OnePlus recently rolled out the Android 13 update for the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite devices globally, bringing improvements like multi-language support, user privacy, revamped clipboard features, and more. Other than these, there are a few design changes, like an updated media player and support for themed icons to match wallpaper colour. If you have installed Android 13 and want to downgrade back to Android 12, this guide is for you.
As we all know, the Android 13 may contain bugs that can make your device unstable to use as a daily driver. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to roll back from Android 13 to Android 12 on OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite. This guide is easy to follow; you only need a computer with a working USB cable to connect your device to the computer.
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OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G Device Overview:
The Oneplus Nord CE 2 Lite features a 6.59-inch IPS LCD panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It is an FHD+ panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2412 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9. Under the hood, we have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 built on a 6 nm manufacturing process. It is an octa-core processor with two Kryo 660 Gold cores clocked at 2.2 GHz and six Kryo 660 Silver cores clocked at 1.7 GHz. For handling the graphics-intensive tasks, we have the Adreno 619.
In terms of optics, we have a triple camera setup at the rear and a single camera at the front. The triple setup consists of a 64 MP primary sensor paired with an f/1.7, a 2 MP macro sensor paired with an f/2.4 lens, and a 2 MP depth sensor paired with an f/2.4 lens. At the front, we get a 16 MP selfie camera paired with an f/2.0 lens. Both the front and the rear setup are limited to 1080p video recording.
The smartphone is available in two storage options: 128GB internal storage + 6GB RAM, and 128GB internal storage + 8GB RAM. There is a MicroSD slot for storage expansion, but this is a hybrid slot that you cannot use if you insert two SIM cards inside the phone. In terms of communications, we get Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, and USB Type-C 2.0. And in terms of sensors, we have a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass. Powering it all is a 5000 mAh cell that can be topped up quickly using a 33W charging adapter. The smartphone is available in two color options: Black Dusk and Blue Tide
Downgrade the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite from Android 13 to Android 12
First, download the appropriate firmware package for your device from the link below. Once that is done, proceed with the instructions and steps that follow.
Pre-Requirements:
- Supported devices: OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite
- Make sure to charge your device more than 50%
- You need a PC or Laptop with a USB cable.
- Take a complete backup using any method given below
- Download Drivers: Qualcomm USB Drivers and OnePlus USB Drivers
Download Rollback Package
Download links for OnePlus rollback packages:
Now that you have downloaded the rollback package from the above section, create a complete device backup before proceeding with the below-mentioned steps. This is because the installation steps require a wipe of the data. Once you have done so, here is everything you need to be aware of regarding the downgrade of the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite from Android 13 to Android 12.
Downgrade Instructions
- First of all, Turn off your device.
- Now reboot your phone into bootloader mode by pressing and holding the VOLUME UP and POWER buttons simultaneously.
- Now connect your device to your PC using the USB cable.
- Open the extracted firmware folder to flash it using fastboot mode.
- Enter the below code to boot your device into fastbootd mode.
fastboot -w
3. Now flash the following files by entering the code
fastboot flash boot boot.img fastboot flash cpucp cpucp.img fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img fastboot flash modem modem.img fastboot flash oplusstanvbk oplusstanvbk.img fastboot flash oplus_sec oplus_sec.img fastboot flash qweslicstore qweslicstore.img fastboot flash shrm shrm.img fastboot flash splash splash.img fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img fastboot flash vbmeta_vendor vbmeta_vendor.img fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img fastboot flash vendor_boot vendor_boot.img fastboot flash vm-bootsys vm-bootsys.img
4. Now reboot into userspace fastboot, aka fastbootd. If you don’t do this, the remaining files cannot be flashed:
fastboot reboot fastboot
5. Flash the remaining files:
fastboot flash abl abl.img fastboot flash aop aop.img fastboot flash bluetooth bluetooth.img fastboot flash devcfg devcfg.img fastboot flash dsp dsp.img fastboot flash featenabler featenabler.img fastboot flash hyp hyp.img fastboot flash imagefv imagefv.img fastboot flash keymaster keymaster.img fastboot flash multiimgoem multiimgoem.img fastboot flash qupfw qupfw.img fastboot flash tz tz.img fastboot flash uefisecapp uefisecapp.img fastboot flash xbl xbl.img fastboot flash xbl_config xbl_config.img fastboot flash product product.img fastboot flash system system.img fastboot flash system_ext system_ext.img fastboot flash vendor vendor.img fastboot flash odm odm.img
6. Now reboot your device into the system using the below fastboot command:
fastboot reboot
7. If everything worked, your phone should now boot into OxygenOS.
The files will be flashed to your currently active boot slot. If any of them fail to flash, switch to the other slot and start over from the beginning. I couldn’t flash odm, product, system, system_ext, and vendor to slot a, and had to use slot b instead. To check the current slot:
fastboot getvar current-slot
To switch slots:
fastboot --set-active=a
or
fastboot --set-active=b
So this was all from this guide on downgrading or rollback from Android 13 to Android 12 stable build on your OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite devices. The first boot after the rollback could up some time; this is completely normal. Since a device reset has been taken place as well, you might have to set it up from scratch. Rounding up, here are some iPhone Tips and Tricks, PC tips and tricks, and Android Tips and Tricks that deserve your attention too.