OPPO promises three Android updates to its flagships, rolls out ColorOS 12 (Android 12) global beta

Oppo Find X3 Pro Review
Oppo Find X3 Pro Review (Image credit: Alex Dobie / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • OPPO will deliver three guaranteed Android verison updates to its flagship Find X series.
  • It will also provide four years of security patches to Find X, Reno, F, and K series devices.
  • The brand rolled out the first global beta of the Android 12-based ColorOS 12 for the Find X3 Pro.

OPPO introduced ColorOS 12 for its devices in China last month, and the manufacturer is now kicking off the global beta program. The ColorOS 12 global beta gives users a first look at Android 12, and the beta build is now available for the Find X3 Pro in Indonesia and Malaysia.

For now, OPPO isn't saying too much about what the global version of ColorOS 12 has to offer, but it should get the cleaner interface the brand showed off for the Chinese variant. The Omoji 3D avatar feature is likely to be a headliner, along with tweaks to customization, floating windows, and more.

But what's more interesting is the shift in update policy; OPPO is announcing three guaranteed Android version updates to its flagships, joining Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi. The move was inevitable; with its closest rivals delivering three platform updates, OPPO had to follow suit to stay on a similar footing. What this means is that the best Android phones from the top manufacturers will all get three Android version updates.

OPPO says it will deliver three platform updates to its flagship Find X series, barring the Lite and Neo models. These phones will get two Android version updates alongside the Reno, F, and K series devices, and models in the A series will get at least one guaranteed Android update. Furthermore, OPPO will provide four years of security patches for phones in the Find X, Reno, F, and K series, and three years for the A series.

With ColorOS 12 slated to make its way to over 110 device models covering 150 million users, it is the most ambitious update in OPPO's history. The ColorOS 12 global launch event is scheduled for October 11, and we should get a clearer look at all the new features at that time. I'll have more to share on the latest version of ColorOS then, but for now, it's good to see OPPO guaranteeing three updates to its phones.

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Harish Jonnalagadda
Senior Editor - Asia

Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia at Android Central. He leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, contributing to reviews, features, and buying guides. He also writes about storage servers, audio products, and the semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.