OnePlus has announced a full refund for OnePlus 12R buyers after falsely advertising that it came with fast UFS 4.0 storage when in fact it uses the older UFS 3.1 type. OnePlus 12R buyers who have purchased the 256GB variant of the phone are eligible for a refund through March 16, 2024, OnePlus president and COO Kinder Liu wrote on a forum post.
“Thank you for your patience. I would like to share that our customer service teams are now fully briefed on the situation and have been helping those of you with concerns over the last few days,” Liu said.
Previously, the senior OnePlus executive had apologised to buyers for the miscommunication calling it an error on the company’s part requesting them for their support and patience as they worked on the way-forward.
“If you’ve received a OnePlus 12R 256GB variant and want to discuss the situation with the file system type on your phone, please contact customer service through your usual channel. They will be able to discuss next steps with you, up to and including a refund until 16th March 2024”, Liu added.
Controversy began when some reviewers and early buyers found benchmark apps like AnTuTu reporting less than expected results in case of the 16GB/256GB OnePlus 12R model which was advertised to come with UFS4.0 storage at launch. The apps were however reporting UFS3.1 speeds. OnePlus acknowledged the error and apologised for the miscommunication only a few days after sales began and after social media went berserk with people calling it a scam and demanding a refund for buyers.
Liu tried to pacify some of those concerns saying OnePlus had tested all the performance gains that it promised including fast app launch times and keeping applications locked open for up to 72 hours using UFS 3.1 storage and so, presumably, the overall experience should be “smooth beyond belief.” While surely the difference —between 4.0 and 3.1— might be evident in edge cases now, a difference exists nonetheless which is that depending on the vendor, a phone with USB 4.0 storage and well optimised software could be twice as fast and last longer. Besides there is the future-proofing aspect, which could also be a consideration.
But even beyond the technical nitty-gritty, the price gap between the phone’s entry-level 8GB/128GB and 16GB/256GB trims is a sizeable Rs 6,000, in which case, faster “flagship-grade” storage is a tempting proposition and one big reason why buyers might want to invest more, not just for bragging rights, but because they are getting a faster phone. Period. That is not the case, though, as the OnePlus 12R uses UFS 3.1 across both, and so, it isn’t totally wrong to presume if some buyers would want to return their unit for a refund, given an option. And OnePlus is giving that option now, hoping it will help restore customer trust.
“We’re still confident that OnePlus 12R lives up to the high expectations you have of our devices, and that you will love it when you try it. But I also hope that our quick action shows that we value our relationship with you, our community, and has helped restore your trust in us,” Liu further reiterated.
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