OnePlus is starting to leave out older smartphone models from feature updates. The company is well known for offering a near-stock Android experience. However, it is found to have ignored some of its older smartphones from receiving features including RAM Boost, DC Dimming, and India-exclusive Caller Identification. OnePlus did provide some of these offerings to older smartphones through beta updates in the past, though in some cases decided to not provide them in stable updates owing to hardware compatibility issues.
As reported by XDA Developers, citing an official confirmation, the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T will not receive the company’s proprietary RAM Boost feature. This was introduced with the OnePlus 7 series and reached the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T through an OxygenOS update last year. The company also promised to bring RAM Boost to the OnePlus 5 series in a forum post. However, it is now said to leave both 2015 phones from providing the feature that was aimed to enhance RAM performance.
Similarly, the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T are said to not receive DC Dimming due to hardware incompatibility. Both phones received the screen enhancement-focussed feature through an OxygenOS Open Beta back in July last year, though it didn’t arrive through a stable update.
The OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T were also due to receive the company’s Caller Identification feature that debuted on the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T. OnePlus had assured that it would provide the feature alongside Android Pie. However, XDA Developers mentions that the feature wasn’t released with the Android Pie update and is not coming to the devices since both have passed their maintenance period.
Gadgets 360 has reached out to OnePlus for clarity on the updates projected for older devices and will update this space when the company responds.
Having said that, OnePlus still has some new features in the plans for its existing models. For instance, the report by XDA Developers says that the one-handed mode will debut on the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7T series through an Android 11-based software update. The OnePlus 8 series in the US is also said to receive an update in the fourth quarter of this year that will enable dual-SIM support.
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