The latest smartphone to be graced with an update to Android 13 is OnePlus’ entry-level Nord CE 2 Lite, which launched back in May. The handset is now seemingly receiving the stable update to OxygenOS 13, based on Android 13, in India.
The update arrives over-the-air as a 4.5GB download, so it might be best to grab it from a reliable (and uncapped) data connection. After installation, you’ll be on software version CPH2381_11_C.25, and you’ll have the December 2022 security patch level.
OnePlus updates are all staged, with a small percentage of units receiving the new build in the first day, with a slightly bigger rollout within a few days, so if your Nord CE 2 Lite hasn’t notified you about the new software yet, fret not for it is finally on its way. If you’re lucky, you can step into the New Year rocking the latest version of Android.
The update comes with a lot of changes, including of course what Google packed into Android 13, but also OnePlus-specific stuff like the addition of the Dynamic Computing Engine which improves system speed, stability, battery life, and app experience, upgrades to HyperBoost GPA 4.0 to stabilize game frame rates and balance performance and power consumption, an improved an more personalizabile Always-On Display, an optimized Shelf, more markup tools for screenshot editing, and the addition of large folders to the Home screen.
Perhaps none of these is more important than the new Aquamorphic Design, which brings “enhanced visual comfort”, “natural and vivid” animations from the new Quantum Animation Engine 4.0 which recognizes complex gestures and provides “optimized interactions”, and applies “real-world physical motions to animations to make them look more natural and intuitive”.