The unlocked OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro are now 'compatible' with Verizon, but still not on 5G
The 5G-enabled OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro may look amazing on paper, despite their significant price hikes over last year's 4G LTE-only OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro, but out in the real world, the two Snapdragon 865 powerhouses have racked up an unusually high number of issues and caveats shortly after and even before making a US commercial debut last week.
We're talking everything from green tint to "black crush" flaws impacting the functionality of those otherwise stunning Fluid AMOLED displays, as well as various inherent bugs that the company is working diligently to fix with software update after update, and last but certainly not least for subscribers to the nation's largest wireless service provider, an inability to properly use the hot new high-end phones on said carrier.
Fortunately, the nightmare appears to already be over for buyers of unlocked OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro units looking to activate the handsets on Verizon, as initially reported by Android Police based on multiple tweets and OnePlus forum posts from relieved users.
Although the company offered a rather vague and decidedly conservative timeline when first tackling the topic, promising the "OnePlus 8 series open market phones in North America" would gain compatibility with Verizon in "June at the latest", said compatibility seems to have been added very quickly to the two unlocked devices.
It should no longer be a problem to activate OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro units purchased directly from their manufacturers on Big Red, and even if you still have trouble sending or receiving text messages after setting up your new phone, the carrier's tech support reps will help you straighten everything up in a matter of minutes by manually registering your IMEI number.
Keep in mind that you still won't get access to Verizon's blazing fast mmWave-based 5G network, although you can always go straight to the wireless service provider and order the special OnePlus 8 5G UW edition if you care about that. There should be no problem activating said variant, especially after the carrier rolled out a mysterious software update of its own a few days ago focused on "improved 5G connectivity."
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