As always, there are two different sides to this fragmentation coin. Earlier this month, Google officially rolled out the Android 15 update. Unless you have a compatible Google Pixel smartphone, you’ll be waiting until your phone has the latest Android. And that wait is likely to continue for at least the next few weeks as phone makers ramp up beta testing ahead of official rollout. OnePlus has laid out a clear roadmap for OxygenOS 15, the Android 15-based software that runs on its smartphones. This is clearly different from the vagueness that most other phone manufacturers have offered up until now. Vivo seems to be an exception to that observation.
“With OxygenOS 15, we aim to integrate advanced and meaningful AI capabilities with the unique design they helped create to create a product that resonates with our users,” he said. Arthur Lam, director of OxygenOS products at OnePlus, said in a statement shared with HT:
Also read: Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is strangely versatile as both a phone and a small tablet
Of course, OxygenOS 15 running Android 15 has a thick layer of artificial intelligence (AI) to talk about. Apart from the Google Gemini model and Assistant integration, OnePlus’ exclusive AI Detail Boost and AI Unblur, as well as AI Reflection Eraser, should further enhance the smartphone’s camera performance. Additionally, there are some very notable interface tweaks, including specific mention of “glitter effects and Gaussian blur in various system scenarios.”
OnePlus plans to add anti-theft mechanisms to its smartphones, something Google also detailed in Android 15 in the months leading up to its release. The idea is that using input from the gyroscope, various metrics such as location and unknown locations, the phone locks itself to protect the user’s data. OnePlus says further protection features will include a remote lock feature that allows users to lock their phones using just their phone number without logging into their Google Account.
There’s also something called an “offline lock,” which claims to protect the data in your phone if a thief turns off the stolen device’s wireless connection in order to extract the data. . This details how long you need to be offline. Whether this mechanism operates remains to be determined.
OnePlus says Android 15-based OxygenOS 15 will go into its first public beta on October 30th, with the final version expected to be released on OnePlus 12 flagship phones by the end of November. Other smartphones will join in the coming weeks, including the OnePlus 12R and Nord smartphones. At the same time, the company plans to begin rolling out AI features to OnePlus products by the end of November. “To ensure optimal performance, some AI features will only be available on specified models,” they added in a statement, with further clarification expected in the coming days. .
OnePlus’ Android 15 roadmap stands in stark contrast to everything we’ve heard so far from other Android smartphone manufacturers. Especially for users who spend a lot of money on flagship devices.
Also read: OnePlus 12 is a sleek flagship that braves the traditional path
For example, smartphone maker Nothing, a tech startup that prides itself on being agile with software updates, rolled out the first public beta of its Nothing Phone (2a) a few weeks ago. At this point, it remains to be seen if the flagship phone Nothing Phone (2), actually the Phone (2a), the previous generation Nothing Phone (1), and actually the CMF Phone 1 will get the Android 15 beta. It’s not obvious.
From a reliability standpoint, beta software may not be a favorable proposition for most users. Nothing says the Phone (2a) will get the final version of Android called Nothing OS 3.0 at some point in December. It remains to be seen how buyers of the company’s flagship phones perceive this. Motorola has also been pretty lenient with Android updates lately, and is thought to have beta test versions for certain phones, but it’s not more clear about its release roadmap. Honor announced MagicOS 9.0 yesterday. It has been confirmed that Chinese phones will start getting the update next month, with the best possible time being early 2025, but little has been revealed about global markets, including India. .
For now, Samsung has said only that it is “preparing to roll out the long-awaited Android 15 update with One UI 7.0 to Galaxy devices later this year.” As of now, the date has not been disclosed. If the trends of the past few years continue, it’s likely to roll out to multiple Galaxy S series phones early on, and the latest generation flagships, and perhaps even tablets, should get the latest software update early on. is. Note that it is in stark contrast to Nothing.
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Xiaomi also has an Android 15 beta program for devices like the flagship Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 13T Pro. HyperOS 2.0, which incorporates the Android smartphone operating system, is expected to be introduced with the launch of the next flagship Xiaomi 15, expected later this week.
However, all phone manufacturers may be left behind by Vivo. That’s because the phone maker is believed to have started rolling out the final version of the Android 15-based Funtouch OS 15 from its Vivo X Fold3 Pro and X100 series flagship devices in mid-October. HT hasn’t actually used Funtouch OS 15, so we can’t comment on performance, aesthetics, or how well the AI features work. But they have a long way to go, and users of the company’s large portfolio, which includes the V40 series, V30 series, V29 series, as well as previous generation flagships X90 and X80 series, are expecting the latest Android version. Masu.
