ColorOS 16 review: Refinement at the forefront, plus new AI smarts and more

OPPO's Android 16-based ColorOS 16 puts emphasis where it matters most - fine-tuning visuals, refining motion, and laying the groundwork for a more intuitive AI-driven experience

ColorOS has evolved over the past few years, and OPPO’s latest iteration, ColorOS 16, builds on that legacy with a focus on polish, fluidity, and intelligence. Set to debut in India with the OPPO Find X9 series, this software update may not represent a complete visual overhaul, but it brings subtle refinements that enhance how users interact with their phones day to day.

Design and Layout

Home screen

The most visible changes appear right on the home screen. A few of OPPO’s native apps such as Camera, Photos, Calculator have been visually refreshed. The difference for the Photos app isn’t drastic, it’s subtle enough that you might not even notice it. However, Calculator and Camera app icons have been redesigned significantly, with the former turning dark while the latter losing the boxy design to become more modern looking.

 

The app drawer, however, is where OPPO adds something new. You now get two viewing modes: the familiar alphabetical list and a new “Categories” layout that automatically sorts apps into clusters like Social, Entertainment, Photography, and more.

 

The search bar, which used to sit comfortably on top in ColorOS 15, has been moved to the bottom. This one’s a thoughtful change and ergonomically better for large screens and simply faster to reach. You also get new widgets, including “AI Suggest,” which behaves like a stack of dynamic cards based on user behaviour. It learns your usage and rotates through app shortcuts, and quick tasks. It’s not something most people will rely on daily, but it’s one of those small background features that grows on you the more you use it.

 

ColorOS 16 also builds on the Big Folder feature from last year. Previously, users could only enlarge folder icons. Now, individual app icons can also be expanded, embedding quick actions directly within them. For instance, the enlarged Camera icon can house options like Portrait Mode, Hasselblad Hi-Res, or XPAN. It’s a genuinely useful tweak, reducing an extra tap and making the homescreen feel more functional. I found myself using this more often than I expected — launching directly into Hasselblad Hi-Res mode from the home screen saves a few seconds that you don’t realise add up until you go back to the old layout.

Lock Screen

The lock screen, too, gets a bit of personality this year. “AI Flux Themes” introduce new clock styles with depth effects. You can even use personal photos with these layers, making the clock appear as if it sits behind elements of the image. Depth effects existed in ColorOS 15, but it did not exist with motion photos as wallpapers. The refinement is well executed, and the animation transitions are smoother. 

 

The clock widget has been redesigned as well. Gone is the rectangular block from ColorOS 15, in its place is a longish design reminiscent of Apple iOS 26’s aesthetic. It’s small change, yes, but collectively, all these touches make the lock screen feel more modern.

UI and Animation

Visually, OPPO seems to have taken cues from iOS 26’s “Liquid Glass” aesthetic — and perhaps OxygenOS 16’s Gaussian blur elements too. The notification and quick settings panels now carry a faint translucency that adds a layer of depth without compromising readability. While iOS 26’s blur-heavy visuals often led to readability complaints, OPPO smartly limits this effect to select elements, preserving clarity and readability across menus.

 

The PIN input pad now uses the same frosted design with a gentle glow animation for each keypress. Even the Calculator adopts the same visual language. Interestingly, OPPO hasn’t applied this across every system element — a choice that prevents the interface from feeling too heavily animated.

 

Aqua Dynamics, OPPO’s take on Apple’s Dynamic Island, also gets an upgrade. It now supports more third-party apps, including Spotify, food delivery services, and Google Sports. Notifications like live match scores or food order updates now expand within Aqua Dynamics without taking over the entire top bar.

Animation and Responsiveness

ColorOS 15’s “Parallel Animation” was nice, allowing simultaneous rendering of multiple motion layers to maintain system fluidity. With ColorOS 16, OPPO has evolved it into what it calls “Seamless Animation.” The difference, however, is nuanced. In everyday use, the system feels just as fluid as before. The new “Luminous Rendering Engine” is claimed to reduce jarring between transitions, though in practice, the improvements are more subtle than striking.

 

Swiping between home screens, opening folders, or accessing recent apps feels a touch more responsive — but unless you’re comparing the two side by side, you might not notice the difference at all. In short, ColorOS 16 continues OPPO’s tradition of visually consistent animation, even if it doesn’t break new ground.

AI Features

A dedicated OPPO AI Hub now sits within Settings > AI, serving as a centralised dashboard for all AI features. From here, users can explore creative and productivity tools without having to hunt through individual apps. This seemingly simple change adds real convenience and makes OPPO’s growing AI ecosystem feel more organised and discoverable.

 

Another one of the most notable upgrades is the integration of Google Gemini into OPPO’s AI Mind Space. For those unfamiliar, Mind Space allows users to capture on-screen content — such as web pages, chat messages, or app screens — using either the Snap key or the three-finger swipe gesture. It then stores this content and can trigger smart actions, like creating calendar events or generating reminders. With Gemini now integrated, users can ask the AI to fetch or summarise details directly from Mind Space, using the stored data to craft more contextual responses.

 

During testing, this Gemini integration wasn’t yet active — OPPO said it would roll out in November — but if it performs as advertised, it could mark a big step forward in system-level AI awareness.

 

On the creative front, ColorOS 16 introduces AI Portrait Glow, a new addition to its photo editing suite. It enhances portraits taken in poor lighting by adjusting skin tone balance and light distribution in a single tap. During testing, either the feature was not live, or it is possible that it will debut as an “AI Relight” feature in the AI Editor, because the AI Relight feature was not available in ColorOS 15. OPPO claims that the AI Portrait Glow feature aims for more natural, true-to-skin results. It joins existing AI editing tools like AI Eraser, AI Unblur, and AI Reflection Remover, giving users an expanding toolkit for quick and effective photo refinement.

Verdict

ColorOS 16 doesn’t scream “new,” and that’s precisely its strength. It’s not chasing headlines, but it is refining the details that matter. OPPO has managed to balance subtle visual polish with usability improvements, and made an approach to make AI feels more integrated than intrusive.

 

The refreshed visuals, smarter widgets, and centralised AI hub make the system feel more cohesive. Meanwhile, refinements like enlarged app icons with embedded shortcuts and better lock screen personalisation genuinely enhance usability. That said, most users upgrading from ColorOS 15 will find the changes incremental rather than transformative.

 

In short, ColorOS 16 is about finesse, not flash. It smooths out edges, consolidates features, and lays a solid foundation for upcoming software updates.

OPPO Find X9 Pro unboxing