android 12, and that’s about it. It’s a consistent and mature operating system and Oppo is taking small steps towards the new interface guidelines so as not to alienate long-term users.

However, there are a few more features that are still under development that should help set the phones apart.

• PC connection: Similar to Huawei’s Multiscreen Collaboration utility, PC Connect lets you transfer text, pictures, and phone calls to your computer. The feature will be introduced in Color OS 12.1 next year and requires a companion app on a Windows computer. No Mac or Linux support here.
• Google Apps: Color OS 12 uses the Google dialer, contacts and messaging apps across the board. In addition, it also marks the return of the Google Discover feed on the launcher. Swiping from the left brings up the standard Google Assistant feed for quick access to Google Discover content and search.
• Omoji avatars: Oppo follows the example of Apple with Omoji, the company’s version of the popular Memoji. The virtual avatars offer an advanced degree of customization to create a character that is pretty close to your looks. The virtual character can then mimic your movements with the front camera and users can take photos or video messages with the avatar. The function is not available at the start and we were not able to test it in time for the practical exercises.
• Conversations: Standard Android 12 features such as conversation bubbles and conversation widgets, which provide a central point of communication for recent chats on supported platforms, are also included.

Color OS 12 release date and eligibility

Color OS 12 rollout is expected to begin in December with the Find X3 Pro, with Reno and A-series devices expected to receive the Android 12 update in the first half of 2022. Oppo has specifically updated the Find X3 and Find X2 series phones as well as the Reno 4 series. Finally, the Oppo A94, A74 5G and A75 5G will also receive an update early next year.

Budget-oriented devices of the A series should get the Color OS 12 update in the second half of next year. In a call with Android authority, Oppo also confirmed that some of the budget-conscious devices may get a lighter version of Color OS 12. The company has yet to confirm a schedule for this.

The update guarantee is just as important. Oppo is now committing to three major updates to the Find X-series, while the Reno and F-series should expect two Android updates and four years of security patches. The A series, on the other hand, receives an update in addition to three years of security support.

What do you think of Color OS 12? Play it safe or exactly what you expected?