OPPO ColorOS 11 based on Android 11 unveiled now

Oppo brings Android 11 goodness to its latest version of ColorOS

Oppo has announced ColorOS 11, the newest version of its own user interface installed in its smartphones, and one of the first to be built over Google’s Android 11. Anyone familiar with ColorOS may be wondering what happened to ColorOS 8, 9, and 10, as the last version to be released was ColorOS 7. The reason, according to Oppo, for skipping these is to make it less confusing to people about which version of Android the UI is built around, and clarifies the stock Android features that can be found inside.

ColorOS 11’s new Always-on screen, and other customizations

ColorOS 7 was a major step forward for Oppo, as it edged closer to stock Android in the way it was used and appeared, and away from the highly customized versions seen previously. In conversations with people that use its phones, Oppo has listened to feedback and is keeping the basics of Android, from gesture controls and the Gboard keyboard, to the Settings page and notification drawer, intact for ColorOS 11.

What’s new? ColorOS 11 is about giving you a little more control over the software without getting rid of the Android basics. The Always-On screen now has animated patterns that can be customized, right down to the way the shapes move and the colors they use. Each Always-On panel shows the time, date, battery indicator, and notification icons too.

The phone’s wallpaper can be customized by using a photo to isolate colors, and even the ringtones are editable using a slider to create different sounds, including simple tunes, vibrant musical pieces, with a fast or slow tempo. One of my favorite new features is ideal for anyone that gets multiple messages in quick succession. ColorOS 11 will string the sounds for these notifications together to create a single melody, so they don’t become too distracting.

ColorOS 11’s auto-translate gesture

Dark Mode has been given an upgrade with three different visual options, each with a different greyscale level available, and the ability to set the start and end time too, which joins the existing sunset and sunrise timer. ColorOS 11 has a few new features inside, the most notable being a three-finger, quick-access gesture to Google Lens for instant text translation, plus version 2.0 of Oppo Relax, a mindfulness app that now includes specially create city soundscapes.

Elsewhere there’s FlexDrop, which adds the ability to resize floating multitasking windows, a Super Power Saving Mode that prioritizes up to six apps to still operate when the battery is getting low, plus Battery Guard that pauses battery charge at 80% overnight before completing the full charge in the early morning. Because ColorOS 11 is based on Android 11, it comes with all the new privacy features including app permission settings, Private System, and App Lock.

When will ColorOS 11 arrive? Oppo says the Find X2 Pro, Find X2, and the Find X2 Pro Lamborghini Edition will see the update in December, with theater phones coming during the first three months of 2021 and onwards. In total, 28 Oppo phones will get ColorOS 11, including the Reno 10X Zoom. The launch will be staggered, and phones not locked to a carrier will likely receive the software first.

A major change that ColorOS 11 brings on top of Android 11 is the enhanced Always-On Display feature that lets users create their own designs for the ambient display.

Oppo's new ColorOS 11 based on Android 11 officially revealed: Features, eligible smartphones

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo on Monday announced ColorOS 11 as its latest version of custom Android software supported the newest Android 11. ColorOS 11 are going to be released during a batch-by-batch approach, starting with the Find X2 Series and Reno3 Series. The complete rollout will cover 28-plus phone models, including the Find, Reno, F, K, and A series.

"The ColorOS team has heeded the user feedback for greater UI customisation, offering a more personalised UI that encompasses a good range of features," Lynn Ni, OPPO ColorOS Design Project Lead, said in a statement.

ColorOS 11 aims to supply an unprecedented level of UI customisation to assist users unleash their imagination and personalize their experience. Users can essentially create their own Always-On Display, theme, and wallpaper, also as fonts, icons, and ringtones. ColorOS 11 is provided with robust features that improve work and life efficiency.

Among them is that the 'Three-Finger Translate' powered by Google Lens, the primary feature co-created by OPPO and Google. It captures and translates text through an easy screenshot crazy a three-finger gesture.

Flexdrop, another new feature, provides an easy and intuitive solution for multi-tasking. Users can watch video and text at the same time, which is particularly useful for gamers and video-lovers.

To maximise available battery, the new Super Power Saving Mode lets users select six apps to run in low-battery situations, said the corporate . In addition, ColorOS 11 incorporates stock Android 11's newly added privacy options while creating a series of additional privacy protection and data security measures .

ColorOS 11: Everything you need to know about Oppo's latest software

Release date

Announced in September 2020

Release from December 2020

As with any major software update, the release is staggered across device ranges at different times. The first publicly available drop of ColorOS 11 will start to hit phones in December 2020, and includes the Find X2 and Find X2 Pro. 

Other phone series and lower-powered models in the Find X2 series have to wait until 2021. 

Features

While a lot of what makes a new system update new is hidden beneath the surface in form of optimisations and other improvements, there's still plenty of user-facing updates here. You can check all the important highlights below. 

Customisation Wallpapers, system themes and colours

Oppo's new software has a new personalisation page which features controls for customising many elements of your phone's look and feel.

