The European Union laws are sometimes quite beneficial of regular users. Unlike most of the places, EU is very much flexible for after sales services and claims. Minimum 2 years of legal guarantee is the cherry on top.

You can also offer the consumer an additional commercial guarantee (warranty). This can either be included in the price of the product or at an extra cost. This warranty does not replace the legal guarantee, which is always a minimum of 2 years, and you must inform the consumer that this will not affect their right to the legal guarantee.

(Source)

Freedom of choice from the perspective of the consumers is another advantage inside EU regions. For example, Microsoft was forced to create a separate ‘N’ edition (and another short lived ‘E’ edition) of Windows to comply with the EU rules about bundling software like Windows Media Player.

windows_10_media_feature_pack
Microsoft separated media playback related components from the N edition of Windows for the EU and offers them as optional download

Similar changes have been recently incorporated in Android as well. For regular Android users, Google’s suite of apps (such as Google Search or Chrome browser) are seemingly an integral part of the OS. European Union wanted to introduce fair competition in these segments.

Google quickly made some changes in Android to comply with the regulations. The Play Store has been updated to provide choice to select the default search and browser apps other than Google Search and Google Chrome.

These new screens will be displayed the first time a user opens Google Play after receiving an upcoming update. Two screens will surface: one for search apps and another for browsers, each containing a total of five apps, including any that are already installed. Apps that are not already installed on the device will be included based on their popularity and shown in a random order.

google_android_search_browser_choice_eu
Click/Tap to zoom

To integrate these changes, multiple Android OEMs started to create and maintain a separate branch of firmware for the European Economic Area (EEA). After Xiaomi, OnePlus is the newest Chinese OEM in this practice.

The OnePlus 7 Pro launched in the European Union countries came with a separate version of OxygenOS 9.5 than the Indian or global models. The internal model number of EU units (GM1913) is also different from the Indian (GM1911) and global/US unlocked (GM1917) units.

oneplus_7_pro_mirror_grey_side_camera
OnePlus 7 Pro

We have captured the day-one OTA update for the OnePlus Pro in different regions. After analysing them, we can confirm that the EU specific OxygenOS 9.5 (with the build tag GM21BA) is less bloated than the Indian/global version (GM21AA).

oneplus_7_pro_gm1913_oos_9.5.4_ota_changelog
OnePlus 7 Pro (EU) day-one patch changelog

Less number of bundled apps and shady data collection

The firmware of EU units does not come with preinstalled Google Pay. Moreover, India specific bundled Amazon apps are also not present there.

oneplus_7_pro_oos_eu_app_list
List of preinstalled apps in the EU firmware for OnePlus 7 Pro

Remember the shady deal between OnePlus and Tencent regarding the integration of an ‘intelligent’ junk file cleaner in the stock file manager app? We can also confirm that the feature is disabled in EU ROM, while the Indian users are cursed again.

oneplus_file_manager_cleaner_in_action
Notice the ‘Clean’ section present in Indian models

Recent media interactions indicate that OnePlus is planning to introduce more India specific new features in future updates of OxygenOS, such as spam caller identification, SMS management and a work-life balance app (Digital Wellbeing clone?)

oneplus_oos_work-life_balance_szymon
Image source: NDTV Gadgets 360

Hopefully Indian users can get rid of these ‘features’/bloatware (depending on the perspective) by switching to EU version of OxygenOS.

Yes, it can be possible to seamlessly cross-flash the EU firmware package on top of the global and Indian OxygenOS for OnePlus 7 Pro.

Users need to download the full update zip (9.5.4.GM21BA is the current latest version), place it in the root of their internal storage and use the Local upgrade option to flash it.

oneplus_7_pro_oos_9.5_local_upgrade
Navigate to Settings => System => System updates => Gear icon on top right corner and choose Local upgrade

No data wipe is required, and the end result is a phone less-bloated version of OxygenOS.

oneplus_7_pro_gm1911_oos_9.5.4gm21ba
Indian OnePlus 7 Pro running EU version of OxygenOS

OxygenOS may set some internal parameters and reinstall the Amazon apps by detecting an Indian SIM, but we have yet to experience such phenomenon. Automatic updates should work without any hitch, although it is not possible to verify that before next OTA update (which should come in a week).

What do you think about the upcoming features in OxygenOS? Let us know by commenting below.

PiunikaWeb is a unique initiative that mainly focuses on investigative journalism. This means we do a lot of hard work to come up with news stories that are either ‘exclusive,’ ‘breaking,’ or ‘curated’ in nature. Perhaps that’s the reason our work has been picked by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and more. Do take a tour of our website to get a feel of our work. And if you like what we do, stay connected with us on Twitter (@PiunikaWeb) and other social media channels to receive timely updates on stories we publish.

Kingshuk De
896 Posts

I came from a mixed background of Statistics and Computer Science. My research domains included embedded computer systems, mobile computing and delay tolerant networks in post-disaster scenarios. Apart from tinkering with gadgets or building hackintosh, I like to hop on various subreddits and forums like MyDigitalLife and XDA.

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