OnePlus Breaks Its Silence on Limited 5G Bands in OnePlus 9 Series

Last Updated on June 8, 2021 by Asif Iqbal Shaik

The OnePlus 9 series was launched in many countries across the globe including India in March this year. As is the case with flagship smartphones nowadays, the OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro, and OnePlus 9R bring with it support for the 5G network.

However, as it turned out, the Indian variants of these smartphones support significantly fewer 5G bands compared to the international models. This created quite a scene for OnePlus in the country. People are quite angry with the brand for cutting corners with the OnePlus 9 series for India.

Well, now, in an interview with MySmartPrice, Ramagopala Reddy, Vice President of R&D at OnePlus has tried to answer some of the questions people had related to the fewer 5G bands in the OnePlus 9 series smartphones. Let us have a look.

Also read: OnePlus Is Rolling Out OxygenOS 11.2.5.5 to OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro

OnePlus 9 series supports N41 and N78 5G bands in India

The OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro support N41 and N78 5G bands, whereas, the OnePlus 9R supports only the N78 band. According to OnePlus, it has opted for the N41 and the N78 bands as these will be the most widely used 5G bands in India.

OnePlus says these will be the most widely used 5G bands in India

When Ramagopala was asked what if the telecom operators in India use any other bands for 5G rather than the N41 and the N78 bands, he replied by saying that the company has worked closely with network operators and that it is sure that they will use the N78 and the N41 bands.

More 5G bands cannot be added to the OnePlus 9 series with a software update

MySmartPrice asked Ramagopala whether it was possible to add more 5G bands to the OnePlus 9 series smartphones with a software update and as you might expect, the answer was no. OnePlus 9 series smartphones cannot support more 5G bands even with a software update.

No licensing fee required for adding support for more 5G bands

OnePlus was asked if there is a licensing fee involved in adding 5G bands to the smartphones and the company says that no additional charges are required to add more 5G bands. Considering that there no licensing fee required, OnePlus might have opted for inferior hardware to save on cost.

OnePlus doesn’t accept or deny that it was a cost-saving measure

Ramagopala was also asked if the exclusion of other 5G bands was a cost-saving measure and he did neither accepted it nor denied it. Ramagopala repeated the same stuff that the brand used these two bands as most telecom operators in India would use these bands.