[OPPO Find X3 Pro] twohub:
As Android is the OS and ColorOS an overlaying version of it, I cannot really see dramatic differences between these two, but details create the big picture, right?

In this comparison I picked out those functions which are most important in my personal usage, but also having impact on most of the user base.

In general UI was the big thing for Android 12 but also ColorOS 12. Plenty of changes should ensure the smoothest user experience, with high customization and personalization options. Where Androids “Material You” leads ahead ColorOS’ “Wallpaper-based Theming System”, ColorOS is catching up with great options for Smart Sidebar and the Quick Settings panel.

Here in comparison: Accessibility, Gaming, Security, Update Policy

Let's get into it!

Accessibility:

With “Camera Switches” Android is moving another step forward, allowing you to navigate your phone by using eye movements and facial gestures. ColorOS updated their “Gestures & motions” function with improvements on “Air Gestures” which let you get control by waving a hand. So far there’s no integration of eye/facial gestures available. Both do have an updated version of dark mode, it allows you to select the preferable dark mode tone. The advantage is slightly on ColorOS side with its “Color vision enhancement” which lets you adjust display colors based on your color vision which might be more important for the majority than eye movement tracking.

Ok, both sides are leading in its way, draw.

Android 1 : OPPO 1

Gaming:

Quantum Animation Engine 3.0, RAM Expansion, AI System Booster, General Performance Adaptor 2.0, Ultra Touch Response, Real HD Sound 3.0. This lets my heart beat faster! If we check these buzzwords in detail, we can clearly see that ColorOS 12 has brought high attention to the performance part, which plays along with a smooth integration to Game Space. ColorOS claims that memory occupation is down by 30% while back-end power consumption has also been reduced by 20%, whilst battery consumption by background tasks has also been reduced by 20%.

On Android 12’s side there are new Game Mode APIs for game developers, which lets developers include variable performance functions for easier optimization. This API is planned to be tied to Android’s upcoming Game Dashboard, which should be released later this year.

Gaming is definitely a big win for ColorOS 12 against Android 12, but it's not unimportant to keep the hardware itself in mind.

Android 1 : ColorOS 2

Security:

Security and Privacy was a main point for both OS, in Android 12 a dashboard shows you which apps used which permissions, a pie chart shows how many permissions were used, including a detailed permission breakdown. Next to this Microphone and camera indicators are symbolizing the usage to keep track of un/wanted access. This comes along with approximate GPS location settings, which give you full control over how your location is getting used across apps.

Most of it sounds in general already like a state of the art thing..

ColorOS 12 comes with a 100% integration of all Google Security features, but has 1 additional cool feature: Anti-peep technology. AI technology is used to sense other faces watching your screen and hide notifications on your phone.

Here we’re really close, but remember, details create the big picture.

Android 1 : ColorOS 3

Update Policy:

Google's Pixel 6 series will get Pixel updates for at least 5 years, including Pixel security updates, and “may” also include feature drops and other software updates, whereas Pixel 3, 4, 5, get Android version updates and security updates for at least 3 years.

Oppo is now committing to 3 major updates for the Find X series while the Reno and F series should expect two Android updates along with four years of security patches.

5 years vs. 3 major updates. Hard to say what's better from a user perspective. ColorOS caught up as most other Android OEM’s recently did with a higher commitment on updates, but is still following a regional based rollout strategy, whereas Google showed slightly more efforts on this side.

Point goes to.. Android!

Android 2 , ColorOS 3

.......

Summarizing this quick comparison, ColorOS 12 has slightly more advantages, at least for my usage and preferences.

It’s clearly visible that both OS are super close to each other, with small advantages on each of its core focus. The result sounds fair, as ColorOS brought up great improvements based on previous feedback and experience, Android plays it a bit more safe. Definitely interesting to keep an eye on the 12.1 version of each side and check what learnings of the current phase got resolved.