OnePlus launched their flagship device OnePlus 5 on June 20 and has managed to create a lot of buzz around the phone. Apart from the good buzz, OnePlus 5 has also faced criticism over issues such as “Cheating on Benchmarks” as reported by XDA developers which the company terms as normal and denied the allegations.
Adding to the list of controversies for OnePlus 5, some users are reporting on Reddit that dialling 911 on their OnePlus 5 smartphone is resulting into a reboot and they are unable to make that emergency call. If you are unaware, 911 is an emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan and like other emergency numbers around the world, this number is intended for use in emergency circumstances only, and using it for any other purpose (such as making false or prank calls) is a crime in certain jurisdictions.
At least three users have confirmed the issue while we are writing this report and are able to replicate the issue. We also have a video uploaded on the Facebook by Seattle_Hornon (Reddit username) who replicated this issue of reboot of OnePlus 5 while dialling 911. Have a look:
Another Reddit user Blueeyedfoxie tried to replicate the issue with his OnePlus 5 device in UK (checked over the radio to the police control room first of it was okay, we have a radio at work for the police) and it rebooted.
At the moment, it is not sure if it is an isolated issue restricted to few random OnePlus devices or is it restricted to some specific region. Unless we hear more reports or confirmation of the reboot issue while dialling 911, we may not know if it is an isolated incident or a widespread one. We just hope it is an isolated issue and can be fixed easily with a OTA update. Also we hope OnePlus can clarify the matter as soon as possible and issue a statement.
If you are a OnePlus 5 user and want to check this issue, a test call to 911 (or your regional equivalent) then make sure you pre-arrange the test with your local police’s NON EMERGENCY number first, advising them that you’re about to make a test call to the emergency number. Let the call connect and clearly inform the operator it’s a test call.