The Xperia 1, Xperia 5 and Xperia 5 II receive Android 11 upgrade in more countries, but many people are unhappy at the changes that Sony has made
Sony started rolling out Android 11 to the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 a month early, having started with the Xperia 1 II in December. The company released Android 11 to the Xperia 5 ahead of schedule too, as we reported almost two weeks ago. Now, the Android 11 rollout for the Xperia 1, Xperia 5 and Xperia 5 II has reached more countries, upgrading a host of devices in the process.
According to XperiFirm, Android 11 is now live for the Xperia 1, Xperia 5 and Xperia 5 II in the following additional countries:
Xperia 1
- J8110: 55.2.A.0.630 for UK unlocked, EE and O2 handsets.
Xperia 5
- J8210: 55.2.A.0.630 for UK unlocked, EE and 3 Ireland handsets.
- J9210: 55.2.A.0.645 for Altice France, Altice Portugal and UK unlocked handsets.
Xperia 5 II
- XQ-AS52: 58.1.A.1.178 for UK unlocked, EE and O2 handsets.
Undoubtedly, Sony still has a way to go in its Android 11 rollout. Many XQ-AS52 devices and the XQ-AS62 variant of the Xperia 5 II in the US remain on Android 10, as does the Xperia 1 II in the US. The Android 11 updates for Xperia devices have there quirks and bugs, though.
Reading threads on r/SonyXperia, for example, reveals that many people are unhappy with the Android 11 update for the Xperia 5 II though and, by extension, the Xperia 1 II. A lot of complaints stem from Google's changes to Android 11, including changes to how the quick settings panel works when pulled down, and a revised power-button menu. Additionally, Sony has not included Google Pay in the power menu, suggesting that this could be a Pixel exclusive feature. The notification bar now contains an option to enter split-screen with any notification, which is handy, if a little untidy.
However, there are frequent complaints of Android 11 running more slowly than Android 10 and of battery life depreciation. Anecdotally, our Xperia 5 II repeated the notification shade whenever a notification arrived. A reboot seems to have fixed this issue, but it should not have happened in the first place. There is a persistent Always on Display (AoD) problem too, where a notification's app icon does not appear on the AoD until the screen is unlocked and re-locked. Hopefully, Sony addresses this in an update as it defeats the AoD's purpose, currently.
In short, Android 11 brings little to Xperia devices that they did not already have in Android 10, in our opinion. The revised power menu will be useful to those who use Google Home, and you can now screenshot from within the Recents menu. Sony outlines what other features Android 11 brings to its devices too, but they are relatively minor.
