The OxygenOS Open Beta program is designed to let users experience the latest features and give feedback on them before they go live in the stable channel. This mechanism has been very successful for OnePlus, and the company has continued on with providing new betas builds on a regular schedule. Now, the OEM has announced the release of the first Open Beta of OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus Nord CE 2.

As per a recent post on the OnePlus Community forums, the first Android 12-based Open Beta build for the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is now up for grabs for the early adopters. The release includes a host of UI/UX enhancements and the Android security patches for July 2022. Here are some of the key changes included in the initial public beta:

  • System
    • Optimized desktop icons with improved textures, by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers
    • Optimized AI System Booster to 2.1 to support the system to run smoothly even when the load is high
    • Optimized software algorithm and improved face recognition to better identify the features and skin color of different figures
  • Dark mode
    • Newly added three adjustable levels, bringing a more personalized and comfortable user experience
  • Shelf
    • Newly added style options for Cards, making data contents more visual and easier to read
    • Newly added access to OnePlus Scout in Shelf, allowing you to search multiple contents on your phone, including Apps, Settings, Media Data, etc
    • Newly added OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf, to easily glance at your health status
  • Work Life Balance
    • Newly added Work Life Balance feature, allowing you to effortlessly switch between Work and Life mode via quick settings
    • Newly supported automatic Work/Life mode switching, based on specific locations, Wi-Fi network, and time, also bringing customized App notification profiles according to the personalization
  • Gallery
    • Newly supported switching between different layouts with a two-finger pinch gesture, intelligently recognizing the best-quality pictures, and cropping the thumbnail based on the content, making the gallery layout more pleasing
  • Canvas AOD
    • Newly added diverse styles of lines and colors, for a more personalized lock screen experience with inspiring visuals
    • Newly added multiple brushes and strokes and support for color adjustment

As expected, the first Android 12 beta build does have some known issues, which are listed below:

  1. The time displays on AOD abnormally.
  2. No location information in the video details.
  3. Sound might not play when connected to a wireless earphone in the App cloner version of WhatsApp.

Due to the fact that this is the inaugural Open Beta release for the OnePlus Nord CE 2, you have to manually download the update package. Do note that while updating your device to this beta release will not wipe all your data, make sure you take a complete backup before beginning the process just to be safe. It goes without saying that you will probably encounter some bugs in the pre-stable builds, so we wouldn’t recommend switching over if you don’t know what you’re getting into.

OnePlus Nord CE 2 XDA Forums

Download OxygenOS 12 Open Beta 1 for the OnePlus Nord CE 2

The OnePlus Nord CE 2’s Android 12 Open Beta release is nearly 4.5GB in size, so make sure you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network before downloading it. OnePlus also recommends you have at least 30% of battery left and 5GB of storage available on your device before you proceed to install the beta package.

  • OxygenOS 12 Open Beta 1:

If you wish to roll back to the stable Android 11 firmware at any point, you need to sideload the rollback package (linked below). Notably, you need to turn on Developer options first, otherwise you can't access the local install wizard. Keep in mind that this will wipe all your data, so you should take a backup before proceeding.

  • Rollback package:

Source: OnePlus Community Forums