Phones

Sony Xperia X & Xperia XA Pre-order Prices Drop on Amazon

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 27, 2016 | 1 comment

Sony_Xperia_X_Hero_4

Earlier this week, pre-orders for the Sony Xperia X and Xperia XA went live on Amazon UK. At the time, the two phones were priced at £549 and £279 respectively. While the Xperia XA pricing seemed in line with expectations and the phone’s features, the Xperia X pricing felt off.

In fact I noted then that the pricing for the Xperia X was more in line with flagship pricing that the Xperia X Performance should receive and was priced above 2016 flagship phones from Samsung, LG, and HTC. Whether this was simply a mistake by Amazon or a change of heart from Sony is unclear but both phones have since been reduced in price, making them a far easier buy once released this summer.

After the jump, pricing awaits you.

Sony Xperia X & Xperia XA Prices Revealed?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 25, 2016 | 4 comments

Sony_Xperia_X_Performance_Hero_4

On the heels of learning when the two new smartphones from Sony would launch, I’ve now learned about their pricing. According to Amazon UK, the new phones will be priced as such:

Xperia X – £549
Xperia XA – £279

Starting with the latter of the two phones, the pricing makes sense. This roughly puts the Xperia XA, a high-end mid-range phone at a $299 – which if ever released in the US would be $100 cheaper than the recently launched iPhone SE. While the price range does put the Xperia XA in a hyper competitive field, it allows Sony to be more in range with its competitors and the eventual price drop, and more near term promotions will make the phone accessible to a far wider demographic.

If Sony can market the Xperia XA and allow the phone to be widely available, they should be able to achieve a level of success (read: volume) they haven’t attained in some time. However, with the Xperia X, things get a bit more tricky. More on that after the jump.

Sony Xperia X and Xperia XA Release Date Revealed?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 25, 2016 | 0 comments

Sony_Xperia_XA_Hero_5

Thanks to Amazon UK, we now know when the Sony Xperia X and Xperia XA (pictured above) are likely to arrive. I say likely because it’s never official till announced by Sony but things are looking fairly definitive. According to Amazon UK, the two phones will be released on:

Xperia X – May 23rd
Xperia XA – June 6th

We’ve previously heard a summer time frame and this puts both phones squarely in that range albeit sooner than I had thought.

Sony Xperia X Performance to Offer HDR Display?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 20, 2016 | 7 comments

Sony_Xperia_X_Performance_Hero_3

If these rumors pan out, there might be a good reason to wait till summer. Apparently, the soon-to-be flagship Sony Xperia X Performance will offer an HDR display, a first in smartphones.

An HDR screen would mean crazy rich colors that are more vibrant. According to Phone Radar’s source, the Xperia X Premium will sport a 10-bit HDR display that can show 1,024 shades of the primary red, green and blue (RGB) colors. That’s a nice upgrade over the usual 256 RGB hues that other screens offer.

But that’s not all; in addition to an HDR display which would allow the phone to reach deep blacks and bright whites, the phone’s screen will supposedly be twice as bright as competitors.

The leak also suggests that the purported Xperia X Premium’s panel would offer a scorching “1,000 nits of white brightness” and can even go up to 1,300 nits at maximum. Our current smartphone average is 437 nits, and the Galaxy S7 Edge notched 530 nits on our light meter.

All of this sounds crazy at face value but besides making HDR televisions, Sony was also the first manufacturer to make a 4K display smartphone (the Xperia Z5 Premium) so I wouldn’t put it past them. Of course, just because you can build it doesn’t mean you should. Would an HDR display be nice on a mobile device? Yea, I guess, but seeing how those Facebook vids and YouTube series barely pass muster for 1080p which is what’s mostly consumed on a phone versus a Netflix series like Marco Polo, I’m not sure having a display like that will really matter. Now, on a tablet? Sign me up.

Update:

I’ve mistakenly called the Xperia X Performance (correct in the title) the X Premium in the article which I’ve since fixed. However, the original source does call it the Xperia X Premium which either means there will be another model announced by Sony or they are also mistakenly typing Premium for Performance like I had.

Sony Xperia Z5 Gets a Price Cut in UK

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 19, 2016 | 5 comments

The flagship Sony Xperia Z5 just got a bit cheaper in the UK.

