[REVIEW] OnePlus 3 Gets Second Nougat Beta Build In The Form Of OxygenOS Open Beta 9

After giving the OnePlus 3 users a taste of Nougat earlier this month in the form of OxygenOS Open Beta 8, OnePlus has now released the next iteration of the Nougat based community build of OxygenOS for the OnePlus 3 users.

OxygenOS Open Beta 9 brings in the following changes over the Open Beta 8 build:

• Added Expanded Screenshots
• Shelf Design Optimizations
• General UI Optimizations
• DPI Optimizations
• Battery Performance Optimizations
• Stability and Performance Optimizations
• General bug fixes

After trying the build, we can definitely confirm to you that Android Pay is working once again. however do note that Android Pay is available only in select countries at the moment.

We were definitely disappointed with the security patch level though. Even though the build does incorporate the December 1 security patch, the latest security patch with even more fixes is dated December 5. We did wish OnePlus to include the same. 

Moreover, the battery percentage sign in the status bar is bigger than expected. It certainly looks a bit odd when viewing the screen as a whole.

The newly added DPI option can be found under the Developer Options. The DPI changer we have in OxygenOS is a perfect blend of the DPI changer we had seen in Marshmallow based custom ROMs and in stock Nougat. After customising the display per index (DPI) value, you can even view the changes instantly as shown above and then tweak the DPI even further using the slider or the '+' & '-' signs.

This should undoubtedly be the last beta build of Nougat based OxygenOS for this month since OnePlus had previously promised that they will be rolling out the stable build of Nougat based OxygenOS to all the OnePlus 3 users across the globe by the end of this month. We do suspect that this will either be a Christmas or a New Year present to the OnePlus fans for this festive season.

For those of you who are on the Open Beta 8 build, you will be receiving an OTA update of the Open Beta 9 build shortly. In case you don't wish to wait for that long, we have compiled both the ROM download links as well as flashing instructions for you, read on.

Download Links & Flashing Instructions

Without wasting any time, head over here to download the ROM. 

Till the time the download completes, you can read the instructions we have compiled for you:

For Stock Non Rooted Users With Stock Recovery

1. Download the full zip from the link given above and place it inside the Android folder under Platform Tools on your PC

2. Now turn off your phone and boot it into recovery mode. Press and hold volume down key and the power button to boot into recovery mode.

3. From the recovery mode, choose install from ADB sideload.

4. Under the ADB sideload menu, select "Install from USB/ADB Sideload" and connect your phone to the PC.

5. On your PC, open a command window. Press Shift and simultaneously right click and open command window in the Android folder.

6. In the command window execute the following code:

ADB Devices

This command is to check if the device is recognised and ADB drivers are correctly installed.

Once the device code is displayed, run the sideload command:

ADB Sideload (then the name of the zip).zip

For example:

adb sideload OnePlus3Oxygen_16_OTA_011_all_1607052050_0e5983ace5314161.zip

7. Wait until the sideload is complete.

8. After the flashing is successful, go back to the main menu and reboot the phone. The first boot may take some time, so stay calm and wait for it to boot.

For rooted users with TWRP installed:

OnePlus has specifically mentioned that using a custom recovery such as TWRP to flash the ROM might result in errors, it is thus strongly recommended by OnePlus to use the stock recovery for flashing this build of OxygenOS:

1. Download the full zip from the link given above to your phone internal memory.

2. Download SuperSU.

3. Reboot to stock recovery.

4. Take a nandroid backup of your existing ROM. This is the most important step. It is always good to be on the safer side of things.

5. Wipe the cache and dalvik cache partitions. 

6. To install the ROM, head over to the to the install menu and Select the flahsable zip you had downloaded. 

7. Flash SuperSU to maintain root access. If you use a custom kernel, then dirty flash them over the ROM. 

8. Reboot the system The first boot may take some time, so stay calm and wait for it to boot up.

Feedback & Bug Reporting

You can help OnePlus to improve the OxygenOS and get a stable public build out as soon as possible by giving your feedback and reporting bugs.

Source: OnePlus forums

Krittin Kalra

Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.