For those who don’t know about HydrogenOS and have heard it for the first time, it is no coincidence that the name matches with OxygenOS. Not only are these both names given by OnePlus but they also combine to become the formula for Water dedicated to all the Chemistry nerds out there. One major difference between HydrogenOS and OxygenOS is that while the former is available only in China, the latter is available worldwide. This is done because HydrogenOS does not have any Google services as they are banned in China.
But we see that HydrogenOS is released first and then we see OxygenOS based on its Chinese version come to everyone later. So what we can expect is that most of the features from HydrogenOS come to OxygenOS with extra features on top of it. The latest version of Android, Android 11, is in its final beta and an official release is just around the corner. So OnePlus has now released HydrogenOS 11 in China based on Android 11. Also, OnePlus CEO said that Android 11-based OxygenOS 11 is also coming very soon.
Official Video of OnePlus's HydrogenOS 11 for China. Expect OxygenOS 11 to be heavily influenced by it but with Google Play Services. New Always on Display, Animations & One Hand usage. #OnePlus #HydrogenOS11 pic.twitter.com/IbdXKrj7eg
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) August 10, 2020
So let’s take a look at features that are new in HydrogenOS 11 that are expected to arrive in OnePlus phones from OnePlus 6 and later. First of all, there is the Always-on display feature that has finally arrived in OnePlus devices. The company has always said that this feature drains the battery so they are not bringing it to their devices. But all their devices have been AMOLED so we knew it could be enabled and now it has been done.
Along with that, we can expect redesigns to the OnePlus Weather app as well as we might see the icons being redesigned as well. OnePlus’s “Shelf” panel seems to be getting a refresh to make it more useful. The Always-on display feature has some interesting options too such as a glowing bar in the middle of the display, a rounded clock or a digital clock and others.
Right now, the HydrogenOS 11 beta is available to OnePlus 8 series and will possibly arrive soon for OnePlus Nord as well. For other devices, the scheduled arrival is for Q4 2020 and we believe the OnePlus 6 series might get it by Q2 2021. For the users having OnePlus 5 series and earlier, the update to OxygenOS 11 won’t arrive officially but they can always get an unofficial port thanks to the rooting community.
