[Update: OnePlus statement] The OnePlus 7 Pro 5G won’t get Android 10 until Q1 2020

Damien Wilde | Nov 13 2019 - 1:15 am PT

With news that T-Mobile is set to be the only carrier getting the upcoming OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren at launch in the US, it’s a shame to hear that the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G is being left behind somewhat as Android 10 is not expected to come to the device until Q1 2020.

Considering that the 4G-only OnePlus 7 Pro has had the full update since September 2019, this isn’t exactly welcome news for those that have the 5G version. OnePlus confirmed a potential Q1 2020 release timeframe over on a complaint post at the lack of Android 10 on the official OnePlus forums (via XDA-Developers).

[Update 11/13]: OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has taken to the OnePlus forums to clarify why the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G won’t be getting the Android 10 update until Q1 2020. Lau confirmed that the new hardware means that pushing the update is not as simple as initially thought, with the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G requiring far more optimization than its 4G counterpart.

You can read Pete Lau’s comment in full below:

Recently, several users using the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G Edition have voiced their concerns, that Android 10 update is still yet to arrive on their phones. I understand your concerns and have been quite occupied with the matter myself, which is why I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you.

This year is considered the birth year of 5G. We believe this is a revolutionary communications technology, which is why we began our 5G research in 2016 and launched our first 5G smartphone this year. With that, I’d like to thank everyone for choosing OnePlus for your 5G experience and for supporting us throughout the past.

5G opens up a realm of endless possibilities. It uses a different communications module to establish a faster connection as opposed to 4G, and requires a deeper level of understanding and more rigorous tests, debugging and optimizations to be done to our software and hardware.

To achieve the best experience possible, we had to make system optimizations from the fundamental system architecture, in order to deliver a truly fantastic 5G experience. Needless to say, the daunting challenge ahead of us is unprecedented.

This is an arduous and time-consuming process that wouldn’t be possible without the support of our partners Qualcomm and wireless operators. But we promise that in this exciting new 5G era, OnePlus will undoubtedly overcome these obstacles and deliver the latest operating system for your 5G smartphones as soon as it is ready.

Based on the current R&D progress and compatibility with various partners, we’re expecting to launch the Android 10 system update for OnePlus 7 Pro 5G in the first quarter of 2020.

It’s always been our mission to deliver a fast and smooth experience to our users. In the future, there will be additional updates to come for 5G smartphones and OnePlus will always abide by this commitment and be responsible for our users. We will definitely bring the latest updates to you at its earliest date possible.

Best,
Pete

Global Community Manager David Y also stated that Android 10 is set to come to the EE version of the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G in Q1 2020. That is great news for those of you in the UK with the handset but it’s actually unclear if this includes Sprint in the US — or what it means for the rest of the world.

The biggest downside is that this is still a ‘window’ for the update too. It could be anywhere from the beginning of the year to the end of March. Considering the higher entry cost of the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, it’s really disappointing that the level of support and wait for Android 10 is far below that of the non-5G models.

While the full Android 10 OTA brings a ton of changes, it still seems odd that the wait has been so long. If you have the 5G OnePlus 7 Pro, let us know what you’re thinking of this news down in the comments section below.