The OnePlus 10T inches toward Android 13 with limited closed beta

What you need to know

• OnePlus has announced its OxygenOS 13 Closed Beta Test (CBT) for the OnePlus 10T. 
• This beta test is currently limited to India and will only be available for 100 people.
• According to OnePlus, this will be a "short-term Closed Beta Project," as opposed to the long-term program from previous releases.

Despite being announced simultaneously, the OnePlus 10T was launched with OxygenOS 12 and not OxygenOS 13. And perhaps almost as surprising is that the OnePlus 10 Pro was the first device to take part in the OxygenOS 13 beta program. However, things are looking up as the first OxygenOS 13 Closed Beta Test is being opened for OnePlus 10T owners. 

Unlike previous beta test programs, OnePlus has decided to change the way that it's implementing this beta release. Previously, the company referred to the program as a "long-term" test, giving users more than a month (most of the time) to identify and report bugs. But with OxygenOS 13, OnePlus has described this as a "short-term Closed Beta Project (usually only a few builds are released), focusing on improving the upcoming OxygenOS 13 for the OnePlus 10T."

Muddying the waters even further, the CBT is limited in two other manners. For one, it seems that this will be limited to OnePlus 10T owners in India. Secondly, only 100 members will be able to participate and will need to follow a series of guidelines before they will be accepted. In addition to owning a OnePlus 10T and being a OnePlus Community member, selected individuals will need to sign an NDA, and provide regular communication, and participants are unable to share the package or content related to OxygenOS 13 "outside the project team."

Rather surprisingly, the announcement post seems to imply that there might be changes in the OnePlus 10T build as opposed to the OnePlus 10 Pro. When you consider that the 10 Pro is part of a separate Open Beta program and has received a second beta update, everyone has a pretty good idea as to what OxygenOS 13 will bring. 

On the bright side, OnePlus does point out that its shift from a "long-term CBT" to a "short-term CBT" is a purposeful change. The forum post states that this is "to make sure the OxygenOS 13 stable build is available to all of the users as early as possible, we changed the CBT strategies on all of the OxygenOS 13 CBT programs." While there are no specific indications as to when the final release of OxygenOS 13 will arrive, it's not outside the realm of possibility that it could be arriving before the end of 2022.