Android 11 comes to OnePlus 8 and there’s a special Easter egg

The OnePlus 8 series is one of the first third-party phones to get access to the Android 11 beta.

Just a couple of days after Google belatedly dropped the first beta version available to the public for Pixel phones, OnePlus has announced users of its new flagship phone can get in on the action too.

The company says its beta is primarily designed for developers, but also mentioned “other early adopters in our community” can jump aboard.

The company added: “We are very thrilled to announce the very first Android 11 Beta as part of the Developer Preview Program for the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. We’ve been tirelessly working to provide early access to the latest flavour of Android to all OnePlus 8 series’ users.”

However, you probably shouldn’t download this unless you have a spare OnePlus 8 or OnePlus 8 Pro knocking around. There company says the beta is still in the early stages and carries a risk of bricking your lovely new OnePlus smartphone.

Related: OnePlus Z

There’s also a bunch of known issues, and some pretty big ones, like clearing all data on the phone and video calling not working at all. Here’s the full SP from the OnePlus blog:

Known Issues
All data will be cleared while flashing the build
Face unlock is unavailable
Google Assistant (“OK Google”) does not work
Video calling does not work
Certain UI screens look less than desirable
Some apps may not function as expected
System stability issues

One thing the beta does offer is another hint pertaining to OnePlus’ forthcoming true wireless buds, which will apparently be called the OnePlus Pods. XDA Developers found references to the product within the Android 11 code for the OnePlus 8. It mentions “oneplus_tws_pods”, which we can safely assume stands for true wireless.

Previous rumours have suggested the AirPods rivals will arrive in July, perhaps alongside the more affordable OnePlus Z smartphone.