This comes at the time when longer OS update guarantee is crucial for choosing smartphones.
OnePlus has turned heads over the years with its high-specced, low-priced Android handsets, and with the recent OnePlus Nord N10 5G and OnePlus Nord N100, you might have been thinking about where exactly the catch is at those prices. Turns out you were right to ask, as it looks like OnePlus will be offering a much-reduced software update program for these devices, including a mere single Android version upgrade.
That means that both handsets, which run Oxygen 10.5 out of the box, will receive Android 11 as promised, but no further, giving them a far shorter natural lifespan than phones in the main OnePlus range. This is made more acute by the fact that they both launch with an out-of-date operating system out-of-the-box—Android 10, to be more precise. The devices will continue to receive security updates for two years, but even that is a year shorter than OnePlus’s standard offer.
The policy was confirmed in a statement to Android Central: “The Nord N10 5G and N100 will receive one major Android update and a total of two years of security updates. The plan for these two devices aligns with industry standards for smartphones in more affordable price ranges. As always, we will continue listening to feedback from our users and looking for ways to improve the software experience for all OnePlus devices.”
The news comes on the same day that the company released a new Android 10 update to the aging OnePlus 5 range, further showing that there is definitely a “two-tier” OnePlus going forward, placing them on the naughty-step alongside Motorola, which has a similar policy already in place.
The original OnePlus Nord is not affected by this policy, but it’s still likely to ruffle some feathers. Whilst it makes sense to limit support to lower-end devices in order to squeeze the maximum value out of them, it’s important that OEMs are transparent about matters like this (hint, Motorola), as it serves as a reminder that there’s more to a mobile phone than its hardware. If the N10 and N100 had launched with Android 11, it might have been a bit more forgivable, but this decision really curtails the life of these devices. Fortunately, we’re sure when the time comes, developers on our forums will be step up to the plate.
Source: XDADevelopers
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