OnePlus's death is bad. Oppo's refusal to replace it is worse

Published Jul 16, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT Andy is a seasoned technology journalist with more than 15 years experience in the mobile industry, writing for Digital Trends, Wired, and more. Andy has reviewed hundreds of smartphones and tablets, dozens of smartwatches, and a host of smart rings, smart glasses, and fitness trackers, giving him a unique ability to assess and evaluate the latest products. His daily mobile tech life includes Android and iOS devices, smart rings, and a smartwatch, unless it's a special occasion, when a traditional watch takes its place on his wrist. Andy always has a strong opinion on the state of the mobile industry, and writes in-depth analysis features to put the latest news and products into context. He has attended multiple CES, MWC, and IFA tradeshows, has a passion for photography and cars, listens to far too much K-pop, and follows F1. You can find Andy's portfolio of work on his Authory page. The choice of smartphones available in the US is already considerably smaller than in many other regions, and has now been made even smaller by the news OnePlus will no longer sell phones in both North America and Europe. While this is obviously bad news, it gets worse because Oppo — a brand at its peak — isn’t stepping in to take over. What’s Oppo’s plan? OnePlus is over. That's it Oppo madę the announcement that OnePlus would no longer sell products in the US and Europe on July 17. While the brand’s fate elsewhere in the world isn’t so clear, we do know OnePlus as we know it is at an end. When asked about whether the essence of OnePlus would be seen in Oppo phones or not, the answer was that OnePlus’s ‘good qualities’ would be carried over into Oppo devices, along with elements that have already been integrated, such as through OxygenOS and ColorOS blending into one. This can be interpreted as the OnePlus name and its devices are essentially gone, at least in the US and Europe, and little to nothing will remain. Silver lining? It leaves Oppo with the right foundations and a rare opportunity to romance everyone disillusioned by Samsung, Google, and Apple. It has the hardware to do it. The Oppo Find X9 Ultra is a fantastic camera phone, the Oppo Find N6 big-screen foldable is my favorite model of the year so far, and the OnePlus Watch 3 has some of the best battery life in a smartwatch, which is achieved in an innovative way. Oppo’s strategic focus is apparently about putting the right device in front of the right people, in the right places. It undoubtedly has the right devices, and with a OnePlus-shaped hole in the US’s smartphone line-up, it has the right place too. Yet, Oppo has no such plans at all. OnePlus has left the door open But Oppo's not going through OnePlus was never a big industry player, but it had (has?) a dedicated fan base, and its devices were well-regarded, even after Oppo muscled in and turned OnePlus phones into OnePlus/Oppo hybrids. There was a time when OnePlus phones could be purchased through a carrier in the US too. Various models, including the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 10 Pro were sold by T-Mobile. OnePlus had the community, media praise, and tried its best to play the carrier game, which is widely accepted as the only way to have any chance of success in the US. Yet, it couldn’t quite make it work long-term. Oppo is no small player. It holds fourth place in global smartphone shipments market share, according to Counterpoint Research’s data, and just a single percentage point behind third place company Xiaomi. OnePlus has, at the very least, some public mindshare, it definitely has previous relationships with carriers, and is very familiar to the media. It has value. The industry and business machinations over the past few years just haven’t helped it flourish. Oppo is now free of any pretense of keeping OnePlus going. It could aggressively leverage all that OnePlus goodwill to bring, and let's be honest here, its far superior devices to a region crying out for some competition. It’s surprising not to see it counter the deflating news of OnePlus’s demise with some great news that it’s working on bringing a phone to the US in 2026. Instead, it’s avoiding any such activity, and in turn letting OnePlus and all its hard work getting into the US in the first place, get forgotten. Quiz 8 Questions · Test Your KnowledgeOnePlus and OppoTrivia challenge Think you know the brands behind some of Android's boldest moves? Put your knowledge to the test. HistoryFlagshipSoftwareInnovationBranding Begin In what year was OnePlus officially founded? A2011B2012C2013D2014 Correct! OnePlus was founded in December 2013 by Pete Lau and Carl Pei. The company launched with the bold mission of creating 'never settle' flagship-quality phones at more affordable prices. Not quite. OnePlus was founded in December 2013 by Pete Lau and Carl Pei. It quickly made waves in 2014 with the launch of the OnePlus One, which required an invite to purchase. Continue Oppo is a subsidiary of which larger Chinese technology conglomerate? AHuawei TechnologiesBXiaomi GroupCLenovo GroupDBBK Electronics Correct! Oppo is owned by BBK Electronics, one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers. BBK also owns Vivo, Realme, and