OnePlus no longer seems to have control over its cell phone portfolio. Because how else can it be explained that the manufacturer basically only produces Oppo and Realme imitations?! The merger of OnePlus and Oppo was not good for the manufacturer at all, it was extremely damaging!
OnePlus has released many phones with interesting designs and unique features over the past eight years. The Alert Slider continues to be a major hardware differentiator for the manufacturer. But unfortunately, that was it by now.
In 2022, OnePlus’ cell phone portfolio can be summed up in one word: relaunch. Rather than launching original designs that stand out from the crowd, OnePlus is essentially using a rebrand of existing Oppo and Realme devices.
OnePlus has always relied on Oppo to manufacture and distribute its phones. But what you are experiencing now is anything but nice. It feels like OnePlus is no longer allowed to decide which phones they are allowed to release.
In 2022, OnePlus phones have the same software as their Oppo siblings, and they now share the same designs with no notable changes. And what many had feared happened, but unfortunately, it happened as expected.
OnePlus has become an appendage of Oppo and now even Realme. OnePlus seems to be the only BBK brand allowed to sell newly released Oppo and Realme smartphones in North America, because the two manufacturers are not present there.
But why OnePlus only became a “slave” now and not three years ago simply has to do with numbers. Realme just turned four this week, and the brand has already clocked up over 100 million sales. OnePlus, on the other hand, is twice as old and hasn’t even sold half as many devices.
OnePlus used to make some of the best Android phones, but that’s no longer the case in 2022. And it seems as if they now want to cover up this shortcoming with mass.