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Back in August, Sony announced that the XZ2 family, XZ1 family, and XZ Premium would be receiving their Android 9 Pie updates in November. Last month, the XZ2 and XZ2 Compact received their OTAs ahead of schedule. Now, the XZ Premium, XZ1, and XZ1 Compact are getting theirs.
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Google has rolled out Android Pie to Pixel devices, and Essential managed to get an update out on the same day. A few OEMs like Moto and HTC have offered some insight on what they're updating. Today, you can add Sony to the list. It says updates are coming to devices in XZ2, XZ1, and XA2 families. Some of them might be here sooner than you expect.
Sony's Xperia XZ1 really isn't a bad phone if you can get over its 1080p display. The starting price of $699.99 was a little ambitious, but we've seen a couple of price drops since then. This latest deal marks the lowest price that we've seen thus far for the XZ1: $495, over $200 off the MSRP.The Xperia XZ1 was first announced at IFA 2017, and it made its way to our shores in September. It sports a 5.2" 1080p display, a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 19MP "Motion Eye" camera capable of 960fps slow-motion footage, a 13MP selfie-shooter, and a smallish 2,700mAh battery. IP68 water-resistance and dual front-facing speakers are on board as well. The XZ1 had the distinction of being the first phone to ship with Android 8.0 Oreo. Unfortunately, US models still don't have their fingerprint sensors working, though the repositioning on the next-gen XZ2 will likely do away with that problem.Both the Black and Moonlit Blue colors (the two best-looking ones in my eyes) are priced at 5, with the Venus Pink and Warm Silver options hovering around the $530-540 mark. As usual with Amazon, shipping is free.Source: Amazon
When it comes to security, Android devices are a mixed bag - to say the least. Few manufacturers make promises about long-term support, and timely security updates are rare. This is understandably a concern for large businesses, which often don't want to worry about security flaws or constantly deploy new devices. For many enterprise customers, the question of which Android phones should be used is difficult to answer.
The Xperia XZ1 was originally announced at IFA 2017, and it arrived in the United States in September. The original price was a whopping $699.99, but as usual, the price started to fall shortly after launch. The XZ1 dropped to $599 back in November, and now you can get the 'Warm Silver' model for $543.44 from Amazon.If you're not familiar with the XZ1, it has a 5.2" 1080p IPS display, a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 19MP rear-facing camera, a 13MP front-facing camera, and a 2700mAh battery. It was the first phone to ship with Android 8.0 Oreo, since the Pixel 2 hadn't been officially announced at that point.It's worth noting that the US version of this phone does not have a working fingerprint sensor - you'll need to flash the EU firmware for that. Also, Sony is expected to announce the XZ2 at the Mobile World Congress next month, but that phone will likely be much more expensive (at least in the US). You can find the XZ1 at the source link below.Source: Amazon
Android phone buyers have been begging Google for years to do something about the platform's typically slow updates. As of this month, Android 8.0 Oreo only has 0.3% market share among Android devices, Marshmallow (released in 2015) is still at 30%, and Lollipop (from 2014) sits at 27%. Google's latest attempt to solve this problem is 'Project Treble,' a major restructuring of Android that is part of 8.0 Oreo.
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Most of you may be under the impression that Google's Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be the first phones out with Android 8.0 Oreo. But it's not those two, or even the LG V30, that can claim that honor; it's actually Sony's Xperia XZ1. And now, you can grab one of these Oreo-toting phones for just a hair over $605 on Amazon through Focus Camera, with no tax charged unless you're in New York or New Jersey. That's a decent bit lower than the $650 price we spotted a few weeks ago.The Xperia XZ1 sports a 5.2" 1080p HDR display topped with Gorilla Glass 5, a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage with microSD expansion, a 19MP main camera, a 13MP selfie shooter, and a 2700mAh battery. Other noteworthy features include a 7.4mm-thin frame, IP68 certification against water and dust, 960fps slow-motion video capture, and dual SIM capabilities. Unfortunately, the US-market phone doesn't get a fingerprint sensor on board.
Sony has been a surprisingly developer-friendly Android phone maker, with its Open Devices program giving anyone the opportunity to build and flash custom versions of the OS firmware on its devices. A few days ago Sony published the relevant binaries for the latest AOSP version of Android 8.0 Oreo for a number of its phones, and now it's added two newer Xperia models.
The Xperia XZ1 is Sony's latest flagship, released less than a month ago in the United States. It's probably not the prettiest phone released this year, and it's fairly expensive (like all Sony phones), but it's not a bad device by any means. If you were looking to buy one, you'll be happy to know that it's already $50 off on Amazon (making the total $650).The XZ1 has a 5.2" 1080p IPS display, a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 19MP rear-facing camera, a 13MP front-facing camera, and a 2700mAh battery. If you want to hear how all that adds up, take a look at our hands-on of the XZ1 from IFA. This is also the first phone to ship with Android Oreo, and it's compatible with Netflix HDR.You can buy the XZ1 from Amazon at the source link below. Unfortunately, only the Black and Moonlit Blue colors are on sale.Source: Amazon
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL may have leaked today, but we've still got around two weeks until they officially launch. So if you need a 2017 phone running Android 8.0 Oreo, you currently have one option: the Sony Xperia XZ1. That's right - the first phone to ship with Oreo isn't a Pixel, or even a Samsung or LG; it's a Sony.The XZ1 debuted at IFA, and our team had a look at both it and the XZ1 Compact. It sports a 5.2" 1080p IPS display, a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 19MP rear-facing camera, a 13MP front-facing camera, and a 2700mAh battery. Plus, this is the very first phone to ship with Android 8.0 Oreo, which is pretty sweet. It's also one of the only phones that's Netflix HDR-compatible.If you can deal with a 1080p display and the higher $699.99 price tag (keep in mind that the Pixel 2 with 64GB is $649), this may be worth a look. It's available on Amazon right now in four colors: Black, Moonlit Blue, Venus Pink, and Warm Silver. Those of you in the UK won't have to wait long; the phone is slated for a September 22nd release there. Check the source links to grab an XZ1 of your very own.Source: Amazon (black), (blue), (pink), (silver)Via: XperiaBlog
Here at IFA 2017 in Berlin, Sony has taken the opportunity to unveil its latest flagship devices. The Xperia XZ1 and its Compact sibling are here to replace the year-old XZ and X Compact, and they offer slightly updated designs with the latest Snapdragon 835 processors, plus they'll also be among the first devices to ship with Android 8.0 Oreo. The mid-range 5.5" Xperia XA1 Plus was also introduced to fill the gaping hole between the 5" XA1 and 6" XA1 Ultra.
I still haven't wrapped my head around Sony's naming scheme, and already we have news on the next big phone from the manufacturer. A large number of renders and photographs of a dummy unit for the XZ1 leaked late yesterday. And, as the incremental name would suggest, the XZ1 looks almost identical to the XZ.