OnePlus, making it a sprawling empire of smartphone brands. Not quite. Oppo is owned by BBK Electronics, a Chinese conglomerate that also controls Vivo, Realme, and OnePlus. Despite being separate brands with distinct identities, they share significant resources and technology. Continue What was the name of OnePlus's first ever smartphone, launched in 2014? AOnePlus XBOnePlus OneCOnePlus AlphaDOnePlus Prime Correct! The OnePlus One debuted in April 2014 and became a cult hit. It offered flagship Snapdragon 801 performance at roughly half the price of competitors, and its invite-only system created huge hype. Not quite. The OnePlus One was the company's debut smartphone in 2014. It ran a customized version of CyanogenMod and was widely praised for delivering premium specs at a mid-range price point. Continue Oppo is widely credited with pioneering which fast-charging technology that later influenced the entire industry? AQualcomm Quick ChargeBVOOC Flash ChargeCTurbo PowerDWarp Charge Correct! Oppo's VOOC (Voltage Open Loop Multi-step Constant-Current Charging) technology debuted in 2014 and was a genuine industry milestone. It charges at high current rather than high voltage, keeping the phone cooler during charging. Not quite. The answer is VOOC Flash Charge, introduced by Oppo in 2014. Warp Charge, while a great option, is actually OnePlus's branding for its own fast-charging tech, which is derived from VOOC. Both companies share roots in the BBK family. Continue What is the official name of OnePlus's Android-based operating system as of 2024? AHydrogenOSBColorOSCOxygenOSDNitrogenOS Correct! OxygenOS is OnePlus's custom Android skin, long praised for being clean and close to stock Android while adding useful features. It has evolved significantly over the years and now shares a unified codebase with Oppo's ColorOS. Not quite. OxygenOS is the correct answer. HydrogenOS is actually the name OnePlus uses for its Chinese domestic market version of the OS. ColorOS is Oppo's skin, though both now share an underlying codebase. Continue Which Oppo smartphone series is its top-tier flagship line, competing directly with Samsung's Galaxy S and Apple's iPhone? AOppo RenoBOppo A SeriesCOppo Find XDOppo F Series Correct! The Oppo Find X series is the brand's premium flagship lineup. The original Find X in 2018 wowed the world with its motorized sliding pop-up camera mechanism, signaling Oppo's serious ambitions at the top of the market. Not quite. The Oppo Find X series is the company's flagship tier. The Reno series sits in the upper-mid range, the A series is entry-level, and the F series focuses on camera performance for everyday users. Continue Carl Pei, the co-founder of OnePlus, left the company in 2020 to found which new consumer tech brand? ANothingBEssentialCFairphoneDPixels Correct! Carl Pei departed OnePlus in October 2020 and founded Nothing, a London-based tech company. Nothing launched its first product, the Nothing ear (1) wireless earbuds, in 2021, followed by the Nothing Phone (1) in 2022. Not quite. Carl Pei founded Nothing after leaving OnePlus. Essential was actually founded by Android co-creator Andy Rubin. Nothing has since built a distinctive identity with its transparent design language and glyph lighting system. Continue Oppo set a world record in 2021 by demonstrating a smartphone charging at what remarkable wattage? A120WB150WC200WD240W Correct! In 2021, Oppo demonstrated 200W fast-charging technology, capable of charging a 4,000mAh battery in just 9 minutes. This showcased just how aggressively the company was pushing the boundaries of charging innovation. Not quite. Oppo demonstrated a staggering 200W charging speed in 2021, far ahead of what most flagships offered commercially at the time. While real-world products launched at slightly lower wattages, it proved the technology was viable and close to market-ready. See My Score Challenge CompleteYour Score / 8 Thanks for playing! Try Again OnePlus couldn't crack the code Oppo's not willing to even try Oppo has the financial ability, device range, brand recognition (globally, at least), and perhaps most important of all, an opportunity to take OnePlus’s place in the US. The fact it’s not doing so tells us all we need to know. It’s simply not worth it. OnePlus didn’t crack the code, and Oppo’s not going to throw more money at the situation, trying to do the same with the added pressure of introducing a new brand name. Whether it’s public complacency, consumer laziness, carrier market control, political sentiment, trade restrictions or costs, brand snobbery, or a combination of all these things and more, a brand with Oppo’s clout has decided it’s not worth bothering to try and sell phones in the US. I find Oppo’s decision not to replace OnePlus far more depressing than OnePlus leaving the US and Europe. It’s not even about a lack of choice, or lessening the stranglehold Samsung and Apple have on the US smartphone world. It’s that there are fantastic phones from an established brand that are practically impossible for a lot of people to buy. How unfair. A great brand making good phones will essentially disappear from the US, and the top brand closely involved in the move decides it’s not worth the time or money to try again. Better hope the Samsung Galaxy S27 and Apple iPhone 18 will be decent, then.