ColorOS 15: The Pinnacle of Android Smoothness and AI Utility in 2023? An In-Depth Comparison of ColorOS 15, HyperOS 2, OriginOS 5, and MagicOS 9

ColorOS 15: The Pinnacle of Android Smoothness and AI Utility in 2023? An In-Depth Comparison of ColorOS 15, HyperOS 2, OriginOS 5, and MagicOS 9As December arrives and the year draws to a close, many are planning to purchase a new phone as a New Year's gift. Currently, Android users are most concerned about system fluency and AI utility

ColorOS 15: The Pinnacle of Android Smoothness and AI Utility in 2023? An In-Depth Comparison of ColorOS 15, HyperOS 2, OriginOS 5, and MagicOS 9

As December arrives and the year draws to a close, many are planning to purchase a new phone as a New Year's gift. Currently, Android users are most concerned about system fluency and AI utility. They need a phone with more powerful, user-friendly features, comprehensive scene coverage, and a better understanding of user intent. Coinciding with a major December update for ColorOS 15, its fluency and AI functionality have been further enhanced. To mark the end of the year, we will conduct a horizontal comparison of four major Android operating systems to see which excels in AI utility and smoothness. The four systems included in this review are ColorOS 15, HyperOS 2, OriginOS 5, and MagicOS 9.

I. AI Utility

AI should be better integrated into daily life, solving practical problems, accurately understanding user intent, lowering the barrier to AI use, and providing a more intuitive and convenient interaction method. First, let's look at the AI wake-up methods of these four systems.

ColorOS 15, HyperOS 2, OriginOS 5, and MagicOS 9 all support voice wake-up for their AI assistants and power button wake-up. Except for HyperOS 2's Xiao Ai assistant, the other three systems also support long-pressing the bottom system navigation bar to wake up the assistant. To wake up Xiao Ai using the navigation keys, you need to switch to "classic navigation keys." Furthermore, Xiao Ai and Xiaobing assistants both support earphone wake-up; Xiaobing supports wired earphones, while Xiao Ai supports both Bluetooth and wired earphones.

In terms of the commonly used voice wake-up, ColorOS 15's Xiaobing assistant and HyperOS 2's Xiao Ai assistant support continuous speech of the wake-up word and command, making it more convenient and faster, with relatively accurate voice recognition. MagicOS 9, with breath wake-up enabled, allows users to issue commands directly into the microphone without saying the wake-up word. OriginOS 5's Blue Heart Xiao V, however, cannot handle continuous wake-up words and commands; it requires a pause after the wake-up word before accepting further instructions.

In terms of visual effects, Xiaobing's effects are richer. After awakening Xiaobing, the screen edges continuously display a rainbow-like ripple effect, similar to water ripples, creating a feeling of quiet listening and enhancing the human-computer interaction. Each wake-up of Xiaobing has a sense of ceremony.

In summary, ColorOS 15's Xiaobing assistant and OriginOS 5's Blue Heart Xiao V offer richer wake-up methods. ColorOS 15's Xiaobing assistant's "one-sentence access" function makes voice wake-up more continuous and convenient, and the refined light effects enhance the user experience.

An AI that can capture user intent and understand off-screen content can provide a more convenient and efficient experience. Let's see if the four voice assistants can accurately provide better answers.

We tested the screen recognition function using the four voice assistants. Opening the QQ Music app and asking "What is this?", Blue Heart Xiao V and Xiao Ai could only give brief answers like "This is a music application interface," while Xiaobing could identify it as the QQ Music interface and automatically display information such as the app's developer, unique features, etc. Only the YOYO assistant failed to recognize the question. Xiao Ai, after being asked, first took a screenshot of the page before answering, making the overall process slower.

Xiaobing's practicality lies in its ability to intelligently extend its understanding based on the user's question, providing quick access points, superior interaction logic, and stronger detail processing capabilities. For example, "How to get QQ Music coins" and "QQ Music's 2024 annual playlist" are common user needs.

Beyond the "on-screen," let's look at the "off-screen" Q&A. A phone's AI should not only be an on-screen voice assistant but should also understand off-screen content to be more intelligent and considerate.

