Back in February, OnePlus responded to Google and Samsung offering seven years of software support for their flagships by saying anything over five years doesn’t make any sense financially. Five months later, the Chinese company seems to have changed its tune.
OnePlus COO Kinder Liu just told Digital Trends that the upcoming Nord 4 will get six years of security patches from its launch. Sure, one extra year isn’t overly that much on top, but still – what ever happened to “no one needs more than five”?
Additionally, we’re wondering what’s going to happen to OnePlus’ flagships like the 12, which have so far only been promised five years of updates. We assume they will also get six, but will that apply to already launched devices or only to the OnePlus 13 going forward?
These are still unanswered questions, but what we do know now is that the Nord 4 will get four major Android updates, just like the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 12. Interestingly, the Nord 4 will be supported for one extra year compared to Samsung’s Galaxy A55 and A35, which only get five. The A55 could be one of its main competitors, so the Nord 4 will have an advantage here, for those who care about such things.
The Nord 4 also brings a very unique design, using a metal unibody construction that has been missing from the mobile world for a few years – we fondly remember HTC’s One M series for it, but that’s long been dead.
According to OnePlus’ Liu, this was chosen for “durability, beauty, permanence, and strength”. Asked why metal phones went the way of the dodo, Liu says it all had to do with 5G and the insane number of antennas required, since metal interferes with signals.
The Nord 4’s antennas are 50% smaller than before, and are placed strategically so that the body doesn’t impede the signal. The device also has plastic inserts in places like the bottom of the back in order to let the signal through.
The Nord 4 was tested by TÜV SÜD simulating 72 months of use and is certified to remain as fluent after such a period as it was on day one. The phone will become official on July 16.
