The OnePlus 3T is set to receive the update to Android 7.0 Nougat via an update to OxygenOS 4.0 at the very end of 2016 on New Year’s Eve, and as such meets OnePlus’ self-imposed deadline to receive the update before the end of the year. The OnePlus 3T will receive the first beta of Android 7.0 Nougat today and only a few hours before the stable release will arrive for both the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T devices. The older OnePlus 3 model has received the first beta update to OxygenOS 4.0 back in November 2016 and has been receiving updates to the beta ROM since then; the last update arrived only a handful of days ago. OnePlus’ founder, Carl Pei, reports that from today there will be a “gradual rollout” of the official update to OxygenOS 4.0 based around Android 7.0 Nougat starting today. It is unclear how long the rollout will take but these things can take a small number of weeks to complete.
Although the move is unusual, because usually a beta version of a software build will arrive a number of weeks and sometimes months before the stable version is ready, we must remember that the OnePlus 3T is a mildly polished version of the OnePlus 3. The two devices have a similar design and hardware setup: the OnePlus 3T has received upgrades to the chipset, battery and camera departments, together with a relatively small increase in price but otherwise the devices are very similar. Despite this similarity, it does appear that the reason for the OnePlus 3T receiving the beta update to OxygenOS 4.0 on New Year’s Eve is so that OnePlus does not renegade on its promise to give customers the Android 7.0 Nougat-based ROM before 2017 arrives. Those OnePlus 3T customers desperate for a slice of Nougat action on their device can upgrade to the beta ROM release until they wait for the stable ROM update to arrive.
Both the OnePlus 3 and later OnePlus 3T have been well received across the industry. Both devices combine a solid, elegant metal design and chassis with flagship grade hardware for a price tag several hundred dollars less than the competition. As part of the OnePlus 3 launch earlier in the year, the company promised to deliver software updates in a more timely fashion. For the release of Android 7.0 Nougat based OxygenOS 4.0 update, although the promise of a release by the end of the year has been technically honoured, it is possible that some customers will not receive their update until we are well into January. Nevertheless for some users at least, they will be celebrating the New Year with a new software version on their OnePlus device.