We simultaneously opened the camera interface on four phones and pointed them at the same workstation scene. After activation, we observed differences in the screenshots. Xiao Ai, YOYO assistant, and Blue Heart Xiao V displayed typical voice activation scenes without responding to the off-screen scene. Xiaobing, however, provided suggestions based on the off-screen scene, better understanding user intent.

After asking "What is this?", the YOYO assistant still provided no answer, while Xiaobing continued based on the off-screen content, for example, "What style does the office look like?". This is more intelligent, allowing users to ask follow-up questions for a deeper understanding.

It is noteworthy that Xiaobing and Blue Heart Xiao V both support more precise selection search, allowing for more detailed inquiries based on the selected area.

Using the same workstation scene, after selecting a blind box, Blue Heart Xiao V could only provide a general description. Surprisingly, Xiaobing identified the brand of the blind box and provided a brief introduction. Users can then ask follow-up questions, such as the series to which the Pop Mart blind box belongs and videos of its unboxing. ColorOS 15's Xiaobing assistant provided quick and accurate answers, significantly improving efficiency. Blue Heart Xiao V also suggested follow-up questions, but these were limited to "find similar items" and "write a caption."

Beyond daily life scenarios, stronger coverage is needed in shopping, food, clothing, housing, transportation, movie-watching, and gaming. For example, while browsing a third-party app, you want to select a suitable perfume for a friend; while traveling, you see a favorite building; while sketching outdoors, you see an unknown flower AI can be used for identification. In the upcoming Christmas season, if you want to send a gift to a friend and see a perfume on social media but don't know the specific brand and series, you can activate AI with one tap.

Xiao Ai and Blue Heart Xiao V provided accurate answers, identifying the brand and name of the perfume; Xiao Ai's answer was more detailed, explaining the perfume's fragrance notes. Xiaobing not only identified the brand and name but also displayed specific fragrance notes, the inspiration behind the perfume, the target audience, and the creation year. The follow-up questions were also relevant, based on that perfume and its related series.

In use, Xiaobing combines voice and on/off-screen content. Whether it's off-screen content or an unfamiliar item encountered while browsing the phone, it provides a more comprehensive solution. It more easily understands the needs of shopping, life, work, and travel scenarios, offering broader scene coverage and superior practicality and intelligence.

II. AI Hard Power

Besides acting as an encyclopedia, many young users primarily use AI for photo editing. They like to share photos immediately to social media, so the AI features built into the phone system are particularly important.

First, let's look at the AI photo editing features supported by the four systems. Compared to beauty and image quality enhancement, many users want quick results, and that means eliminating passersby. In crowded tourist spots, a cleaner background is desirable, requiring the removal of people. Using third-party apps to remove people one by one is inefficient, hence the system's AI removal function becomes crucial.

All four phones support AI passerby removal. ColorOS 15, OriginOS 5, and HyperOS 2 support intelligent passerby identification. ColorOS 15 and OriginOS 5 support one-click removal, which is highly efficient. HyperOS 2 requires clicking on each passerby individually, making it less efficient. MagicOS 9 does not support intelligent passerby identification and requires individual selection, also making it inefficient.

In terms of recognition accuracy, ColorOS 15 and OriginOS 5 can identify all the passersby in the photo. HyperOS 2 is less accurate when dealing with edges and smaller passersby.

Let's look at the passerby removal effects of the four systems. HyperOS 2's removal is not clean, with noticeable blurring and mismatched connections when repairing the background. The texture of the tiles is more blurred. ColorOS 15, OriginOS 5, and MagicOS 9 generally remove passersby cleanly, with acceptable overall results. OriginOS 5 has some layering and texture mismatches when repairing the background. ColorOS 15 and MagicOS 9 exhibit better background repair, with only minor blurring in details, but the overall look is still good. ColorOS 15's AI one-click removal function, even in more difficult environments with many passersby, ensures more intelligent and efficient removal, delivering more satisfactory results and a higher completion rate.

III. System Fluency

System fluency is also crucial. To ensure a smooth and seamless experience in any scenario, all four systems have made significant efforts. Let's compare how smoothly they perform during daily use.

In daily use, when dealing with common scenarios such as app launch, interruption, exit, and landscape