OxygenOS 16 review: OnePlus smarts, Android essentials, and Google AI

OxygenOS 16 refines OnePlus' Android experience with new AI tools, Google Gemini integration, and smoother design, while keeping its signature speed intact

OnePlus has launched its Android 16-based OxygenOS 16 user interface for smartphones and tablets. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been testing the software’s closed beta on the OnePlus 13s to understand how it evolves from OxygenOS 15. I also tried it on the OnePlus Pad 3, though the tablet experience deserves a separate review. For now, here’s how OxygenOS 16 transforms the OnePlus smartphone experience.

Layout and design

The home and lock screens get subtle but meaningful visual updates in OxygenOS 16.

Home screen:

• Some native app icons, including Camera, Settings, and Clock, now feature refreshed designs.
• OnePlus has also added a new 5x7 grid layout for the home screen.
• The app drawer now supports two viewing modes: the classic alphabetical list and a new “Categories” layout that automatically sorts apps into sections like Social, Entertainment, Photography, and more. (This is quite similar to Apple App Library on iPhones).
• There are also new home screen widgets, including “AI Suggest”, which is essentially a stack of multiple widgets based on what the user interacts with most. It includes app suggestions, suggested articles from the web, and more. In my experience, it feels genuinely useful, even more so than competing implementations like Samsung’s Now Brief.

Lock screen:

• New clock styles arrive with “AI Flux Themes”, which also offer depth effects. You can use your own pictures as wallpapers with these themes, but the depth effect was a bit inconsistent, working with some pictures and not with others.
• OnePlus has also added several new video wallpapers that bring a dynamic appearance and feel quite smooth in use.
• There are also new lock screen widgets and shortcut options, and their appearance is very similar to iOS Lock Screen Widgets. However, I haven’t yet seen support for third-party app widgets on the lock screen.

UI and animation

OnePlus has taken cues from Apple’s Liquid Glass design introduced with iOS 26 and implemented what it calls Gaussian blur effects across OxygenOS 16. The lock screen clock, widgets, and shortcut icons now carry a translucent, glass-like finish, giving the interface a more layered look.

 

The number pad for PIN input follows the same translucent design and adds a subtle glow animation to whichever number is pressed. A similar layout is also used in the Calculator app, but not in the Phone app’s dialer, making the visual consistency slightly uneven across the system. The Quick Settings panel also gets a blurred background, blending slightly with whatever wallpaper you use.

This translucent design language does not extend deeply into the home screen or most native apps apart from the Calculator. This suggests that OnePlus has opted for a limited use of this design rather than applying it system-wide. While the partial implementation might feel inconsistent, it does help maintain better text and icon readability — something that Apple users have raised concerns about in iOS 26.

 

The Fluid Cloud interface — OnePlus’ take on Apple’s Dynamic Island — has also been upgraded. It now supports several third-party apps, showing live updates from services like Zomato or interactive panels during music playback from Spotify and YouTube Music. The panel expands when tapped to reveal media controls, though its layout varies depending on the app. For instance, the expanded Spotify panel shows song, album, and playlist suggestions beneath the playback controls, while YouTube Music lacks these additional options.

 

OnePlus also claims that OxygenOS 16 integrates Parallel Processing 2.0 for faster app launches and smoother transitions across the interface. While there might be changes in numbers, app response times and animation fluidity feel similar to OxygenOS 15, which was already quick and stable.

New AI features

The biggest addition in OxygenOS 16 is the integration of Google Gemini into OnePlus’ Mind Space AI hub. For those unfamiliar, Mind Space is where users can capture and store on-screen content — such as web pages, messages, or app screens — using either the Plus Key or the three-finger swipe gesture. The app then organises this content and can trigger smart actions, like creating calendar events based on what’s captured.

 

With Gemini now built into the system, users can ask it to fetch details directly from Mind Space and use that data in responses or even base an entire answer on stored information. In testing, the integration worked reliably in most cases. For instance, when I asked Gemini to pull product details from a Flipkart screenshot saved in Mind Space and send them as a message to a contact, the process worked smoothly end to end.

 

However, there were occasional inconsistencies. When multiple screenshots on a similar topic were saved, Gemini often retrieved data only from the latest one. For example, after saving both a bus ticket and a hotel check-in email for a trip to Himachal Pradesh, asking Gemini for my “trip details” returned only the bus ticket information. This shows that the AI still prioritises recency over context in some queries.

OnePlus has also updated its AI Writer tool with support for creating tables and mind maps. For example, when viewing an article comparing two motorcycles, selecting the text and choosing AI Writer → Create Table generates a neatly structured comparison table instead of a plain summary. This table can then be saved as an image or PDF, or added to Notes. It’s a genuinely practical addition, especially for organising or visualising data quickly.

 

OxygenOS 16 also brings new AI-assisted photo editing options like AI Perfect Shot, which detects closed eyes or awkward expressions in group photos and suggests fixes. It performs largely as expected and works similarly to OPPO’s implementation.

Cross-ecosystem connectivity

OxygenOS 16 brings noticeable improvements to OnePlus’ O+ Connect app, particularly when transferring files from an iPhone to a OnePlus device. The process remains simple — tap the two phones together to start sharing photos, videos, and other files. While this functionality existed in OxygenOS 15, the transfer experience wasn’t always seamless, especially when moving content from iOS to Android.

 

With OxygenOS 16, that has changed. Transfers from an iPhone to a OnePlus phone are now significantly smoother, and the overall speed across devices is faster. The setup still requires the O+ Connect app on the iPhone, but once it’s in place, the pairing and transfer process feels more reliable than before.

 

OnePlus has also mentioned that OxygenOS 16 improves compatibility between OnePlus smartphones and the Apple Watch. However, I wasn’t able to test this integration at the time of writing.

Verdict

OxygenOS 16 builds on the strengths of its predecessor, keeping the interface smooth and responsive while introducing subtle visual refinements. The new glass-like translucency adds depth to the lock screen, widgets, and Quick Settings, though it isn’t consistently applied across all areas. AI features are a clear step forward, though Gemini integration with Mind Space still has room for improvement. O+ Connect feels more mature and stable, making file sharing across devices noticeably smoother.

 

Overall, OxygenOS 16 refines the core experience without overhauling it. While some new features need additional polish, the system retains its hallmark speed, responsiveness, and usability, making it a solid update for existing OnePlus users.