In what seems to be one of the most controversial decisions by an OEM in recent times, OnePlus has confirmed that its newest mid-range devices, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G and N100 will not get more than one Android update. While it was still a fledgling, the BBK Electronics subsidiary rocketed to popularity for its clean Android skin and flagship phones priced affordably.
But that didn’t last long as OnePlus implemented what many term the “price creep”, as it gradually kept hiking the prices of its devices.
A few months ago, the Chinese company announced a new series of phones called the Nord line up. The series debuted with the OnePlus Nord, which despite its price tag of Rs. 24,999 or £379 or 399 Euros, was called an affordable mid-ranger.
This was followed by the launch of two less expensive phones namely the OnePlus Nord N10 5G and N100, which were announced in the US and Europe.
OnePlus Nord N10 5G and N100 will not get updates after Android 11
And now, Android Central reports that the OnePlus Nord N10 5G and N100 will get a single major OS update. What’s worse is that this update will be based on Android 11. The devices which are yet to hit the market run on Android 10 out of the box, and Android 11 has already been announced by Google.
According to the report the Nord N10 5G and N100 will get 2 years of security updates. In comparison, most major OEMs offer 2 years of OS upgrades and 3 years of Android Security updates. Samsung recently announced that it will provide 3 years of OS updates for its flagship phones.
This move by OnePlus seems to be in poor taste, considering that the prices of the devices are £179/€179 and £329/€329 respectively, which is about Rs. 16,000 and Rs. 29,000. That’s not cheap, and we have seen more affordable devices supported better by their manufactures.
The only other OEM which does the same in Motorola, which once upon a time was praised for its stock Android OS and timely updates.