Although Samsung is generally the best smartphone OEM when it comes to releasing new firmware updates — even ahead of Google in many cases — it looks like Oppo is trying to put pressure on the Korean tech giant with an early release of Android 13 and its proprietary ColorOS 13 skin.
Today, Oppo announced its Android 13-based beta firmware shortly after Google broke the news on its latest OS version earlier this week. More specifically, Oppo announced its beta program for ColorOS 13 and revealed its intentions to roll out the first Android 13 beta firmware before the end of August. (via GizmoChina)
In the meantime, Samsung is tinkering with the first Android 13-based One UI 5.0 beta build for the Galaxy S22 series and has yet to release the second beta firmware.
Will Oppo beat Samsung to the Android 13 finish line?
It's hard to tell which OEM will release Android 13 first, but Oppo does seem to have a fair chance against Samsung this year. Oppo says it wants to release the Color OS 13 / Android 13 beta program for the Find X5 and Find X5 Pro this month. More Oppo phones are planned to get pushed into the beta program in the months that follow throughout December. In fact, Oppo's Android 13 beta program extends all the way into H1 2023.
Neither Oppo nor Samsung said much about the first public release based on Android 13. They can't predict what could go wrong during the testing phase, so they can't offer a concrete launch frame. And although we'd normally be confident in Samsung's ability to beat Oppo to the market, Samsung also seems to be taking its time releasing the second One UI 5.0 beta wave for the Galaxy S22.
So far, progress in the Samsung camp appears to be slow, which might allow Oppo to steal a win this year. We'll have to wait and see how things develop, but hopefully, the One UI 5.0 update will be ready for the masses soon enough to put ColorOS 13 in its place.
