Nord N10 5G and N100 will receive only one major Android update

They were launched with A10, meaning after A11 they won't see any new Android version
Adhiraj S. Chauhan

Last month, OnePlus announced that the N10 5G and N100 will be two new phones in the Nord budget line-up. We wrote an article comparing their specs to the original Nord, which you can read here. Both these devices launched as a pre-order, but the N100 has been on sale since 11th November 2020.

In case you were planning to buy the new budget devices, we've got some bad news for you. A OnePlus spokesperson confirmed to Android Central that these two new budget devices will receive only one major Android upgrade:

The Nord N10 5G and N100 will receive one major Android update and a total of two years of security updates. The plan for these two devices aligns with industry standards for smartphones in more affordable price ranges. As always, we will continue listening to feedback from our users and looking for ways to improve the software experience for all OnePlus devices

It's already disappointing enough that they launched with OxygenOS 10, despite being released after the 8T (the 8T launched with OOS11 out of the box). All previous OnePlus phones usually get 2-3 major upgrades and 1 additional year of security patches, which makes the Nord N10 5G and the N100 a terrible value. These devices will receive 2 years of security patches, but no further "major" upgrades.

This is especially alarming, considering the N10 5G is just 50 EUR cheaper than the Nord. Users who've been with OnePlus since the very beginning would realize that this marks yet another moment when OnePlus doesn't care about its user-base anymore. Most devices, even its flagship ones, have almost always received updates later than scheduled (ranges from a few days to a month, to over 6 months, when we look at OP5/5T). It's clear that OnePlus is releasing way too many phones than its software team can handle, and instead of ramping up internal processes, it's chosen to abandon any software-support efforts beforehand.

With the new Nord SE leaks that have been floating around (Spring 2021 release is likely), one has to wonder if that phone will also receive the same harsh treatment. We'll write an article about concrete specs for the Nord SE once we have them.