OnePlus 8 Pro owners report major video streaming bug

If you’ve been eyeing the OnePlus 8 Pro to watch some Netflix on that killer display, you might want to hold off a bit. Since receiving a problematic software update, many OnePlus 8 Pro handsets are reportedly unable to playback HD content on a number of popular streaming sites.

As Android Authority wrote, some users are taking to OnePlus’s community forum to report the issue. It appears that the affected handsets are unable to play high-definition content on Netflix and other streaming sites.

Reports suggest that this issue is rooted in Widevine, a DRM platform from Google. Companies and services use this software to protect premium content from non-subscribers. Normally, supported devices run Widevine on the L1, the top security level, which allows for HD content streaming, but OnePlus 8 Pro devices running Oxygen OS 10.5.5 or newer are inexplicably downgrading the security level to L3, which disables the HD option.

It’s unclear exactly how many devices or services are affected, but sites that use Widevine include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC, Hulu, Spotify and Disney+. OnePlus has been unable to fix this issue with the release of Oxygen OS 10.5.6, and the company is now telling customers to ship affected devices back.

Content streaming is at a massive peak right now, considering the number of those staying at home, so this is a terrible time for a streaming bug. Hopefully, OnePlus will be able to get the problem under control soon.