Previously, we had learned that OnePlus’s 5 and 5T smartphones were not able to stream video in high-definition. It appears that they company has fixed the problem, but there’s a catch if you want to get the issue fixed. In order for you to watch video in high-definition like on Netflix or Amazon Prime, you will have to mail your phone to OnePlus to get the update installed on your phone.
It appears that the 5 and 5T’s inability to stream HD from services like Netflix and Amazon Prime comes from the device’s lack of support for Google’s Widevine Level 1 DRM, which a number of services require before HD video can be streamed. The phones do support Widevine Level 3, which allows for standard streaming. At the time, it was interesting to learn that the phone’s have the appropriate hardware to support HD streaming, but the fact that the phone weren’t able to stream HD was odd.
In a post on the company’s forums (via 9to5Google), community manager David Y stated that the devices must be mailed in because he phone must be physically hooked up to an authenticated PC in order to get everything updated. He added that the company will cover the shipping costs (but only in North America, Europe, India, and China), and users should expect to get their phone back within “five working days when we receive it.”
If you’re interested in getting your phone updated from OnePlus, you should contact OnePlus’s customer support team to get the process started.
