The OnePlus Nord 5G is getting an absolutely massive official Android 11 update (halted for now)
UPDATE, March 11: Following a flurry of complaints from Nord users who were quick to install the Android 11 goodie pack on their mid-end devices shortly after this was released and an avalanche of questions from many other people confused about why they couldn't join the party themselves, an official OnePlus "community consultant" has just clarified the update is in fact "temporarily paused to ensure a smooth user experience."
The undoubtedly tough decision was made as a result of unknown bugs being "detected", which are currently in the process of being ironed out ahead of a redeployment expected to happen sometime "in the near future." Our original story follows below.
##
Regardless of your personal opinion on the costly OnePlus 8 Pro or dirt-cheap Nord N100, however, it's pretty clear that the company is not as focused on software support right now as in previous years. But while owners of the high-end 7, 7 Pro, and 7T continue to wait for a stable Android 11 update, the same goodie pack is ready to roll out to the mid-range OnePlus Nord 5G starting today.
This comes on the heels of several public beta builds, so at least in theory, it should be safe to install straight off the bat and largely free of bugs. Of course, it's always wise to back up any sensitive data and valuable files you might have stored on your device before downloading such a massive collection of new features, UI tweaks, performance enhancements, and security patches.
We're talking about close to 3 gigabytes (!!!) of neat Android 11-based OxygenOS 11 stuff sprinkled with Google's January 2021 security updates on top and obviously requiring well over 3GB free storage space (to be safe), not to mention at least 30 percent battery capacity before initiating the OTA installation process.
To be perfectly clear, this is the OG OnePlus Nord 5G model you're looking at here, and not the newer and lower-cost N10 5G or N100 4G variant. Released around seven months ago in select European and Asian markets, the Snapdragon 765-powered mid-ranger never expanded to the US and there are naturally no plans for the company to do that at any point in the future.
Without further ado, here's the full and official OxygenOS 11 changelog as posted on the OnePlus forums earlier today:
System
- Update to Android 11 version;
- The brand new UI design brings you a more comfortable experience with various optimizations of details;
- Optimized the stability of some third-party apps and improved experience.
Ambient Display
- Newly added Insight clock style, a joint creation with Parsons School of Design. It will change according to the phone usage data (Go to: Settings – Customization – Clock on ambient display);
- Newly added the Canvas always-on display, which can extract the subject's outline from any photo and display it on your lock screen (Go to: Settings – Customization – Wallpaper – Canvas – Choose photo preview and it can be generated automatically).
Dark Mode
- Added the shortcut key for Dark Mode, pull down the quick setting to enable;
- Now supporting automatically turn on feature & customize time range. (Go to: Settings – Display – Dark Mode – Turn on automatically – Automatically enable from sunset to sunrise / Custom time range).
Shelf
- Brand new shelf UI;
- Newly added a weather widget with smarter animation effect.
Gallery
- Newly added the Story feature, which can automatically create the weekly stories by using your local photos and videos;
- Optimized the loading speed to improve the image preview experience.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: