OnePlus finally brought Android 11 to the OnePlus 7T series earlier this week, and now, the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro are following suit, as the company has announced on its community forum. The update adds all the goodies you would expect from OxygenOS 11, excluding the same feature that hasn't made the cut on the OnePlus 7T series just yet — the always-on ambient display.

OnePlus ran into some problems with ambient display on the 7 and 7T series during beta testing, which is why it remains exclusive to the Open Beta for now. Other than that, you're getting everything OnePlus added to OxygenOS 11: the controversial UI redesign, a dark mode toggle, and some smaller camera updates. There are also the new notification channels and the privacy enhancements Google introduced with Android 11.

Unfortunately, OnePlus continues skimping on the security patch version, a strategy we've criticized again and again. The Android 11 build is rolling out with the February security patch, which is on track to be two months out of date in just a few days.

Changelog

  • System
    • Update to OxygenOS 11 version
    • Fresh new UI visual design brings you a more comfortable experience with various optimizations of details
    • Optimize the stability of some third-party applications and improve the experience
    • Updated Android Security Patch to 2021.02
    • Updated GMS package to 2021.01
    • Since this is the upgrade of Android 11 version with many new features, the upgrade time may be longer. Please wait for the completion of the upgrade
  • Camera
    • Updated the camera UI and optimized some of the function paths to offer more convenient operation
    • Newly added HEVC codec to reduce video storage size seamlessly, capture and shoot more without compromising on quality
    • Newly added access to a third-party app to share the picture by pressing and holding it in preview
    • Newly added the quick access to recording mode by pressing and holding the shutter button and by sliding the button, you can easily zoom in or zoom out
    • Newly added the playback display in Time-lapse mode to show the actual filming time
  • Ambient Display
    • Newly added Insight clock style, a joint creation with Parsons School of Design. It will change according to the phone usage data (To set: Settings > Customization > Clock on ambient display)
    • Newly added Canvas feature that can automatically draw a wireframe picture based on a lock screen photo on your phone(Path: Settings - Customization - Wallpaper - Canvas - Choose photo preview and it can be generated automatically)
  • Dark Mode
    • Added the shortcut key for Dark Mode, pull down the quick setting to enable
    • Supporting automatically turn on feature & customize time range (path: Settings - Display - Dark Mode - Turn on automatically - Automatically enable from sunset to sunrise/Custom time range)
  • Game Space
    • Newly added gaming tools box for convenient switches of Fnatic mode. You can now choose three ways of notifications: text-only, heads up and block, just for your immersive gaming experience
    • Newly added quick reply feature in a small window for Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram (Enable it by swiping down from upper right/left corners of the screen in gaming mode)
    • Newly added mis-touch prevention feature. Enable it, swipe down from the top of the screen, click and the notification bar will pop out
  • Shelf
    • Newly shelf interface design, the interface is clearer
    • Added weather widget, animation effect smarter
  • Gallery
    • Supporting Story function, automatically form weekly videos with photos and video in storage
    • Optimize the loading speed of the gallery, and the image preview is faster

The update is rolling out in stages as usual, so it might take some time until it reaches your device. If you want to speed up the process, we can only recommend the third-party Oxygen Updater app. It downloads the latest OTA file for you and guides you through the installation process.

The article previously wrongly stated that the OnePlus 7 series received an always-on display option with the update, which is incorrect. We've updated it to remove the error.