Oppo matches Samsung for Android 13 August update release with ColorOS 13

Oppo, which together with the other companies under the BBK holding umbrella OnePlus and Vivo is the world's largest phone maker, beating Samsung in collective sales, is not staying behind when it comes to the announcement and release of the latest Android 13 update for its phones, too.

The newest version of Android comes with Oppo's ColorOS 13 interface on top, updated with a fresh design that the company calls Aquamorphic. The fresh coat of Android paint includes several layers, such as a Theme Palette "inspired by the changing color of light between sunrise and sunset at sea level, while the new system font improves the readability of system text in any language," says Oppo.

We've been running the Android 13 beta on the Oppo Find X5 Pro for a while now, and can attest to the claims of better visuals and readability, as well as the more refined icon graphics. ColorOS 13 is also throwing in a great Always-On Display mode dubbed "Homeland," which "depict powerful scenes of wild animals in nature."

The animations of the new Always-On Display mode depict how the habitat of said animals changes based on your everyday weather fluctuations "to call on you to pay attention to climate change and the earth we live on together," informs Oppo.

New ColorOS 13 features

Dynamic Computing Engine

A commendable undertaking, but besides the greatly updated visuals, Oppo also introduced the major under-the-hood changes that Android 13 brings to the table and added its own Dynamic Computing Engine algorithms:

OPPO's Dynamic Computing Engine improves the scheduling of hardware resources to extend battery life by achieving a better balance between high performance and low power consumption. It also helps to keep more apps alive in the background, making it possible to switch between multiple apps without losing the status within an app or experiencing lag when switching.

Since Oppo's flagships have one of the best phone displays out there, the company uses the features of those panels to lower the Always-On Display refresh rate down to their 1Hz minimum to save up to 30% on the Always-On battery draw.

Meeting Assistant

Another new ColorOS 13 feature to make your phone life easier is Meeting Assistant, which aims to help during the influx of online meetings that arrived with the pandemic lockdown measures.

Meeting Assistant "automatically prioritizes wireless data packages to provide a more stable connection during online meetings. It also simplifies banner notifications to minimize distractions while allowing users to add an OPPO Notes 4 shortcut that helps to take meeting minutes with Notes in a small pop-up window," explains Oppo.

Multi-screen Connect

ColorOS 13 levels up the cross-device connectivity, too, with the new Multi-screen Connect feature that aims to offer seamless handoff between your Oppo phone and tablet or computer. Easy screen sharing, file transfers in numerous formats without limitations, and controlling mobile apps from your computer screen are just a few examples of the goodies that the Multi-screen Connect feature brings.

When will my Oppo phone get the Android 13 and ColorOS 13 update?

Oppo has actually entered a direct partnership with Google over the Android 13 update and ColorOS 13 feature development. As we said, we've been running Android 13 on the Oppo Find X5 Pro for a good while in a beta form, and the beta release for the ColorOS 13 update on Oppo's 2022 flagship phones, including the foldable Find N, is as soon as this month, just like Samsung's One UI 5.

Here's the timeline list of Oppo phones scheduled for the Android 13 update with ColorOS 13 on top:

• Oppo Find X5/Pro: August 2022

• Oppo Find X3 Pro, Reno 8 Pro 5G: September 2022

• Oppo Reno 8, 7, 6-series, F21 Pro, K10, A77, A76: October 2022

• Oppo Find X2 Pro, X5 Lite, X3 Neo: December 2022

Oppo says it will be updating about 35 of its most popular phone models to Android 13 before year's end, and will bring ColorOS 13 to everything else in its roster before the first half of 2023 has rolled out, the largest such update push in ColorOS history, placing Oppo in the pantheon of early Android beta updaters next to Google's own Pixels.