Oppo

Enhanced is where the background is completely black, with pixels switched off in AMOLED panels, and colours and white highlights are still quite bright and vivid. Medium features a dark grey background with less contrast, while the gentle mode features a lighter grey and more subdued colours. 

You can set the times for when you want it to activate and deactivate, and even manually choose your own sunrise/sunset schedule so that it's not automatically chosen based on your location and time of year. 

Oppo Sans

Oppo Sans is the company's newest font and is arguably the most customisable we've seen from any Android manufacturer. It comes with the options to adjust the size, but also the ability to adjust its weight with a number of different thicknesses available. 

If you're the type of person who's never quite happy with the size, thickness, or adjustability of the text in your smartphone's menus and apps, this will suit you right down to the ground. 

Dark mode

Dark mode has been a mainstay on Android for over a year, and OPPO is now adding customization options to the feature. With ColorOS 11, you'll be able to choose from three distinct color profiles for dark mode: Enhanced, Medium, and Gentle. Enhanced is the default blacked-out option, Medium has lighter tones, and Gentle switches to a grey color scheme.

The UI will automatically adjust the backgrounds and icons based on the option you choose, and if you're not a fan of the default dark mode option on most phones, ColorOS 11 gives you added customizability. You also get the ability to schedule dark mode from sunset to sunrise or set up a custom schedule.

If you thought a simple Dark Mode on/off capability was enough, Oppo is set out to prove to you that we need different degrees of 'dark'. 

With ColorOS 11 you'll be able to choose between enhanced, medium and gentle dark themes with the level of contrast and darkness adjusted for each one.

Always-on display

Android phones have used Always-on displays for years. Some manufacturers have utilised it more than others, but 2020 seems to be about making it even more customisable and offering far more in the way of personalisation. 

With Oppo's version, you get to decide the colours scheme and style. But even more than that: you get to create your own animation. It uses a system-generated algorithm to give you a basic pattern template, but you get to decide how it moves and how detailed that pattern is simply by swiping on the screen. 

Sounds, ringtones and Relax Ringtone generation 

ColorOS 11 isn't just about personalised visuals, it can generate ringtones for you. The generator gives you the ability to choose a mood and pace of the music, and then adjusts and adapts the sequencing and tempo of the notes to match until you find a tone you're looking for. 

That means you no longer have to choose from the limited - and almost always terrible - list of ringtones you normally get. You can generate one that suits you. 

Alert tone sequences

It's nice to see a manufacturer care about how ringtones and alerts make us feel, and it's also shown in what it's done with repetitive alert beeps and tones. Instead of repeating the same note or jingle repeatedly and annoying everyone in earshot, Oppo has created a cool feature that will play a sequence of notes instead. 

That means if you do suddenly get a cascade of messages, each alert will play after the other, but it'll play like a musical phrase or tune rather than just repeat the same jingle every single time. 

Musicity - Relax app themes

One of the surprisingly great features in some recent Oppo phones it the Relax app, which is loaded with calming ambient soundtracks of waterfalls, storms, rain, sea and forests. In ColorOS 11, Oppo has teamed up with Musicity to add to its library. 

Three-finger translate

Oppo was keen to inform us during its announcement of its deep integration and partnership with Google, and that extends to an enhanced screenshot feature which can translate any text on the screen. 

Using one of Oppo's existing gestures, where you swipe down with three fingers, you can grab a screenshot of text on a screen and tap a translate button which uses Google Lens to translate the text. 

Multi-tasking and other optimisations Flex Drop - floating window

This seems to be a trendy feature for 2020 Android updates. Essentially, some apps within ColorOS have the ability to be resized and float on the screen over whatever else you might be doing.

It's called Flex Drop and you can either activate it by going to the recent apps screen and dragging the thumbnail to the Flex Drop icon, or you can drag in a smart bar from the edge of the home screen and launch an app in floating form from here. 

Nearby Share - AirDrop for Android

Nearby Share is a feature that's been developed over recent months and essentially brings a service to Android phones that's similar to Apple's AirDrop. 

Will my phone get ColorOS 11? 

Oppo has said that 28 device models will upgrade to ColorOS 11, with the beta version rolling out now and official public availability coming a few months down the line to the following devices: 

• 14 September: Find X2, Find X2 Pro, Find X2 Pro Automobili Lamborghini Edition
• 30 September: Reno 3 4G, Reno 3 Pro 4G, F17 Pro
• October: Reno 4 Pro 5G
• November: Reno 4 5G, Reno 4 Pro 4G
• December: Reno 4 4G, F11, F11 Pro, F11 Pro Avengers Edition, A9, A92, A72, A52
• Q1 2021: Reno 10x Zoom, Reno 2, Reno 2F, Reno 2Z, Reno 3 Pro 5G, A91, F15
• Q2 2021: Reno, Reno Z, A5 2020, A9 2020

Of course, the timing of when you get the release depends on the model you have, with oppo prioritising the latest Find X2 series phones first from December this year. Some of the older devices likely won't get it until later on in 2021.