OnePlus recently launched the OnePlus 9 series worldwide. In India, the lineup includes three devices – OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro, and OnePlus 9R. Though all three support 5G connectivity, there’s a caveat. More than a month after the announcement of these handsets, the brand officially explains why the Indian variants of these phones only have limited 5G bands.

Yesterday, OnePlus published a post on the OnePlus Community titled ‘OnePlus 9 Series FAQs, answered by OnePlus staff’. In this post, the company reveals why its latest flagship smartphones feature limited 5G bands in India.

For those unaware, the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro sold in India only come with two 5G bands, and they are n41 and n78 respectively. Whereas, the OnePlus 9R only has a single 5G band – n78.

OnePlus in its FAQ post explains that the carriers in India are prioritizing n78. Therefore, it has decided to have this band in its new devices, in addition to n41. Also, the company notes that it is not possible to add additional 5G bands via future OTA software updates.

Hence, if the carriers in India don’t adopt either of these bands, then OnePlus 9 series users won’t be able to use 5G in the country even though the handsets are marketed as 5G ready. But anyway, we don’t think such a situation will ever occur because phone companies work closely with telecom operators and local regulatory bodies for deciding certain specs.

Additionally, it is worth noting that the OnePlus 9 series is not the only smartphone lineup with limited 5G bands in India. There are multiple others, however, all of them have one thing in common, and that’s support for the n78 band.

But what we cannot fathom is that OnePlus says that it is not possible to add extra 5G bands via software updates due to hardware limitations. In case you do not know, the same brand added additional 5G bands to the T-Mobile OnePlus 8T in the US, as per MySmartPrice. 

Anyway, it is worth mentioning that enabling extra bands requires companies to pay extra fees for licensing. Perhaps, OnePlus is trying to avoid those charges as Indian carriers are certain to adopt the n78 band.

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