OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus 8T Receiving OxygenOS 13 Beta In India: Should You Upgrade?

OnePlus took to its community forum to announce the Oxygen OS 13 Open Beta program for its OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, and OnePlus 8T smartphones following the OnePlus 9RT. Indian OnePlus 8 series users can now experience the goodness of the Android 13 operating system.

The OxygenOS 13 Open Beta brings the Aquamorphic Design theme, Quantum Animation Engine 4.0, optimized widgets, improved system icons, Omojis, an advanced Always-On Display, HyperBoost GPA 4.0, improved safety & privacy features, and a lot more. Additionally, this beta version packs support for Airtel 5G networks. But, should you take the plunge and try out the beta version? Let's have a look if it's worth upgrading.

OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, 8T OxygenOS 13 Open Beta: Should You Upgrade Or Wait?

OnePlus states that this is a beta version and is not stable as their official OTAs. It has also listed some of the known issues. The charging prompt under the screen lock could be erratic. You cannot share videos below 300K resolution via MMS. The More function icon in the editing interface of the control center is displayed incorrectly.

Bear in mind that this is a major OS upgrade and may wipe your device data. Also, it is an early version so bugs and glitches are likely to pop up. So, it would be advisable to wait till the stable version is out. Others who can't wait for the stable version can follow the update guide below.

OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, 8T OxygenOS 13 Open Beta: How To Upgrade?

To upgrade to the open beta, ensure that your device is running the OxygenOS 12 version (C.35). This update is only for the OnePlus 8 series in India. Download the latest ROM upgrade zip package from below-

• OnePlus 8 OxygenOS 13 Open Beta Download
• OnePlus 8 Pro OxygenOS 13 Open Beta Download
• OnePlus 8T OxygenOS 13 Open Beta Download

Once you have downloaded the required firmware, follow the steps below-

1. Copy the ROM upgrade package to the phone storage.
2. Go to Settings -> About device -> Version -> Click Build number 7 times and enter the password to enter the developer mode.
3. Go back to Settings -> About device -> Up to date -> Click the top right button -> Local install -> Click on the corresponding installation package -> Extract -> Upgrade -> System upgrade completed to 100%.
4. Once the upgrade is complete, click Restart.
5. Update successful.

OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, 8T OxygenOS 13 Open Beta: Changelog

Aquamorphic Design

• Adds Aquamorphic Design theme colors for enhanced visual comfort.
• Applies the Aquamorphic Design philosophy to animations to make them natural and vivid.
• Adds Shadow-Reflective Clock, with shadow simulating the orientation of the sun and moon.
• Upgrades to Quantum Animation Engine 4.0, with a new behavior recognition feature, which recognizes complex gestures and provides optimized interactions.
• Optimizes UI layers for a clearer and neater visual experience.
• Applies real-world physical motions to animations to make them look more natural and intuitive.
• Adapts responsive layouts to accommodate different screen sizes to improve readability.
• Optimizes the widget design to make information easier and quicker to find.
• Optimizes fonts for better readability.
• Optimizes system icons by using the latest color scheme to make the icons easier to recognize.
• Enriches and optimizes illustrations for features by incorporating multicultural and inclusive elements.

Efficiency

• Adds Meeting Assistant to enhance the meeting connecting and note-taking experience and introduces an option to make notifications more subtle and less distracting.
• Adds large folders to the Home screen. You can now open an app in an enlarged folder with just one tap and turn pages in the folder with a swipe.
• Adds media playback control, and optimizes the Quick Settings experience.
• Adds more markup tools for screenshot editing.
• Upgrades Doodle in Notes. You can now draw on graphics to take notes more efficiently.
• Optimizes Shelf. Swiping down on the Home screen will bring up Shelf by default. You can search content online and on your device.

Seamless interconnection

• Optimizes earphone connectivity to deliver a more seamless experience.

Personalization

• Optimizes Bitmoji to offer more Always-On Display animations.
• Adds Omoji to let you fully express yourself with customized avatars
• Optimizes Insight Always-On Display, with more personalized Always-On Display settings available.
• Optimizes Canvas Always-On Display, with more drawing tools and line colors available.

Security & privacy

• Adds an automatic pixelation feature for chat screenshots. The system can identify and automatically pixelate profile pictures and display names in a chat screenshot to protect your privacy.
• Adds regular clearing of clipboard data for privacy protection.
• Optimizes Private Safe. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is used to encrypt all files for enhanced security of private files.

Health & Digital wellbeing

• Adds Kid Space, providing screen time limit, ambient light reminders, and Eye-protecting display features.

Gaming experience

• Upgrades to HyperBoost GPA 4.0 to stabilize the frame rate and balance the performance and power consumption in key scenarios.
• Optimizes the pre-launch capabilities of Quick startup to load games faster.