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Stock Android is an Endangered Species
I have been following mobile tech adamantly since 2007. In that time, I have seen many narratives shift over time. Android phones have gone from being terrible at photos to be very flexible mobile shooters capable of a variety of shooting modes. Companies have gone from making thick phones to paper-thin phones and back to thick phones again. One constant during this time, however, is the glorification on stock Android. Or rather, the more simple Android experience that is found on Nexus and Pixel devices. Stock Android in the early days was a breath of fresh air in the era of bloated Android skins from HTC, Samsung, and the like.
It is in this environment that OnePlus entered the fray of smartphone manufacturers as the champion of specs and stock Android. They were able to do this because as much as tech enthusiasts love Google software, some of the company’s hardware decisions (lower brightness displays, not as much RAM as the competition, etc) turns off that crowd. With OnePlus, the hardware specs were always there and Oxygen OS felt like stock Android with some useful modifications (see some of the praise that Oxygen OS has received here). OnePlus has become the darling of the smartphone world for its amazing hardware and clean software implementation. Yet it seems that the company is willing to risk that reputation with the newest redesign of Oxygen OS, which feels more…
