It feels like AI is being shoehorned into every aspect of our digital lives, from our smartphones to our PCs and even our doorbells.
Smartphone manufacturers are particularly guilty of this crime, with everyone from Apple to Samsung adding a plethora of AI features, most of which aren’t particularly helpful outside of super-niche situations, such as booking a hotel in a country where you don’t speak the local language.
Well, it looks like OnePlus isn’t following the crowd in that respect. While ‘proper’ AI is indeed on the way to OnePlus devices, it’s much simpler and razer-focused in its execution.
OnePlus AI has humble beginnings
Recent OnePlus phones, such as the OnePlus 13, already feature a handful of AI capabilities. These are fairly standard tools found on other flagships, including Intelligent Search, AI Unblur and AI Reflection Eraser. But, as I’ve already mentioned, these are only handy in specific scenarios. What about AI that’ll improve our day-to-day life? That’s what OnePlus AI hopes to achieve.
Rather than integrating AI into every possible area of the phone like what you’d get with the competing Galaxy AI or Apple Intelligence, OnePlus’ new AI features focus primarily on Mind Space, an entirely new AI-powered app coming to devices soon.
It works similarly to Nothing’s Essential Space, in that you can capture information from screenshots (or even the real world using the camera) and get AI to analyse and store that information for future use. It makes recalling an article all the easier, complete with a link to the original article to continue reading, and it’ll even translate text in photos for additional context.
It takes things a step further by suggesting actions based on what has been analysed. For example, suppose you receive a message on WhatsApp about several meetings scheduled for that week. If you get Mind Space to analyse the messages, activated by a swipe up with three fingers, you’ll be presented with shortcuts to add those events to your calendar.
You can also search for information stored within the Mind Space app using natural language, making it easier to recall all information about a specific topic you’ve saved – and this also works with OnePlus’ universal search capabilities.
Though not implemented at launch, you’ll soon be able to create curated Collections to make it easier to access all the information you’ve saved from various apps and resources.
OnePlus is being surprisingly open about future plans too
Plus Mind is a great addition to OnePlus’ AI offering, but it also took the opportunity to expand on its future plans for AI – a rare move, not only in smartphones but also tech in general.
Companies like to keep their cards close to their chest, not only to stop the competition from getting in on the action but, essentially, to not look bad in case those plans don’t come to fruition. There are plenty of projects that get cancelled before they see the light of day, and that’s especially true in the highly experimental tech industry.
However, OnePlus has cast those worries aside to be more transparent with fans about what to expect from OnePlus AI in future.
OnePlus has explained that its current implementation of Mind Space is only the first stage in a three-stage process.
Stage two of the AI rollout, which is apparently already underway, includes baking LLM capabilities into the app.
This would essentially transform Mind Space into a more personal assistant, with the aim of the AI knowing and remembering everything about you. It’ll learn more as you add more to the Mind Space, and it could even provide insights about yourself that you might not have otherwise noticed.
The third stage is the most ambitious, and OnePlus doesn’t have a loose timeline on this, but it aims for Mind Space to proactively make recommendations and suggestions based on details about you. This could be something like calling a taxi for your airport run on your behalf, or simply reminding you of something you mentioned weeks prior.
It’s only with this long-term vision that Plus Mind, in its current form, makes sense. This is the starting point, the first building block, and things should only get better from here.
Other manufacturers need to follow suit
Now I’m not saying that OnePlus devices don’t, and won’t, feature superfluous AI features. As I mentioned earlier, the OnePlus 13 features AI capabilities that can remove reflections from photos, among other enhancements, and several additional features are expected with the new update.
These range from AI VoiceScribe, which records and transcribes calls not only from the dialer app but also from third-party apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, to the likes of AI Translation, AI Best Face, and AI Reframe. However, the key difference here is that these aren’t the main focus. They’re just the nice-to-haves that allow OnePlus to better compete on paper.
And it’s that simplicity that makes OnePlus’ approach to AI all the more enticing. It’s not trying to win you over with short-term gimmicky wins like being able to rewrite your texts in Shakspearean style, but rather focusing on the long-term and more impactful features that might genuinely change the way you use your smartphone.
We’ll have to wait and see for now, though. The OnePlus AI rollout is expected to come to the OnePlus 13 soon, while compatibility with other devices – like the slightly cheaper OnePlus 13R or the OnePlus Pad 2 tablet – is yet to be confirmed.