OnePlus appears to have made a blunder as it is rolling out an Android 12 beta update for the Nord 2 to non-beta testers. The Nord 2 launched last year as the first OnePlus phone with a MediaTek processor. Running Android 11 out of the box and eligible for two OS upgrades, the update to Android 12 has taken a long time to arrive.
OnePlus used to be pretty quick at updating its devices but things have taken a downturn in the past few years. Despite the fact that it merged its teams with Oppo in 2021, software updates are still slow. Oppo, on the other hand, which has a significantly larger device portfolio than OnePlus, has done a better job at rolling out updates to its phones.
Owners of the OnePlus Nord 2 have been anticipating the release of the Android 12 stable update for their smartphones for months now. In April 2022, OnePlus released an OxygenOS 12 Open Beta based on Android 12, hinting at a stable release arriving in the not too distant future. The final update was thought to have arrived just before the end of May as multiple users on OnePlus’ forums have reported receiving an OTA update that brings Android 12. It turns out that it isn’t the stable update they’ve been expecting but a beta update which the changelog doesn’t state. What is unusual is that the beta update is being pushed to non-beta testers.
A Naming Error From OnePlus?
Coming in at 4.89GB in size, the update changelog mentions several new features including a Smart Battery Engine that helps to maximize battery life, a new Dark mode with three levels of adjustment, and a new Health card in Shelf that displays health stats from the OnePlus Watch on the phone. However, the changelog doesn’t state that the update is a beta version. It is only after installing the update that users are notified that they are running a beta version. This has gotten users worried, as rolling back to a stable version will reportedly result in their data being erased, and will require a data backup before proceeding.
OnePlus is yet to release an official statement on the matter. However, there is a plausible explanation for the error. There is a chance that this is actually a stable update that has been incorrectly labeled as “beta”, which might explain why it is rolling out to non-beta testers. Considering the changelog doesn’t include a disclaimer that users may experience stability issues or bugs when running beta software, it makes sense as to why this may simply be an error. Nevertheless, users will be expecting an official statement from OnePlus.
