OnePlus unveiled its brand-new affordable offerings, the Nord N10 5G and the Nord 100 last month, retailing for £329 and £179 respectively in Europe. The devices will also be the first Nord-branded phones making it to the U.S. While the Nord N10 5G is priced identical to the original OnePlus One, there are a few compromises that are to be made with the device, as we detail in our review.
However, it looks like the compromises do not relate to just the specs, as OnePlus confirmed in a statement to Android Central that the two new Nord-branded devices will only be receiving one major Android update and two years of security updates. The statement comes as a surprise considering the company’s track record of providing major updates to devices as old as three years.
Here is the complete statement:
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.
With more companies like Samsung committing to support its devices with up to three years of platform updates, including for mid-rangers in the A-series, potential customers of OnePlus’ affordable offerings could be disappointed that the firm has chosen to not offer at least two major updates, followed by two years of security patches. OEMs like HMD Global offer at least two years of major updates for most of its devices, including its low-end devices.
The Nord N10 5G and the N100 ship with OxygenOS 10.5 based on Android 10. The statement implies that the only major update the devices will receive is that of the Android 11-based OxygenOS 11. It will be interesting to see how customers and fans react to OnePlus’ decision.
Source: Android Central