There are signs of big changes at Realme: 2026 has begun under a colossal internal reorganization for OPPO and for the brands that orbit around it. The Chinese brand seems intent on uniting everything under a single ecosystem, and things will expand (as one would expect) also on the software side. The upcoming Realme UI 8, based on Android 17, may never see the light of day, replaced by ColorOS 17.
Realme UI 8 and ColorOS 17: how things will change, according to the latest rumors
Revealed by an insider, so for now this is still just a rumor: however, it is a move already seen in OPPO’s universe, and as a consequence it doesn’t seem so unreal to imagine the Chinese company unifying all brands under its software.
Based on what has emerged, and as anticipated in the opening, there would be no Realme UI 8.0: instead, ColorOS 17 will arrive. OPPO’s interface is expected on both new Realme smartphones and on older models, which could receive the update in the future.
In 2021 OnePlus and OPPO merged, and this led to a huge change on the software side. The OxygenOS and ColorOS code has been unified but a cautious and nostalgic approach was chosen: Chinese OnePlus smartphones arrive directly with OPPO’s UI, while globally it was decided to keep OxygenOS, although the base is now the same.
It remains to be seen how OPPO will move toward Realme, but from what has emerged it seems that we will have to deal with a real replacement and Realme UI will not survive.
Realme è tornata ad OPPO: cosa è successo finora
In January of this year, Realme has rejoined OPPO: the company has always remained within the BBK Group’s orbit, yet continuing to operate independently.
The new strategy marked a return to its origins, as veterans of the Chinese tech world will remember well, Realme started life as a line of OPPO smartphones, then as a sub-brand of the latter, and finally as an independent brand.
The internal reorganizations are not finished and in April there was yet another turning point: OnePlus and Realme would have become a single entity, both under the parent company OPPO.
