OnePlus 7 series was one such product that was near to perfection. The screen was amazing and it was a great deal. However, over a period of time OnePlus screwed their best product. There were numerous glitches followed up by incredibly delayed OS updates and near to virtually nonexistent customer support. All this got escalated with the latest OxygenOS 11 based on the Android 11 update which made users feel that it was a terrible experience with any phone before.
Android 11 was launched 9 months ago and the update is still struggling for a stable life. As if this disaster of an update wasn’t bad enough, it took OnePlus a full 7 months to bring it to their flagship device from 2 gens ago. However, for most of the OnePlus 7 series users, their devices were doomed the day they installed.
The most common ones are abnormal battery drain when lying idle, overheating, Android Auto delay. The latest launch OnePlus 9 Pro was also hit with unacceptable issues. It is being speculated that the issues are inherent to Android 11 software. OnePlus loyal fans have been seriously peeved with a plethora of bugs that refuse to die after hotfixes.
From having a nice smooth-looking UI with minimalistic design and well-done space-to-screen ratio on such a large screen, one had to now deal with an non-optimized UI with large bevels and layout. It is strongly echoed that the update was useless and unwanted by the entire OnePlus 7 community. Let us check a few more that are niggling the once most popular OnePlus 7 series.
Malfunctioning Auto-Brightness Settings
Users on OnePlus forums have complained about the Auto-Brightness setting issue on the OnePlus 7 series smartphones after getting Oxygen OS 11 update. The adaptive brightness often stops adjusting and one has to reactivate the settings to get it working again which is really annoying. And when it works sometimes it dims too much.
The phone responds to the environment by switching to either extreme. It either becomes too dark or too bright unnecessarily.
It is rather annoying and most of them have had to resort to manually adjust the brightness level. Other users state that the issue was present on some Android 10 devices but has become even more common after the Oxygen OS 11 update.
OnePlus has not acknowledged the issue so far and no commitment can be given on the fix in near future.
Delayed app response
Making use of the camera app on third-party social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat is often met with lags or crashes soon after opening the camera. More than often filters fail to register sometimes and image quality deteriorates even further. Since OnePlus isn’t renowned for its camera quality, the news is a little upsetting.
Scrolling Issues
Scrolling issues have been reported especially when using the Oneplus apps. Users have reported difficulties while using a dialer with calls dialed to the wrong person. The scroll function is not smooth due to which you end up hitting the wrong number.
The touchscreen has become less sensitive, handbrake on scrolling speed, missed touches shortly after going home or between apps, and random frame drops. Even users have reported stutter issues while scrolling through text. The animation is found to completely stutter and feels unresponsive. However, the status bar can be pulled down smoothly while this animation stutter is going on.
Resolution Flickering
Though the issue is not rampant but there are few users who are facing this weird bug. The resolution of the screen sets itself too big such that the rest of display is rendered out of reach and obviously unusable. The only fix is to reboot the phone.
Another issue pops up when one tries to open an image or app without doing anything. It makes the resolution “flicker” like it’s trying to constantly change resolutions. The flickering is found to happen only when brightness is at maximum be it auto or manual.
Covering the sensors on the top of the screen helps but is, obviously, not a solution. Temporary workaround people have successfully tried is to keep brightness on manual and one notch below max or switch to 90Hz qhd+
Camera quality has also become worse after the update. Users are of the opinion that Android 11 Beta 4 was better than the current stable rollout. Some users have tried to flash their phones and it has worked for them. You can also give it a try by following the steps below!
Incoming calls projecting out of the bottom speaker
Few users encountered a strange issue of late. For some, it has been fixed with the latest hotfix though. Suddenly all the calls are projecting out of the bottom speakers rather than playing through top ear speakers. This is obviously embarrassing and unacceptable especially when one is discussing personal information. This has been observed when the slider is in ring mode.
In case it is still not fixed even after a factory reset, head straight to Settings>>System>>Accessibility. Scroll down to “Hearing Aid Compatibility” and enable it. It seems really counterintuitive. After this setting answered incoming calls will only play through the earpiece.
UPDATE: Oxygen OS 11.0.1.1 Update brings fixes
On 24th May, OEM had released another OTA- OxygenOS 11.0.1.1 (Android 11) update for the OnePlus 7/7T series. To address the mounting issues, OEM as decided to address them through future OTAs.
Users have confirmed that the Google Fi SIM issues have been resolved and the phone has become smooth with almost negligible frame rate drops. The earlier update had reported common WiFi connectivity issues and performance. Both have seen great improvements with no drops.
The native Phone and Camera apps issues have also been fixed. Though gallery app refreshes sometimes but not often as before but not much. The reported insane lags have also ironed out to a great extent. The heating issues recur when you are on high intensive games like COD mobile, PUBG.
Along with Oxygen OS 11.0.1.1 rollout, the Google security patch May 2021 has also been updated. Here is the link to download the latest Oxygen OS 11.0.1.1.
The fixes to the following bugs are likely to be rolled out in coming OTAs
- Call audio coming out the bottom speaker
- Zoom in bug after the screen goes to sleep
- Black screen trying to wake up the phone with FHD resolution enabled
- 90hz scrolling stutters and not smooth
- Widevine security level dropped to L3
Many of you expectedly will be planning to revert to the favorite OxygenOOS 10. Let us see the right way to do it. However, it is advisable to back up phone data physically.
How to back up phone data physically and reflash?
Head straight to Oneplus switch > backup and restore > new backup. After checking everything, tap on backup now. On receiving notification of completion of the task, plug the phone into a computer. Go to phones files on the computer and find opbackup. Copy the mobile backup folder to either desktop or a USB drive.
The device can now be flashed with international firmware. Plug OnePlus 7 back in to PC. Copy the mobile backup folder from computer back to the opbackup folder on device.
Go into OnePlus switch (install from Google PlayStore) > backup and restore > restore backup > find your backup > hit restore. If it doesn’t restore everything the first time, try again.
Users are sure that the OnePlus 7 series was by far the best phone they ever had, but the OnePlus’ support team has made it near to impossible to stay loyal to the brand. OnePlus loyalists are considering making a switch to another brand after screwed up OxygenOS 11 support. Share with us your views! We would like to hear what you have to say!
