Act fast: only 200 OnePlus 9 owners can join exclusive OxygenOS closed beta

Only serious OnePlus nerds should apply for this program.

What you need to know

• The Closed Beta Test for OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro has begun. OnePlus is looking for 200 volunteers to apply.
• You will receive access to early features and new, unpolished code well before the Open (public) Beta.
• You must own a OnePlus 9 or 9 Pro, be an active member of the OnePlus forums, sign an NDA, and send feedback to its devs on Telegram.

OnePlus is looking to test new OxygenOS features and needs new, technically savvy volunteers who own a OnePlus 9 or OnePlus 9 Pro to help. Space is limited, so anyone truly interested in joining the OnePlus beta should act fast; just keep in mind that it seems like a lot of work.

In the OnePlus forum, a moderator outlined what the company needs: an “elite crew of OnePlus community members” who will maintain “absolute secrecy” as they test “builds and features weeks or even months before they are released to the public.”

OnePlus will still have a public beta down the line that anyone with the proper phone can join. But as its team explained in a previous forum post, many people who participate lack the expertise to provide actionable feedback and simply use the OnePlus beta as a daily driver, meaning the devs don’t get the data they need to improve it.

Given the timing of this announcement, it’s highly likely that volunteers will test features coming to OxygenOS 12 — OnePlus’s spin on Android 12 — well before the Android skin launches later this year. If that sounds appealing to you, and you regularly post on OnePlus forums, you can apply to join the OnePlus Closed Beta at that link.

If you’re not an active OnePlus forum member, it’s unlikely you’ll be chosen for the OnePlus Closed Beta. Nor can you participate if you own an older phone like the OnePlus 8. Your best bet would be to get active with the community now and be ready to volunteer next summer with the OnePlus 10 in hand.

On the other hand, it’s okay if you’re uninterested in doing that unpaid labor for OnePlus. Just enjoy the fact that you have one of the best Android phones today and that it’ll likely get a stable update to OxygenOS 12 sometime later this year.

OnePlus 9

$650 at Best Buy
$684 at Amazon

One of the best Android phones of 2021, the OnePlus 9 has a gorgeous, fast-refreshing AMOLED display, impressive cameras, a reliable 4,500mAh battery, and the fastest Snapdragon you could want. And it’s selling at a decent discount right now.