The Sony Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III start receiving Android 12 updates

Sony has started rolling out Android 12 to its latest flagship smartphones, the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III. While Sony is relatively late to begin upgrading devices to the new OS, Android 12 debuted in October, Google took another fortnight to finalise the update for Pixel devices. 

According to XperiFirm, Sony has started issuing Android 12 to the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III first in Russia. Currently, the update has arrived for the XQ-BC72 and XQ-BQ72, both as 61.1.A.1.149. Sony's inaugural Android 12 build also contains the December 2021 security patches, rather than the newer January 2021 ones. Typically, Sony does not allow people to roll back OS upgrades, so please be aware of this before you upgrade your Xperia 1 III or Xperia 5 III to Android 12.

Incidentally, Sony is yet to publish a changelog for 61.1.A.1.149. However, it has published an Android 12 support article, linked below. For reference, Sony highlights the addition of scrolling screenshots, plus a 'newly revamped one-handed mode'. Also, the company explains that it has added a dim screen feature to reduce eye strain in a dark environment and Nearby Share for 'easier Wi-Fi sharing'. Furthermore, Sony claims that Android 12 protects 'your privacy more than ever before' by showing an approximate location, camera and microphone indicator on your status bar whenever any of these are in use.

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