Well here is an interesting report that was just released by Apteligent. According to their study which pitted top Android manufactures against one and other, Sony’s Xperia line produces the lowest crash rate among Android smartphones. This is notable because Sony managed to edge out ahead of Motorola, Google’s own produced phones.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, shall we? No, not that Nougat is a terrible, terrible name and that the next version of Android was supposed to be named Nutella, but the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on licensing the name. What I’m talking about is the fact that Sony’s Xperia Beta program was always going to come back, despite being shuttered last month.
Following the massive success of the Xperia X in the US which caused it to receive a price cut after just 10 days on store shelves, Sony is deploying a similar tactic with the the Xperia XA Ultra. While the Xperia X went from $549.99 to $499.99 in under two weeks, Sony this time around decided to wait the full two weeks before cutting their phablet’s price from $369.99 to $329.99.
So here’s a wild rumor for you in regards to the next generation Xperia device, which Jenia Gracia from Mobile & Apps has dubbed the Xperia Z6.
One major feature that will be loaded in the upcoming unit will be its capability to serve as a controller to the VR headsets of the PlayStation gaming console
Besides not having heard anything about this myself, the rumor simply doesn’t make sense to me – here’s why.
Wth Android 6.0 Marshmallow released on the majority of intended devices, Sony Mobile is bringing an end to the Xperia Beta Program.
There will be no more planned beta firmware releases, the last firmware that rolled was build number 23.5.A.1.238. Sony confirmed that there will be new commercial firmware release that will hit all Xperia Z2/Z3 owners “in the coming weeks” – anyone on the beta program will be updated to this new firmware automatically.
Early last week, news spread that Sony was looking to launch another flagship smartphone in 2016 with the model number F833X. The news always felt odd as Sony had gone out of their way to point out that through 2018, the Xperia X family would be their new lineup going forward. Afterwards, Sony had also gone on record stating that the line would replace the Xperia Z5 and it made sense. After all, the Xperia X lineup had been built from the ground up and hailed as a new start for Sony Mobile so another flagship device within 6 months of launching the X family felt odd at best.
Still, the GFXBench benchmarks made a pretty compelling case for new devices and now there are some photos to go along with it as well.
A few days ago, I posted Engadget’s brief review of the Xperia X Performance which, in short, was ‘a good phone that costs too much.’ However if you’re looking for a more in depth and decently fair take on the flagship phone, their video review is worth your 5 minutes.
Many of you and reviewers haven’t been that impressed with the Xperia X lineup, including the Performance version. As Engadget writes for their Xperia X Performance review:
The Xperia X Performance isn’t a bad phone, per se. It’s just that Sony’s newest flagship doesn’t bring anything new to the table. For $700, it offers fast performance (as its name suggests), and the design is water resistant, so that’s nice.
You know how the Xperia X Performance was part of Sony’s completely-built-from-the-ground-up line of 2016 phones that was to be the company’s flagship model for 2016? Welp, there might be another flagship smartphone coming from Sony in late 2016.
Any Xperia fan will tell you that the writing has been on the wall for years and that the outlook of Sony Mobile in the US looks dismal. After all, just a few days ago, Sony during an investors day laid out the future of their mobile division and one key moving forward is to defocus on India, USA, China, and Brazil. The irony in all of this is that from the outside, it’s hard to tell how Sony ever did focus on these territories. Now to add further irony to all of this, Sony has opted to give the Xperia X a price drop in the US after just 10 days.
That sound you hear is the agonizing moan from millions of Xperia fans as they continue to wait for Sony Mobile to ‘get’ to North America and other small markets like China and India. I hear a few people live in each of those countries.
Just last week, I posted a video which compared the Xperia X against the Galaxy S7, its competition from Samsung. But how does the Xperia X compare against its predecessor, the Xperia Z5? I’d previously posted a similar piece, albeit a written one, but today’s comparison comes in the form of a video by Nicole Scott, a self proclaimed Sony fanboy. In the video, Nicole:
takes a look at Sony’s new midrange smartphone, the Xperia X, [and] she put it up against last years flagship the Sony Xperia Z5. if you’re wondering what is missing in the Xperia X vs the Xperia Z5, Nicole takes a look at what they’ve added an what they’ve improved upon.
I’m seriously at times amazed at the people who are in charge of Sony Mobile. One of the most peculiar announcements when the Xperia X family was unveiled was that Sony would not be offering the Performance model in the UK and Germany. This always struck me as an odd choice, seeing how Germany and the former EU member UK (too soon?) are one of the richest countries in the region. Why would you not offer your best and most expensive device there?
Luckily Sony eventually shifted course and announced the release of the Xperia X Performance in the UK, albeit in limited availability. Now they’ve done the same for Germany.
With the Xperia X now out in many countries, a lot of you will likely be comparing it against the Galaxy S7. Even though a better comparison is likely between the X Performance and S7, the reality is that a lot of countries might not be getting the Performance edition, and if they are, it will be at a later date. For those curious about how the two phones compare, the following video does a good job at comparing the pros and cons of each device.
In early May, there was word that Sony might be bringing the Xperia X Performance to UK. This was notable because initially Sony Mobile had officially stated that the UK and Germany would not be receiving their new flagship smartphone. With the Xperia X having just launched in Europe, Sony has now confirmed that the Xperia X Performance will indeed be coming to the UK.
You must be logged in to post a comment.