OnePlus last month riled up many fans when it revealed that its most recent phones – the Nord N10 5G and Nord N100 – will only get one major Android OS update and two years of total software support. That was shocking, to say the least, but the company now has something more encouraging to share. It has put up a page where you can see the software support period for its phones.
The OnePlus Nord is the first phone on the list and you’ll probably rejoice in the fact that it will get Android security updates until July 2023. The OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, and 8 5G will get security updates until April 2023.
All these four devices are listed under the quarterly update schedule. The OnePlus 8T should be on a monthly schedule but that list is empty as of now. OnePlus seemingly has only just begun updating the page, so we’ll likely see more devices added to the two lists in the future.
Neither of Nord N10 5G and Nord N100 is on the list. The two devices arrived last month with Android 10 onboard. They were expected to get Android OS updates until Android 12 and at least three years of security updates. However, OnePlus rather shockingly revealed that they will only get one major Android OS update and another year of security updates. That essentially means the two new Nord phones will end their lives on Android 11.
As for security updates, they will get quarterly updates. OnePlus will likely add them to the above-mentioned list in the coming weeks or months. 2018 and 2019 OnePlus phones do not feature on the list either. They all should belong in the quarterly schedule.
OnePlus finally has a publicly available software update policy
OnePlus usually offers two major Android OS updates and three years of security updates to its phones. However, the company did not have a publicly available software update policy until now. Although a bit late to the party, the company finally has one.
This comes at a time when OEMs have started to raise the bar for software support period. Samsung recently committed three years of Android OS updates to its flagships as well as select mid-range Galaxy A phones. It now remains to be seen if the likes of OnePlus join the Korean behemoth as well.
Note that the support page OnePlus has just put up only shows the timeline for Android security updates and not Android OS updates. The support page also details vulnerabilities that were fixed with a given security patch.