Oppo and Vivo today announced that several of their smartphone models have completed adaptation to the ET5, ET7, ES7 and EC7 and can be used as car keys.
Chinese smartphone giants Oppo and Vivo today announced that a number of their smartphones have been adapted to Nio (NYSE: NIO) vehicles and can be used as car keys.
Oppo devices that have completed the adaptation include the Find N2 series, Find X5 series, Reno9 series, and OnePlus Ace series, and supported models include the ET5, ET7, ES7, and EC7, which are Nio's NT 2.0 platform-based models.
Nio owners can use the Oppo devices as senseless car keys after completing all the settings.
Nio owners who use Oppo phones can add digital car keys to the wallet app of their phones. When they carry an Oppo device that supports this feature near the car, the doors will automatically unlock.
Once the driver enters the car, they can activate the driving mode directly. After they leave the car with their phone, the vehicle will automatically lock, eliminating the need for a physical car key throughout the process.
The feature is in the works for more Oppo smartphones and Nio models, the phone maker said today on Weibo.
Oppo has previously announced similar partnerships with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) and Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) to use the phone as senseless car keys.
In addition to Oppo, another smartphone giant, Vivo, also announced today that Nio owners can use the company's several smartphone models as car keys.
Vivo models that have already been adapted include the Vivo X series, Vivo S series, iQOO flagship series, iQOO Neo series, iQOO Z series, and NEX series devices.
The Nio models currently supported include ET5, ET7, ES7, and EC7. Vivo said that the adaptation of other models is in progress.
Vivo's devices have also previously been adapted to a number of other brands, and it and Oppo are two separate companies, but both are brands of the BBK group.
While adapting to the smartphone giant's devices, Nio is also developing its own smartphones.
The company confirmed in late March last year that it would venture into phone making, and its founder, chairman and CEO William Li said at the time that Nio's users wanted to see a phone that would connect better with cars, prompting the company to study the industry.
In an interview with local media on January 12, Li said the Nio phone is not designed to compete with Huawei or Xiaomi, but to meet the needs of users.
If half of Nio car owners buy Nio phones, the business's goal will be reached, Li said. By the end of January, the cumulative deliveries of Nio cars reached 298,062 units.
