OxygenOS is OnePlus’ take on Android, and it’s actually quite a compelling Android skin. This skin is actually embracing stock Android, and is adding some useful features to it. Now, we’re here to talk more about OxygenOS 4.1.3 which is based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, and is currently (as of writing this article) running on the OnePlus 3T, which is OnePlus’ latest smartphone, even though the OnePlus 5 is right around the corner. In the list down below, you will find our top 10 OxygenOS features, in no specific order, so, let’s get started.
General Customization
OxygenOS is a really customizable skin, it looks like stock Android, but it’s giving you so much more freedom, think of it as a blend between LineageOS and stock Android. We’ll talk about some of its options separately in this article, so basically every other feature that you’ll find on this list is an addition to stock Android, so that you can adapt the device to your liking. Ranging from customizable buttons setup, app locker, to the manual camera mode and all the gestures. This is not a feature per se, but it definitely deserved a place on this list.
Navigation Buttons
Most of you probably know that the OnePlus 3T comes with a set of three capacitive keys below the display, while the home key actually doubles as a fingerprint scanner as well. Now, if you’d rather use on-screen buttons, that is possible, you can turn them on in the settings, and still keep the functionality of the built-in capacitive home key if you’d like, and set it to whatever you want in the settings.
Alert Slider Options
As most of you are probably aware, OnePlus’ smartphones come with an alert slider, which is, on the OnePlus 3T, placed in the upper portion of the phone’s left side. Well, in the settings of OxygenOS, you can tweak that alert slider, just in case you don’t like its default setup. There are three levels to this slider, Silent, Do not disturb and Ring. You can, basically set up which apps do you want to be active when the slider is in the middle position (Do not disturb mode), there are also separate LED notification light settings for each level, per-contact options, and so on.
Gestures
Gestures are also a part of OxygenOS. If you navigate to Settings -> Gestures, you’ll be able to take advantage of a number of pre-installed gestures, some of which are meant to be used when the display is powered on, while others are meant for when the display is turned off. For example, you can swipe the display using three fingers while you’re using the phone in order to capture a screenshot, while you can draw the letter ‘O’ on the display while it is powered off if you’d like to access the camera real quick. These are just some examples, there are quite a few such options available.
Dark Mode
The OnePlus 3T comes with a fullHD AMOLED panel, so it’s nice of OnePlus that they’ve included a dark mode in OxygenOS. You can access the ‘Display’ settings, and there you’ll see the ‘Theme’ option. You can set that to either Light or Dark, which will color the background of OxygenOS settings and the navigation bar in either White or Black, depending on which option you choose. Well, the dark mode is a really nice addition because you’ll be able to conserve battery if you select it, and we all know that AMOLED panels are great for contrast, you can combine various other colors with that dark shade. Speaking of which, you can also alter ‘accents’ in OxygenOS, so you can set the background to be black, and icons to be red, white, blue… or whichever other color you want.
sRGB Display Mode
For those of you who find colors on the OnePlus 3T’s display to be overly saturated, there’s always the sRGB display setting that you can opt for. All you have to do is access the ‘screen calibration’ menu within display settings, and you’ll be able to switch from ‘Default’ to ‘sRGB’ setting, though there’s a manual mode as well, in which you can tune the display to your liking. The OnePlus 3T’s display is a bit unrealistic, but some people actually think that’s the point of an AMOLED display, but it all depends on what you prefer, the sRGB setting is definitely more realistic.
Manual Camera Mode
OxygenOS, on top of everything else, also comes with a ton of options inside of its camera app. Once you fire up the camera, swipe from left to right and you’ll see the ‘Manual’ option, hit it, and you’ll get a ton of manual options within the camera app. These options include ISO settings, scene settings, shutters settings, and so on. This manual mode is definitely not for everyone, but if you’re looking to get the most out of the device’s camera, you might as well take advantage of it.
LED Notification Light Customization
The ‘LED notifications’ option is placed in the ‘Display’ portion of settings, and it essentially allows you to tweak the phone’s LED notification light, which is, in OnePlus 3T’s case, placed in the upper left corner. You can set different LED light colors for default notifications, several battery scenarios (full, charging and low), while you also have the option of setting up per app LED notification colors.
Camera Quick Launch
OnePlus baked in a nifty shortcut for launching the camera in OxygenOS, all you have to do is press the power / lock key twice, and the phone will launch the camera. If you take a lot of pictures with your smartphone, you’ve probably been in a situation where you need to launch the camera quickly, and this is basically the fastest way you can do it. You cannot customize the double press action of the power key, however, this is set to launch the camera, and it’s staying that way.
App Locker
App Locker is yet another nifty feature that is built into OxygenOS. Many consumers are using third-party apps in order to secure specific apps on their devices, well, OxygenOS comes with such a feature built in. You can basically lock specific applications so that only you can access them, which can come in handy if you have some nosy friends who use your phone, or you let your kids play on them. Once you lock an app, accessing it will require your fingerprint or PIN, if a fingerprint is not set up.