latest
When it comes to software updates, Sony is on the job. The company is always one of the first to release updates for its recent flagship devices and is great at updating even relatively older-generation devices quickly too. Take the Xperia Z3 Plus, Z4 Tablet, and Z5 family which were announced sometime between May 2015 and September 2015, making them nearly 2 years old. They got the update to Android Nougat 7.0 back in February and they're now following the footsteps of the XZ and X Performance and getting upped to the more recent Android 7.1.1.
Read update
- According to Xperia Blog, the Android 7.0 Nougat update OTA has also started rolling out to the Xperia Z3+ and Z3+ Dual. It has the same firmware number 32.3.A.0.372 and weighs a little more at 1347MB.
The Xperia Z5 series (Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium) was on the list of devices that Sony promised to bring Android 7.0 Nougat to. After releasing the update to the more recent X Performance and XZ, then the X and X Compact, Sony is now ready to bring Nougat 7.0 to the Z5.
You could say that Sony is feeling the pink rush lately. After making the regular Xperia Z5 available in pink at the start of the year, the company is now ready to take its larger Premium sibling and dip it in the same bucket of paint. This gets you a large 5.5" 4K display (which Ryan didn't find very useful or even utilized in his review), a 23MP camera, a Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM with 32GB of storage plus MicroSD slot, IP68 water resistance, and a big 3430mAh battery. All in pink.
Sony is sometimes a little slow to release new devices everywhere, but at least its Android update schedule is on par with other OEMs. That is to say, it's annoyingly slow, but not unusually so. The Z5, Z4 Tablet, and Z3+ are all getting Android 6.0 right now, but as usual, it's a staged rollout that will vary by country.
Sony rushes from one flagship phone to the next, making only iterative changes most of the time. With the Z5 generation, there are three different variants of the phone—a standard Z5, the Z5 Compact, and our focus today, the Z5 Premium. What makes it premium? Well, it's the first phone with a 4K display. Does that really do you any good, though? Let's find out.
Google has shown off what's in Android 6.0. Factory images and over-the-air updates are popping up for Nexus devices. That means the time is ripe for smartphone makers to announce when they're going to bring Marshmallow to their devices.
Sony is one of the very rare companies who know how to balance the right level of features between smaller and larger devices. Their newly announced Z5 series has a very powerful Z5 Compact, a good Z5, and a slightly fluffed up Z5 Premium, all without compromising on processor, RAM, or camera performance.
Read update
- Here's a deeper look at all three devices in video form.
Sony's Xperia Z5 is the story of three phones. Like with previous iterations, there's the usual Z5 and Z5 Compact, but this time they're joined by the Z5 Premium. The last addition is the biggest, baddest model in the lineup, but Sony remains the one major smartphone manufacturer that remains convinced bigger isn't always better.