OnePlus joins forces with Oppo — what will it mean for future phones?

(Paradigm credit: Tom's Guide)

OnePlus, which makes some of the best Android phones, can trace several features on devices similar the OnePlus nine Pro dorsum to similar capabilities on Oppo handsets. Oppo tin can say the aforementioned thing. And in the futurity, it sounds like these two phone makers are going to be a lot closer.

Posting in the OnePlus Forum, CEO Pete Lau broke the news. Specifically, Lau — who already serves every bit Oppo's head of product experience — wrote that OnePlus will "farther integrate our organisation with Oppo," which leaves a lot to the imagination as to how the move will affect time to come phones from either visitor.

Best unlocked Android phones: Where OnePlus ranks
The latest on the OnePlus Nord CE 5G and OnePlus Nord N200 5G
Plus: I used the OnePlus 9 Pro for 3 months — and I've inverse my mind

You may exist unfamiliar with Oppo, since the company doesn't sell its devices in the U.S. yet. However information technology's one of OnePlus' stablemates at BBK Electronics, and produces some great phones, such every bit the Oppo Find X3 Pro. Oppo'south SuperVOOC charging technology is also the footing for OnePlus' ain Warp Charge system, one of the all-time parts of its recent phones.

Hearing the two companies are joining forces may audio farthermost, just from what Lau writes, proverb that OnePlus volition "go along to operate independently", information technology sounds similar it's more back-finish changes than something you lot'll notice in future OnePlus or Oppo phones.

However this probable ways more sharing of parts and research that will improve the phones of both companies. It may mean even more upkeep handsets for OnePlus like the Nord N200 or Nord CE, since Oppo makes several cheaper handsets in the form of the Reno and A series. We may even see Oppo finally make landfall in the U.S., although the political climate is still non that welcoming for Chinese telephone makers.

The OnePlus nine Pro is the best of the best phones overall, and so at that place'south not much that needs improving for the OnePlus 9T, assumed to be coming after this year. When the next OnePlus flagship does arrive though, it'll exist interesting to see what might take changed every bit a upshot of this new OnePlus/Oppo relationship, and likewise when we see the next batch of Oppo phones emerge.

More than: OnePlus 9 vs. Galaxy S21: Which Android phone should yous get?

Richard is a Tom's Guide staff writer based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, audio and whatsoever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's as well written for WIRED U.K., The Annals and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he'due south probable thinking near how to mash the perfect loving cup of specialty coffee.