OnePlus Nord N200 will see a poor update schedule

When OnePlus launched the Nord N10 and Nord N100 late last year, it changed its usual software update routine. Typically, their phones get at least two Android upgrades (e.g. from Android 10 to Android 11) and at least three years of security patches. However, the two Nord phones would only get an Android upgrade and then two years of patches.

Given that the phones are so affordable, this reveal likely wasn’t a deal-breaker for buyers. However, it represented a seismic shift for the brand that has (had?) A reputation for being one of the best companies for updates.

Connected: OnePlus Phones: A History of the Company’s Entire Product Line to date

Now the company has confirmed with the OnePlus Nord N200 that it will offer a slightly better policy than last year (via 9to5Google). The Nord N200 will still only receive one major Android update, but it will receive what OnePlus calls “maintenance updates” for three years. It would probably be an Android upgrade from Android 11 to Android 12. The maintenance updates would probably contain security patches and possibly some new features here and there.

Obviously this is better than what we’ve seen for the Nord N100. This phone was launched in December 2020 with Android 10, which means it was already behind. It still runs on Android 10 today, and the stable start of Android 12 is only a few months away. The fact that the Nord N200 hits Android 11 is already a step up – but the overall policy is still incredibly weak.

Meanwhile, Samsung, OnePlus’s main competitor in the Android space, is offering three years of upgrades and four years of patches for pretty much all of its phones. Even my $ 200 Galaxy Tab A just got an Android 11 upgrade. However, OnePlus doesn’t seem to care about meeting Samsung’s bar in this regard.