High-end Sony Xperia handsets will receive two years of updates

Back in 2017, the Sony Xperia XZ1 and the Xperia XZ1 Compact arrived on the market as the first handsets to launch with Android 8.0 Oreo onboard. In the meantime, this iconic Japanese brand updated quite a few of its older handsets to Oreo, leaving behind many other popular smartphone makers. Now, they have just updated the Android upgrade policy, making it clear that the premium Xperia handsets will get two years of full support.

"We aim to support all premium range devices with the latest Android updates for two years after the device has launched," reads Sony's document. Unfortunately, they also added that "We may choose not to upgrade a mid-range or entry-level device if testing does not meet our exacting standards and we feel the hardware isn’t capable of delivering a stable user experience."

As a direct consequence of the above, the Xperia XZ1 and its Compact sibling should get the next two major Android updates, currently known just as Android P and Android Q.

According to the new update policy, the Xperia flagships might get security patches outside the usual cycle "depending on timing and situation."

At last, it should also be noted that Sony is currently working on Meltdown and Spectre patches for the following list of handsets: Xperia XA1, Xperia XA1 Ultra, Xperia L1, Xperia XA1 Plus, Xperia XA2, Xperia XA2 Ultra, Xperia L2, Xperia X Performance, Xperia X, Xperia X Compact, Xperia XZ, Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZs, Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact. Once the new code is installed, the security patch date should be January 5, 2018.