Oppo, Realme, Vivo and OnePlus have an identity crisis

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It’s a call to action, almost a plea, so that four smartphone manufacturers don’t lose their individuality. Oppo, Realme, Vivo, and OnePlus all risk doing this, as each brand overlaps more and more and the relationship becomes blurred to the point where sometimes I can’t tell the difference between them.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

This brand assimilation has yet to reach the point where they are indistinguishable from each other, but the creep has become much more noticeable over the past year or so. This is my request to everyone – remember who you are.

Family affairs

Oppo, OnePlus, Realme and Vivo (plus another brand still new, Iqoo) are, within the framework of the Chinese empire BBK Electronics, all members of the same family. BBK Electronics and this relationship is not really known, as each brand will always claim its independence, has different management teams and targets different segments. And you will never find BBK Electronics mentioned at a launch event. But as research proves, all roads ultimately lead to BBK Electronics.

The back of the OnePlus 9 Pro, Vivo X60 Pro, Oppo Find X3 Pro and Realme X2 Pro Master Edition.
From left to right, Realme X2 Pro Master Edition, Vivo X60 Pro, Oppo Find X3 Pro and OnePlus 9 Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

However, this is not a conspiracy or a cause for concern. It’s business, and not exactly unusual. Automakers, for example, have operated multiple brands for decades, offering different vehicles and styles to appeal to different people. There are always clues to a car’s parentage for those who look tough, whether it’s repurposed interior trim or just engine components shared with the parent company’s brand.

So far, this has been the case with these four phone makers. There have been little software hints that there is a platform share going on, or evidence of similar components being marketed in a different way, mostly noticeable by those in the know. This is changing, and not for the better.

The same but different?

A degree of similarity between the phones is inevitable. Many phone makers use Samsung AMOLED displays and Sony camera sensors, as well as Google mobile services and Android software. The problem with Oppo, Realme, Vivo, and to a lesser extent at the moment OnePlus, is that the custom user interface and software are starting to merge into one.

Applications on the screens of Realme, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus phones.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

It was a recent back-to-back test of the Realme 8 5G and the Oppo A54 5G that showed how blurry the line is, especially between these two. The Realme user interface from Realme and ColorOS from Oppo are identical. They basically have the same layout, the same level of customization, and the same good and bad points. Only the name is different. I really don’t want to flip a phone over to look at the brand name to identify what I’m using, but I’m getting to this point.

OnePlus is suitably different with OxygenOS, but there are issues ahead on that front. OnePlus is still an independent brand, but it’s also now part of Oppo. Oppo’s ColorOS is vastly improved, but still not a fix on OxygenOS, which OnePlus has assured its fans will stay put on its phones. But by working more closely together, the positive aspects of OxygenOS could end up in ColorOS, and in turn, Realme UI, further eroding the remaining individual identities.

The settings screen on Realme, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus phones.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Even trading strategies follow a very similar path. OnePlus has entered into multi-year partnership with Hasselblad, Vivo has signed an agreement with Zeiss, and it is said that Realme is about to partner with Kodak. Only Oppo has yet to be linked with an established camera brand. However, it has built on branded sports partnerships, becoming the official smartphone for the ICC Cricket World Cup and a partner at Wimbledon and with FC Barcelona football club. Not to be outdone, Vivo is the official smartphone partner of the UEFA Euro 2020 football tournament and partner of the National Basketball Association.

Pretty much all that remains of every business identity lies in marketing. But even here, close examination shows that while the message may be different, the material often isn’t. For example, Oppo strongly pushed the 10-bit color depth of the Find X3 Pro’s display at launch, highlighting its ability to show a billion colors. The 6.7-inch, 3216 x 1440-pixel, 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10 + certified, 525 pixels per inch AMOLED got an A + score from DisplayMate.

OnePlus 9 Pro, Vivo X60 Pro, Oppo Find X3 Pro and Realme X2 Pro Master Edition displays.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The OnePlus 9 Pro has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 10-bit color depth, 3216 x 1440 pixels, 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10 + certification, and 525 pixels per inch. It also got an A + score from DisplayMate. Except OnePlus does not mention its capacity of a billion colors. Well they are not exactly the same. DisplayMate shows that the Oppo screen has a 0.4 Just noticeable color difference (JNCD) color accuracy rating, while the OnePlus 9 Pro has a 0.8 JNCD Rating. Long live difference !

Four become one

Many of those same arguments could be made about how Huawei and Honor operated before – Honor officially being part of Huawei and the pair sharing software and hardware at the time – but the relationship between the two companies was still pretty clear. , and which each target brand was also evident. Honor has always done a good job of feeling different from Huawei as well, and made a point of emphasizing her individuality at every opportunity.

Oppo and Realme also emphasize their individuality, but in reality it becomes less and less believable with each release of the phone. While no Oppo or Realme phone is exactly the same, many have very similar specs, with only small design differences. They did not reach the manifest incestuous nature of Xiaomi and Poco and their absolutely identical The M3 Pro 5G and Redmi Note 10 5G models, but they might not be long in doing so.

While Realme and Oppo are one, Vivo and OnePlus are currently lagging behind, each distinct from each other and from Oppo and Realme as well. Rather than being a surprise or proof that there is in fact no crossover between brands, this is just the way things should be. OnePlus phone should be different from a Vivo phone. At the moment they are, but the similarity of Oppo and Realme shows that it might not last.

Stop change before it really takes hold

To say that a Realme phone is for those who “dare to jump” and owners of Oppo phones “play with the heart” is not enough. I remember talking to Realme just at early on in his journey and being intrigued by his rambling personality, I loved trying out Vivo’s often-crazy concept phones, seeing Oppo do things very differently with design, and being part of OnePlus’ rise from fledgling startup to a mega-brand that has not forgotten this startup mentality.

Personality and brand identity is more than a catchy hashtag, and everyone has worked hard to get what they have today. But it seems to disappear. I don’t care if all four are part of one massive conglomerate, as long as all four are distinct, individual, and have their own way of doing things. I want want to a Realme phone, and not having to wonder if the nearly identical Oppo phone is a better buy. A lack of identity simply means confusion.

BBK Electronics must see the value of completely separating Realme, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus. The smartphone world has already lost LG this year and BlackBerry last year, and is less interesting because of it. Mixing these four into a barely defined, amorphous mark would be just as unfortunate.

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