Sun’s rising, price is dropping! Enjoy £80 off the #XperiaZ5 at the #SonyXperiaStore https://t.co/WP5clB4mwA

— Sony Xperia GB (@sonyxperiagb) April 9, 2016

From what I’ve gathered, this isn’t a temporary sale and instead the new pricing for the Z5. Sony could be looking to move more units as summer approaches which is when the Xperia X family is set to arrive. More about the deal after the jump.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow Arrives for Sony Xperia Z3, Xperia Z2 Tablet, And Others

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 18, 2016 | 3 comments

Sony Mobile is finally getting around to updating some of their older smartphones and tablets to Marshmallow. Specifically, Sony is releasing Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow for the:

Xperia Z2 – D6502, D6503
Xperia Z3 – D6603, D6653
Xperia Z3 Dual – D6633
Xperia Z3 Compact – D5803, D5833
Xperia Z2 Tablet – SGP511, SGP512, SGP521

More info after the jump.

Sony Xperia X Video Shows Predictive Hybrid Autofocus

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 18, 2016 | 0 comments

One of the things that fascinates me the most and will likely be the biggest selling point of the upcoming Sony Xperia X will be its camera. In a new promotional piece, Sony is highlighting the phone’s predictive Hybrid Autofocus feature which can automatically track a subject and predict their next move and, in turn, keep them in focus the entire time. From Sony:

Xperia X’s Smart Capture technology helps you banish blur. Enabled by Sony’s new Predictive Hybrid Autofocus, Smart Capture lets you choose a person or object and automatically track it. Now your subject stays in focus, even when moving, and the most unpredictable scenes come out in the sharpest detail.

If the feature works as advertised, the Xperia X will have something most competitors lack and could act as a key driving force of sales for Sony. The video showing off Predictive Hybrid Autofocus can be found after the jump.

Battery STAMINA Mode Returning to Xperia Phones After All

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 14, 2016 | 2 comments

With Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google introduced a feature dubbed Doze which replicated some of the same functionality as Sony’s own Battery STAMINA Mode. Despite not being nearly as efficient, Sony didn’t see a reason to compete directly with the feature and in turn, removed it from all phones running on Marshmallow. This was from Sony then:

The Marshmallow version of Android has its own smart solution for managing power consumption (Doze and App Standby). These functions are integrated directly into Android 6.0, which made Stamina mode redundant. In other words, Stamina mode was removed from M.

Now, thanks likely to the outcry from within the Sony community and beta program, it’s looking like the missing feature will be making its return after all. More after the jump.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Now Offered in Pink

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 13, 2016 | 0 comments

Sony_Xperia_Z5_Premium_Pink

It would have been nice for February, but starting next month, in select countries, you can get your hands on a pink Xperia Z5 Premium. Designer Murai-san talked about the Xperia Z5 Premium Pink:

The colour was first created for Xperia Z5 Pink and the hue also lent itself well to the finish of the Z5 Premium. As with other Z5 Premium devices we wanted to give an expression of light, so we adapted the colour to the Z5 Premium’s materials, the result is a deeper, rich tone due to its glossy finish – the perfect complement to its Premium name tag. The colour is also one of the trend colours for 2015AW-2016SS, so Xperia customers can tailor their look and colour co-ordinate their phone and outfits with the latest fashion trends.

Unfortunately Sony doesn’t want to do any of the leg work to help you find one of these on sale. Instead they simply say:

Xperia Z5 Premium Pink will be available in select countries only from beginning of May (depending on local market availability, please check with you local retailers/operators).

I expect sales will be massive.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow Returns in Canada for Xperia Z5 & Z5 Premium Owners

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 11, 2016 | 2 comments

Android 6.0 Marshmallow has returned for owners of the Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Premium in Canada after being mysteriously pulled two weeks ago.

We’re pleased to announce that #Marshmallow is now available for #XperiaZ5/#XperiaZ5P for @Bell customers. Thx for your patience. Enjoy!

— Sony Xperia CA (@SonyXperiaCA) April 11, 2016

No details yet on what exactly was the culprit but it’s nice to have the update back. Now, could you imagine the outcry if Apple released an update, only to pull it and now have it return after two weeks?

