For fifteen years, choosing between OnePlus, Realme, and Oppo meant choosing a software philosophy, not just a phone. That choice may be quietly disappearing.
What's reportedly changing
According to an exclusive report from Smartprix, citing a reliable industry insider, Oppo is preparing to discontinue both OxygenOS and Realme UI, moving all future OnePlus and Realme smartphones onto Oppo's ColorOS as a single, unified Android platform. Neither Oppo, OnePlus, nor Realme has officially confirmed the change, and no timeline or region-by-region rollout plan has been disclosed. If accurate, it would end fifteen years of OxygenOS as a distinct identity, dating back to the original OnePlus One in 2014, and retire Realme UI, which has existed since Realme split off from Oppo as its own brand in 2018.
The restructuring extends beyond software. OnePlus is reportedly narrowing its global focus to just India and China, while Realme is scaling back its presence in China to concentrate on international markets instead. In India specifically, OnePlus's after-sales support has already been folded into Oppo's larger service network, with dedicated OnePlus service centers becoming less common. Signs of the same consolidation are appearing in Europe too, where regional OnePlus websites in Germany, France, and Spain have started directing visitors toward Oppo products.
Why this makes business sense, even if it disappoints fans
The motivation is straightforward cost reduction. Maintaining three separate Android skins, each with its own engineering team, testing cycles, and feature rollout schedule, requires significant duplicated investment. The underlying convergence has actually been underway since 2021, when OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau first announced that OxygenOS would share a codebase with ColorOS. Since then, the two interfaces have grown close enough that many features, animations, and system apps are functionally identical beneath different branding. Realme UI has followed a similar path, built on the same ColorOS foundation from the start.
If the report proves accurate, it won't simply mark the end of two software names. It would signal the final chapter in OnePlus's gradual transformation from an independent disruptor into another brand within Oppo's increasingly unified ecosystem.
What actually gets lost
For Realme users, the practical difference may be minimal, since Realme UI was always closely tied to ColorOS underneath. For OnePlus loyalists, the change carries more weight. OxygenOS built its reputation on being fast, lightweight, and free of the bloatware and animation-heavy design choices found on many other Android skins, a positioning that made OnePlus phones feel meaningfully different from Oppo devices even when running similar hardware. That distinct identity is precisely what a full merge into ColorOS would erase, reducing OnePlus's software differentiation to essentially nothing beyond a badge on the settings menu.
Reading the comparison correctly
For anyone comparing an Oppo, OnePlus, or Realme phone as a purchase decision going forward, this shift changes what the comparison should even be measuring. Software experience, long a genuine point of differentiation between these three brands, is reportedly converging into a single, shared platform, meaning the deciding factors between them increasingly come down to camera hardware, chipset choice, pricing tier, and brand-specific accessory ecosystems rather than the operating system running on top. Buyers who specifically chose OnePlus in the past because OxygenOS felt different from Oppo's ColorOS will need a new basis for that decision once, or if, this consolidation actually ships.
The India angle
India is one of the two markets, alongside China, where OnePlus is reportedly choosing to concentrate its remaining independent presence, making this shift more consequential here than almost anywhere else. OnePlus's after-sales integration into Oppo's Indian service network has already happened, ahead of any confirmed software change, suggesting the operational merger is further along in India than the public reporting on software consolidation might imply. For Indian buyers who have relied on OxygenOS's lighter, cleaner interface as a specific reason to choose OnePlus over Oppo or Realme in a crowded mid-range and flagship market, a full move to ColorOS removes what has functioned as a meaningful tiebreaker in comparison shopping for years.
At the same time, a single unified codebase across all three brands could mean faster security updates and more consistent feature rollouts reaching Indian users, since Oppo's development resources would no longer be split three ways. Whether that practical benefit offsets the loss of OxygenOS's specific character is likely to depend entirely on how closely the final unified ColorOS experience resembles what OnePlus users are used to today.
| Brand | Current OS | Reported future OS |
|---|---|---|
| Oppo | ColorOS | ColorOS |
| OnePlus | OxygenOS | ColorOS |
| Realme | Realme UI | ColorOS |
What to watch
Watch for official confirmation from Oppo, OnePlus, or Realme, since every detail so far comes from a single sourced report rather than a company announcement. If confirmed, the real test will be how OnePlus specifically frames the change to its existing user base, and whether it attempts to preserve any OxygenOS-specific features or design language within ColorOS rather than presenting a fully identical experience across all three brands.
Published July 6, 2026. Gadgets365 will update this article as more information becomes available.
