Shortly after the OnePlus 5T began to ship late last year, customers noticed that neither the 5 or 5T could stream Netflix in HD. Thankfully, OnePlus is fixing this issue with an update, but it can only be done if you mail your handset back to OnePlus.
This entire issue stems from the fact that OnePlus shipped both the 5 and 5T without Google’s Level 1 Widevine DRM. As Netflix and some other streaming services rely on this to protect copyrights, the Level 3 security status on the OnePlus handsets didn’t make the cut.
David Y, a OnePlus forums community manager, shared the following statement which explains why handsets have to be sent back to receive this update:
Hi everyone, if you were celebrating Chinese New Year, we hope you had a good holiday. And if you weren’t, we hope you enjoyed it anyway.
We have good news for you on this, we’ve just rolled out a program to update OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T handsets. Due to the security processes involved with updating the devices, we can only deliver the update via a physical connection from an authenticated PC. If you are interested in this update, please contact our CS team for more information.
We’re covering the courier costs for OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T customers who would like the update, as you will need to send your device to us to update. We have a process in place which means we’ll have your handset back to you in no more than five working days from when we receive it. We’ve worked hard to streamline this process as much as possible, and because of this we’re unable to cover the courier costs for customers outside of our service regions, which are North America, Europe, India, and China.”
So if you’re a OnePlus 5 or 5T owner, you’re going to need to reach out to the company’s customer support team. From there, OnePlus should cover the cost of shipping the phone to the company and then back to you. No word yet on if this process will require you to completely wipe your phone.