6-inch Sony Smartphone Images Leak, Likely Xperia C6 Ultra

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 11, 2016 | 0 comments

Just hours after talking about a new Android 5.1 Lollipop build being released for the Xperia C5 Ultra, images of its likely successor leak. Specs are currently nonexistent but from the pictures, we can see a 6-inch phone with very minimal side bezels, a design cue from the Xperia XA. Like the C5 Ultra, this phone appears to sport a large front-facing camera and flash.

For those playing at home, the C5 Ultra was the only phone from Sony to provide both a 13-megapixel front-facing camera and flash so it’s not that preposterous to assume that its successor will have that as well, likely with improved specs. Other things we know about the mysterious phone include dual SIM card support and USB-C charging. Of course, even if the leaks are 100% credible, it doesn’t always mean the product at hand (in this case, literally) will actually come to market.

After the jump, a few more pictures.

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra Receives Android 5.1 Lollipop Update (29.1.X.0.101)

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 11, 2016 | 0 comments

Sony is going on a bit of a bug squashing spree. The Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z3+ have already received new Android Marshmallow updates and now the Xperia C5 Ultra is also joining the update bandwagon:

moving the build number from 29.1.X.0.87 to version 29.1.X.0.101. The update is live on both the single SIM (29.1.A.0.101) and dual SIM variants (29.1.B.0.101), although only in select regions at the time of posting. For the dual SIM Xperia C5 Ultra, the update is live in the Nordics, Malaysia and Vietnam, whilst it is only out in Turkey for single SIM owners right now. The update should open up to more regions very soon.

If Sony was able to get more devices on the same OS build as Apple which famously gives their latest release to as many devices as possible, it might in the long term actually make development easier for them as they don’t have to juggle working on numerous builds of Android and can focus on one iteration at a time and push forward with that.

Alas while the C5 Ultra is supposed to receive Android 6.0 Marshmallow at some point, it’s unclear when that update will arrive. With Sony still releasing Lollipop updates on the C5 Ultra, I’m not sure if that’s an indicator that Marshmallow is still far off or them doing their due diligence.

Sony Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact, & Z3+ Gain New Marshmallow Build (32.1.A.1.185)

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 9, 2016 | 0 comments

Sony is pushing out a new Android Marshmallow update for

Xperia Z5
Xperia Z5 Compact
Xperia Z3+

Curiously, the update isn’t available for the Z5 Premium, but it could just be a matter of time before it lands on that device as well. It’s interesting that despite the Premium being their most prestigious flagship smartphone, it tends to get things last and have a highly scattered availability. As for the update, it takes the

build number from 32.1.A.1.163 to version number 32.1.A.1.185.

So what does it do? Not a whole lot it seems, other than minor bugs that Sony is squashing so don’t expect any new features.

Erica Griffin Gets Hands On With Sony Xperia X Performance

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 1, 2016 | 3 comments

There is still a lot we don’t know about the Xperia X, Xperia XA, and Xperia X Performance smartphones from Sony which are set to arrive some time in the summer. Based on what we do know, they are here to replace Sony’s current flagship Xperia Z5 lineup but more important than a simple place in the lineup is how Sony will position and market these phones. To some in the community, the Xperia X line doesn’t seem as premium as what it’s replacing so the story that Sony builds around them will be quite interesting to watch.

If you do want to know more about the new phones, Erica Griffin was able to get some hands on time with them at MWC 2016.

Note: the one I have is the Performance! Not all of the Performance devices are brushed aluminum! I did also show the X at times though. I had a chance to play around with the Xperia X Performance and here are my thoughts so far. It is so very similar to the other 2: Xperia X and Xperia XA. I think it is a very nice device but it leaves me severely confused. MWC 2016.

The video is after the jump.

Sony Canada Pulls Android 6.0 Marshmallow from Xperia Z5 & Z5 Premium

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 26, 2016 | 8 comments

It’s unclear why, but, after nearly two weeks of release, Sony Mobile Canada is pulling Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Xperia Z5/Xperia Z5P owners: we’ve removed the Android 6.0 update at this time & will advise once it’s been re-issued. Thx for ur patience.

— Sony Xperia CA (@SonyXperiaCA) March 26, 2016

From what I’ve gathered from the community, there hasn’t been any known issues affecting users. Curiously this is for Canada only so if there is a bug, it could be limited to issues with carriers there. I’ll keep you updated when I hear more.