[9.5.7 rolling out] OnePlus 7 Pro 5G curiously lagging behind regular variant in terms of updates

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Adopting a first-gen product is always a risky move; you never know what kind of glitches are waiting for you. Take the example of the disastrous case of RED Hydrogen One or the mayhem with the Samsung Galaxy Fold – they were simply not ready for consumers.

The same saga can be seen in the software part as well. Samsung had to roll out a number of biometrics firmware to improve the in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner of Galaxy S10/S10+. Asus did the same for ZenFone 6 (known as Asus 6z in India) to improve the rotating camera.

Let’s shift the focus to OnePlus 7 Pro – one of the most controversial flagships of 2019 – which got numerous OTA updates with fixes related to camera quality as well as accidental touch protection and double tap to wake. Oh, and don’t forget the periodic security patches.

But what about the 5G variant of OnePlus 7 Pro? Both devices are mostly same, apart from the additional Snapdragon X50 5G modem in the former. Moreover, the LTE model supports dual SIM (except the T-Mobile variant) while the 5G one features a single SIM slot.

Since its release, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G got 3 OTA updates. To the contrary, the regular 7 Pro is blessed with at least 8 updates so far. Meanwhile, OnePlus support is completely clueless about the authority behind the updates.

Sounds interesting? Allow me to describe the actual scenario: although EE sells the OnePlus 7 Pro in the UK, the updates come directly from the OnePlus servers. Unlike US carriers like AT&T or T-Mobile, they did not actively participate in the OTA distribution.

EE indeed has a role to tune the 5G radio for their network as seen in the changelog of the initial update. But that certainly does not mean full control of the update frequency. As a matter of fact, OnePlus 7 Pro units on Elisa (Finland) are reportedly being shipped with a new version of OxygenOS.

As you can see, OxygenOS 9.5.6 is not available on EE units. The security is still on June, similar to OxygenOS 9.5.5 OTA. A feasible explanation can be something like this: Elisa needed a new modem and/or hotfix, which is why OnePlus has to ship an non-OTA OxygenOS build for OnePlus 7 Pro 5G units in Finland.

While the regular OnePlus 7 is already on August patch level, owners of OnePlus 7 Pro 5G are getting frustrated without getting any proper response from both the smartphone maker and their carrier. Guess that’s the caveat you have to deal with after choosing a bleeding edge gadget (?).

Did you buy the 5G variant of OnePlus 7 Pro? What are your experiences with it? Comment below.

OnePlus 7 Pro 5G is getting a new OTA (OxygenOS 9.5.7). The security patch level is still on June. The update bundles fixes related to network connectivity. Details here.

Follow @PiunikaWeb

PiunikaWeb is a unique initiative that mainly focuses on investigative journalism. This means we do a lot of hard work to come up with news stories that are either ‘exclusive,’ ‘breaking,’ or ‘curated’ in nature. Perhaps that’s the reason our work has been picked by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and more. Do take a tour of our website to get a feel of our work. And if you like what we do, stay connected with us on Twitter (@PiunikaWeb) and other social media channels to receive timely updates on stories we publish.