After four years of service, the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are hearing the end of playtime. They have reached their update cost and are relegated to the shelves of telephone relics.
The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are now too old. Via its community forum, OnePlus announces the end of their support. These goodbyes are not a final security update for OxygenOS.
“As you may know, with the release of OxygenOS 13.1.0.587, we have officially fulfilled our lifecycle maintenance promise for OnePlus 8/8Pro”writes OnePlus to its fans.
The latest update brings April 2024 security fixes. It has been rolled out to Indian devices for now. There is no doubt that we will soon have it in France.
Of course, we are never safe from an emergency update in the event of a blocking problem, but the major or security updates initially planned have been exhausted. The OnePlus 8 agenda is closed for their manufacturer.
The OnePlus 8 should have finished a year ago
And with hindsight, it should have been worse. Indeed, the standard of update cycles at
OnePlus was less advantageous when the OnePlus 8 was released than it is today. And this old 2020 range was the last to benefit from the change made by OnePlus in 2022. It then announced an evolution of its maintenance, moving to 3 versions of Android and 4 years of security patches for the most recent flagships from OnePlus. We gained a year on both counts.
Since then, the standard has evolved further since all OnePlus smartphones released since 2023 benefit from 4 years of Android updates and 5 years of security updates. It’s as good as Xiaomi, but still worse than Samsung and Google at the high end. These are 7 years old, Android and security patches combined.
Which smartphone to replace a OnePlus 8/8Pro?
2020, the health crisis, a strange time. Journalist for another media outlet at the time, I remember leaving a large package in decontamination for 24 hours, it was the OnePlus 8 in its oversized press package. Despite a price that was starting to skyrocket (€699) for a manufacturer known for its excellent quality/price ratio, the OnePlus 8 was a good smartphone. The same goes for the OnePlus 8 Pro, despite some photo weaknesses that were not justified by its price: €999.
If you are still using your OnePlus or OnePlus 8 Pro, the question of changing it may soon arise. Which OnePlus smartphone to choose as a replacement? To be a fan of the brand’s philosophy, my advice would be to move towards a model that offers the same experience as OxygenOS, or close to it.
On this list I would put the OnePlus 10 Pro and OnePlus 11, whose prices have fallen enough to make them attractive.
My favorite option would be the Oppo Find X5 Pro or its little brother, the Find X5. Coming from OnePlus, you won’t be lost and will even have a more customizable interface in my opinion. But the problem is that they only have one major update left.
Finally, there are also Google Pixels. OxygenOS being close to Android’s Material Design, you will not be disoriented and above all you are guaranteed to have four more major updates if you opt for a Pixel 7 or a Pixel 7 Pro. The latter is clearly a royal choice even today to treat yourself without emptying your wallet. I would more readily recommend it instead of a Pixel 8 Pro which does not bring enough notable new features and is much more expensive.