OnePlus is slated to address its "throttling" issues in a future OxygenOS update

OnePlus has become embroiled in a scandal that Geekbench has gone far enough to describe as "benchmark manipulation", in that the OxygenOS 11 version that runs on the 9 and 9 Pro prevents common apps such as Chrome or Twitter from using the full speed of the more powerful core found in their Snapdragon 888 SoC (the Cortex-X1) - a limit that somehow did not apply when a benchmarking app was opened on the same devices.

The OEM responded to these claims with explanations involving the need for what it calls its "optimizations" to limit performance in 'normal' use in order to conserve battery life and health, and that the "restricted" apps did not need full 888 power in any case (in the company's estimation, at least).

However, many users were displeased with the situation, to say the least. Accordingly, Android Police now reports that OnePlus has responded to its queries on this subject with news that it will include an option to turn these "optimizations" off in "one of the first builds of OxygenOS 12".

This, presumably, is to be the successor to OxygenOS 11, based on the upcoming major Android 12 upgrade Therefore, it might alleviate some dissatisfaction for some 9-series users. However, the OEM has also apparently revealed that the same issues might affect the 9R and Nord 2, other recently-launch smartphones from OnePlus with different Snapdragon 870 and Dimensity 1200 processors respectively.

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