OPPO unveils ColorOS 12, detailing which devices will get it and when

OPPO has launched ColorOS 12 via its Chinese-language website. It contains what seems a lot to unpack for the average consumer, with a significant new UI based on Android 12. The OEM has taken it upon itself to design many of its elements, new "acrylic" icon pack, Quick Glance cards for things such as delivery-tracking and so on and Omojis, this company's take on the trend started by Apple's Animojis.

This all sounds very heavy on a device's resources: however, OPPO asserts that ColorOS 12's new AI-based "smoothness" engine will refine the new UI's demands on memory consumption background-process power use and average battery life. They are slated to drop by up to 30%, 20% and 12% respectively compared to ColorOS 11.

The OEM also asserts that read and write performance detriments under ColorOS 12 will be restricted to 5% over a device's life on the new OS. Furthermore, ColorOS 12 is rated for a new kind of inter-device sharing that circumvents social media and is intended for families. It also confers a PC Connect-like feature on phones that upgrade to it.

On that note, OPPO has revealed that this will happen in 4 general stages: starting from early October 2021; from November 2021; from December of the same year and over the first half of the next (1H2022).

The first phase of this roll-out is reserved for the Find X3 series, its China-only vanilla variant and the Pro's Mars Exploration Edition included. Domestic units of the OnePlus 9 Pro and 9 are also included for this major upgrade, and are also eligible for stage 1.

The next round of ColorOS 12 OTAs will be reserved for the Find X2 series, (the Lamborghini and League of Legends S10 Limited Edition included) and all of the Reno6 series. Similarly, the December 2021 roll-out is for the Reno5 series, even down to the K edition, although the Ace2 and its EVA Limited Edition have been remembered and slotted into this one - as have the A95 5G and A93 5G.

Therefore, a slew of devices is left waiting for their major software upgrade until 2022. They include the OnePlus flagships from the 7 to the 8 Pro, with their T-variants thrown in as well of course. The 9R also gets in on the update action alongside them.

The first-gen Reno Ace and its Gundam Edition also come into an OTA during this stage, as does the Reno4 Pro to 3 variants, special editions included. Similarly, the Reno 10X Zoom and Barcelona Custom Editions become ColorOS 12 devices at this point, as do the K7 and K7x. 

OPPO will also upgrade a number of A-series devices to its new latest UI during this final stage of its roll-out. They are the A93s; A92s; A72; A55 and A53 - albeit their respective 5G variants only. Finally, the OEM has slightly inadvertently confirmed that the K9 Pro will indeed launch soon by also revealing it will see an update to ColorOS 12 in 1H2022.

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