OxygenOS 16 Review - Every New Feature Explained!

OxygenOS 16 delivers a polished and intuitive experience with a new design language, enhanced customization, practical AI features, improved performance, and stronger security, marking a significant step forward for OnePlus.

• Refreshed 'Breathe With You' design and extensive UI customization.

• Powerful AI features for search, content summarization, writing, and photography.

• Improved cross-device integration with O Plus Connect and Apple Watch support.

OxygenOS 16 introduces a refined 'Breathe With You' design language, focusing on a lighter, cleaner, and more animated user interface. Key updates include extensive lock screen and home screen customization options, several new AI-powered tools for productivity and photography, and significant performance enhancements through an upgraded parallel processing system. The update also brings improved cross-device connectivity and robust security features, making it a well-rounded advancement for the OnePlus ecosystem.

New Design & Customization

• 00:00:19 OxygenOS 16 features a new 'Breathe With You' design language, emphasizing a lighter, cleaner, and smoother user experience with rounded elements, blur effects, and enhanced animations. System apps like Weather, Calculator, and Photos have been redesigned, adopting dynamic backgrounds and a simplified interface. The update also reintroduces a classic 'OG OnePlus' red and black aesthetic to some apps, moving away from a 'Color OS' feel.

Enhanced Lock Screen & Home Screen

• 00:01:41 A major upgrade to the lock screen comes with FluxTheme 2.0, offering extensive customization including dynamic motion photos with an immersive depth effect that hides the clock behind the subject. Home screen folders are now resizable with customizable icon layouts, and app icons can be enlarged to embed shortcuts for quicker access to specific functions like video mode in the camera or direct messages in Instagram. A redesigned app drawer with a bottom search bar and new 'Flux' icon pack that matches wallpaper colors further enhances personalization.

Productivity & Cross-Device Integration

• 00:07:00 OxygenOS 16 introduces O Plus Connect, allowing seamless file transfer and phone control from Windows and Mac OS, enabling mirroring and multi-app control on a desktop. A surprising addition is Apple Watch compatibility through the OHealth app, offering notifications, calls, fitness syncing, and remote camera control. The update also optimizes the UI for tablets, promising to run up to five apps simultaneously and improve the overall large-screen experience.

AI Features & System Performance

• 00:08:37 Numerous AI features are integrated, including AI search in system settings that understands descriptive queries for features like performance or battery improvement. AI Mindspace acts as an intelligent saving and summarization tool for articles and posts, now integrating with Google's Gemini for advanced planning. AI Rider assists with text proofreading, generation, and formatting across various apps, while the camera benefits from AI-enhanced document scanning, translation, 'Portrait Glow' for low-light photos, and 'Perfect Shot' for group photos to correct blinks or gazes. Furthermore, OxygenOS 16 enhances overall fluidity with an upgraded Parallel Processing 2.0 system and Flow Motion, ensuring seamless transitions and eliminating stutters across the OS.