What’s up phone fans! With Android 14 rolling out, I checked out the latest versions of ColorOS, Realme UI, and OxygenOS to see what’s new. Keeping in mind these three brands are all connected under the hood.
And well…not a ton has changed, unfortunately! The overhauled Android 14 update is mostly visual tweaks rather than new features across Oppo, Realme, and OnePlus devices. Long-time OxygenOS fans may feel let down by the continued resemblance to ColorOS.
Familiar Interfaces With Customization Options
Navigating between the UIs feels virtually identical. You get the same app drawer, notification shade, quick toggle shapes, and recent apps menu on all three. Plenty of visual customizations are available though – fonts, icons, colors, and more.
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The always-on displays also offer deep personalization. And I’m happy to still see the handy fingerprint sensor gesture to launch apps.
Multitasking Improvements But Connectivity Falls Short
Split-screen, floating windows, and sidebar apps are aboard for solid multitasking. The sidebar now enables quickly accessing saved files too. But more advanced additions like Oppo’s Aqua Dynamics bubbles or OnePlus’s Smart Touch are reserved for flagship models, unfortunately.
I also struggled with Oppo’s Multi-Screen Connect feature in my testing. The setup process was needlessly complex with sync issues between brands. Requires wireless adapters on PCs too. So it still doesn’t match Samsung DeX or Motorola Ready For.
AI and Innovation Lacking Compared to Competition
Frankly, ColorOS, OxygenOS, and Realme UI feel stale versus the latest efforts from Google, Samsung, and Xiaomi. Very minor changes compared to previous versions. Meanwhile, we see exciting AI capabilities and redesigns happening in Android skins elsewhere. Oppo’s update roadmap seems slow in comparison.
So in summary – still very polished and customizable interfaces. But lagging behind in adopting Android 14 highlights or introducing splashy new features this year. Familiarity isn’t always a bad thing, but some innovation would go a long way here! Let me know what other Android skin updates you’d like me to cover.