A big draw for the OnePlus smartphones has been the clean build of Android onboard. Called Oxygen OS, the operating system is nearly stock and devoid of most of the bloatware found on competing smartphones. The few additions included are meaningful for the most part and are well appreciated. With the OnePlus 5, once again the company has made a few more tweaks and additions that are bound to nudge the experience forward a small step ahead.
We’ve been testing out the phone with Android 7.1.1 and the latest release of Oxygen OS 4.5.1 and have so far counted 5 major changes or tweaks that we’ll detail below.
Reading Mode
You might have heard of Night Mode or the Blue Light filter that is part of Android Nougat. Well, the Reading Mode takes it up a notch rendering the display in grayscale. The lighting too adapts based on ambient conditions with the end result being something similar to that of a Kindle.
While it obviously won’t reduce strain to the tune of an e-ink screen, a grayscale display should be a bit easier on the eyes. It is possible to mark out specific apps where you’ll automatically fade into Reading Mode when you switch them on.
Scheduled Night Mode
While Reading Mode is a new feature, Night Mode certainly is not. What is new though is the ability to customise and set automatic start and stop times. You can also set the OnePlus to switch to Night Mode at sunset and end it at sunrise. This feature works exceedingly well and goes a long way towards giving your eyes some much needed rest.
Off Screen Gestures
If you are amongst the few people who care about the off screen gestures that are very prevalent on Oppo handsets then you’ll be happy to see them make an entry on the OnePlus 5.
The premise is simple. Draw out alphabets on the lock screen of your phone and it’ll drop you into the specific app. The gestures are customisable and you can use them to launch the music player, call dialer, browser or whatever app you want by drawing out the shortcut you’ve assigned to them.
Gaming Do Not Disturb
Meant specifically for all the hardcore gamers, this mode switches off all notifications and also can also disable the capacitive buttons below the screen. If you find yourself lightly brushing the screen while playing a game and end up disrupting the experience then this mode is meant for you.
Secure Box
With on device encryption and a robust fingerprint scanner onboard, you’d imagine that phones would have become the de facto place to store critical documents. While that’s not always the case, A step in that direction is the secure box which is a part of the file manager. The secure box lets you store your sensitive information behind a password protected firewall. Images, videos, documents whatever you want to keep away from prying eyes can be stored here safely.
Between functionality that we’ve seen elsewhere and fresh innovation, the latest version of Oxygen OS offers something interesting for all uses. What do you think is the best software feature of the OnePlus and what more should they add to Oxygen OS? In the meanwhile, do check out our review of the OnePlus 5.