Oppo reportedly developing its own chips — and that could be big for OnePlus

The Oppo Find X3 Pro, held with its back to the camera in front of a green background.

(Paradigm credit: Tom's Guide)

Oppo, the company behind the Oppo Find X3 Pro and OnePlus' new parent visitor, is reportedly developing its own smartphone chips by 2023/24.

That'due south right, some other smartphone company is looking to attempt and make its own chipsets, according to sources speaking to Nikkei Asia. A change every bit primal equally a whole new chipset is a big deal, and marks the second major manufacturer to try to ditch Qualcomm just this year. But with Oppo having close ties to OnePlus and other smartphone companies, this evolution endeavour could accept big ramifications for multiple Android phones.

These are the best Android phones correct at present
Plus: Apple iMac 2022 just tipped with these killer specs

A 3-nanometer beast

Nikkei's sources add that Oppo wants to piece of work with TSMC, the same chip maker backside Apple's A-serial mobile silicon, and brand the chip with a 3-nanometer procedure. Currently the leading chips on the market use a 5-nanometer procedure, so Oppo would in theory end upward at the forefront of chip engineering when its own chips appear in two to three years.

Google has gone its own with the Google Pixel 6 with its new Tensor chip. Apple has had its own silicon for the iPhone with the A-series, and other companies like Huawei have previously adult their ain fries when they didn't fancy buying silicon from Qualcomm or MediaTek. Samsung develops its ain Exynos chips, merely is in an unusual in-between zone since it currently uses Qualcomm Snapdragon in the U.Southward. to avoid the cost of licensing necessary modem technology from Qualcomm.

The benefit of a phone maker designing its own chips are that y'all can in theory achieve greater harmony between hardware and software, with greater total control over how the two work together. Once more, Apple is the chief example of this with how beautifully iOS and the A-series chips piece of work together with the iPhone 13. We're currently testing the Pixel half-dozen, simply we'd imagine that Google'southward phone could be the all-time way to experience Android 12, and provide further inspiration for Oppo's time to come phones and ColorOS iterations.

What this could hateful for OnePlus

What this could hateful for the cease-user might be, in the best scenario, new Oppo phones that offers unique and powerful new abilities while addressing existing weaknesses. Oppo in particular might be able to bring its already skillful photography abilities up to par with Samsung and Google with a proprietary processor, aslope the algorithms and image indicate processors (ISPs) that are besides mentioned by Nikkei's sources.

Equally, Oppo may want to design a high-performance chip that could take on the incredible might of the Apple A-series. It's hard to say at this betoken precisely what Oppo is aiming for based on the express rumors, but the betoken is that it's free to pursue its own hardware priorities, which is slap-up news for Oppo fans and Android users in general.

However, the biggest impact for U.S. and U.K. users may actually come up via OnePlus. OnePlus and Oppo take undergone a merger this twelvemonth to unify the 2 company's hardware and software development teams, which should mean OnePlus would take access to whatever chips Oppo designs, and therefore use them in future phones..

That would be important since Oppo doesn't have a U.S. presence, and only a small ane in the U.K. compared to the more than established OnePlus make. Considering OnePlus' phones, especially this yr's OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro, are already in our best Android phones and best phones overall lists, custom silicon could help push these phones higher. Nosotros'd love to see a custom OnePlus chip if it could give its photography abilities a further heave.

Oppo and OnePlus' stablemates at BBK Electronics, including Vivo and Realme, should also benefit from these chips since the companies have regularly shared other parts and features. This would be particularly exciting for Realme, as it'southward a budget-focussed brand that would really do good from a unique chipset to stand out from a oversupply of similar, Snapdragon and Dimensity-powered phones. So no matter your budget or your location, you could yet go to see the benefits of Oppo's rumored decision, just perhaps with a non-Oppo badge on information technology.

More than: What is Google Fi, and is it worth information technology?

Richard is a Tom's Guide staff author based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, sound and whatever else people demand communication on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the Academy of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.Thou., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he'due south likely thinking about how to brew the perfect loving cup of specialty coffee.