Are OnePlus phones still safe to use?

Amid slowing demand for new smartphones, China-based Android brand OnePlus has announced its withdrawal from the North American and European markets this year. That means there will be no new phones, no new foldables, no new tablets and no new headphones in the US and elsewhere since the famous Rebel of 2013. The company will refocus on Asia and India, where it competes with other Chinese brands, including its own sister company Oppo.

With this decision, you may be wondering if your OnePlus phone is still safe to use. After all, software updates are an important part of defending against digital threats. Well, the good news is that the company will deliver on its software update promises and cover ancillary claims through warranties and its OnePlus Care packages.

We’ll detail how soon you can expect your OnePlus phone to receive security patches and operating system upgrades. Additionally, other security issues could arise before (and after) this departure.

As BGR reported, all flagship models since the OnePlus 11 (but excluding the 11R) are receiving Android 17, but if you prefer OxygenOS as your software experience of choice, you may not have that option in the future. In its commercial adjustment notice, OnePlus says it will make ColorOS 17 – the software skin seen on Oppo phones – available to users, implying that version 16 will be the end of the line for OxygenOS. Customers will be able to update to ColorOS 17 as they wish once a version for their device is released, and will also be able to revert back to OxygenOS 16 once a recovery tool becomes available. Check the company’s support web pages and keep an eye out for messages on your device.

OnePlus has extended its warranties over the years, although the measures taken have not been consistent. In 2023, flagship phones started getting four years of Android upgrades and five years of security, while lower models only got two years of OS bumps and three years of security. Then, in 2025, the company decided to extend the Android policy by four years to its value ‘R’ series and budget-conscious Nord phones. OnePlus then extends the security coverage to six years for each device.

All Android devices released in North America under these latest policies are still eligible for software updates. Here’s how long they will last:

• OnePlus 11 – security until February 2028
• OnePlus 12R – OS until January 2027, security until January 2028
• OnePlus 12 – OS until January 2028, security until January 2029
• OnePlus 13 and 13R – OS until January 2029, security until January 2031
• OnePlus 15 and 15R – OS until November 2029, security until November 2031

None of the OnePlus Nord devices released in North America still have support.

Even though OnePlus is committed to maintaining the viability of its phones, there is some weariness about Chinese influence on technologies used by Americans. TikTok, for example, was at the center of a political storm that led its Chinese parent company to sell the U.S. business unit to a U.S.-based joint venture.

OnePlus has also come under scrutiny: In June 2025, senior members of a China-focused congressional select committee asked the Commerce Department to investigate the company for possible user privacy backdoors. These would include a system-based screenshot protocol that “appears to go beyond typical device telemetry or debugging”, as well as phones maintaining encrypted connections with servers owned by companies linked to the central government. No further developments have been made public regarding these requests, but regulatory scrutiny of Chinese companies has not ceased.

A more relevant security issue emerged in late September last year when cybersecurity firm Rapid7 reported a major vulnerability. This setting allowed any application to hijack the phone service within OxygenOS and read the contents of SMS and MMS messages, as well as their metadata, without permission or even the user knowing. While OnePlus eventually acknowledged the bug and fixed it a few weeks after Rapid7 released its disclosure, it turned out that researchers had been trying to contact the company’s security division since May 1, with very little response. Among the reasons to be concerned about using your OnePlus phone, the company’s apparent lack of urgency regarding user-submitted vulnerability reports might be the biggest.