Color OS is coming to last year's OnePlus flagships (but likely not for you)

The OnePlus 9 series was launched earlier this year, and it marked a major change for the manufacturer. More specifically, Chinese variants adopted OPPO’s Color OS Android skin after a few years of using the in-house Hydrogen OS overlay.

Now, OnePlus COO Liu Fengshuo has revealed that the company is working to bring Color OS to the OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and OnePlus 8T as well. The executive noted that the Android skin will be released to users in Q1 2022.

We’ve asked OnePlus representatives whether this update is restricted to China, and will update the article accordingly. But at the time of the OnePlus 9 series launch, the company told us that Oxygen OS would remain the Android skin for global users. So it’s likely a safe bet that your global OnePlus 8T or OnePlus 8 series device won’t be getting Color OS.

This also seems like the correct move for OnePlus, at least according to the results of a recent Android Authority poll. The June 2021 survey, which tallied over 6,000 votes, found that just under 17% of polled readers were willing to buy a OnePlus phone with Color OS. Meanwhile, roughly 83% of respondents said they wouldn’t buy a Color OS-toting OnePlus phone.

Would you like to see Color OS on OnePlus phones as an optional upgrade path? Let us know via the poll below.