The recently launched OnePlus 11 represents the best Android smartphone experience OnePlus has to offer, without a Pro model this time around. But for the Indian market, the company also launched the cheaper OnePlus 11R for the more budget-conscious buyers who still want a flagship-class phone. While the OnePlus 11R differs from the 11 on several grounds, it is still covered by OnePlus’s same software update commitment that beats Google Pixels.
Back in November, OnePlus announced its new update policy that promises four major Android updates and five years of security updates (delivered bi-monthly). While a much-appreciated move from OnePlus following its less-than-stellar track record, this update commitment is applicable only to certain phones launching in 2023 and later, leaving out even last year’s OnePlus 10-series flagships.
The OnePlus 11 5G is naturally covered, but the company confirmed that it’s extending the same update policy to the lower-end OnePlus 11R as well (via Android Authority). This means the OnePlus 11R will also be eligible for at least four major Android upgrades throughout its lifetime. It comes preloaded with Android 13 and should receive updates through Android 17, which is a big deal considering the 11R is essentially a mid-ranger.
However, such software promises still don’t guarantee timely updates as older phones are usually pushed down on the priority list after a couple of years as newer models launch. It’s still nice to see OnePlus playing catch-up and matching Samsung’s update schedule, at least for its handsets releasing 2023 onwards. We still don’t know if OnePlus will stick to the same four-year update cycle for its budget Nord-series phones coming out this year.
The OnePlus 11R manages to keep its price below $500 by using last year’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and a full HD OLED screen instead of the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and a QHD LTPO 3.0 display found on the pricier OnePlus 11. Alongside these two phones, the company also announced its first tablet, the OnePlus Pad, which we quite liked for what it had to offer.
