Sony Xperia Z5 Stories January 17, 2017
Sony begins Android 7.0 Nougat rollout for the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Premium [Update: Xperia Z3+]
Update 1/18: As expected, 2015’s Sony Xperia Z3+ is beginning to receive Android 7.0 Nougat with the same 32.3.A.0.372 build.
While Nougat nearly doubled in usage over the last month, the latest version of Android is still only on .7% of devices. However, the continued flood of updates from OEMs should help, with Sony being the latest to release Android 7.0 for the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Premium.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories June 18, 2016
Sony’s Android smartphones have never truly been the best of the best, but picking up an Xperia from time to time has always been something I’ve enjoyed. Now in 2016, Sony has ditched their Xperia Z lineup in favor of the new Xperia X lineup. This new line brings a lot of changes, but is it worth your attention? I’ve been using Sony’s Xperia X for the past several days now, and here are some of my thoughts on it.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories May 31, 2016
Sony brings its budget-friendly Xperia E5 to the market
In the myriad of flagship devices that get announced almost every month, we tend to forget that a big chunk of Android customers comprises people that care little about all the fancy features higher-end devices carry, and mostly need a tool to get a few things done.
That’s the market Sony is targeting with its latest handset. After quickly retracting all mentions of the Xperia E5 from social media briefly after unveiling it last week, the Japanese firm is officially announcing the device today…
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories April 12, 2016
Sony’s over-specced Xperia Z5 Premium now comes in pink
While the biggest smartphone news of the day belongs to the HTC 10, Sony has announced that the over-specced Xperia Z5 Premium will now come in pink. Nothing has changed internally and the device will be available in select countries starting in May.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories March 28, 2016
Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for Sony Xperia Z5 being pulled following Play Store issue
Following some serious issues with performance, Sony Canada has advised its Xperia Z5 and Z5 Premium customers that it is temporarily pulling the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories March 18, 2016
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Sony Xperia Z5 Stories March 7, 2016
Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for Xperia Z5 series smartphones begins global rollout
While manufacturers like HTC, Motorola and LG were all relatively quick to jump onboard the Marshmallow bandwagon, Sony — its seems — was happy taking its own sweet time. Following its Japan-only release, it appears as though Android Marshmallow is starting to land on international variants of the Sony Xperia Z5 series handsets.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories February 29, 2016
Now that Samsung, LG, Sony and Alcatel have announced their flagship phones for 2016, its competition won’t be far behind. HTC is expected to announce the One M10 soon and Huawei will unveil the P9. While new phones are exciting, perhaps even better news is that last year’s best phones are now available at lower prices, and they’re still great smartphones.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories February 24, 2016
After much rumor and speculation floating around over the last couple of days, Sony has now confirmed in a statement that its Z series of flagship smartphones is now dead. The Z line has “reached its culmination,” according to the Japanese company, and it’s now time for a “new chapter and evolution” in its product strategy…
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories February 16, 2016
Marshmallow coming to UK Sony Xperia Z5, Z4 Tablet, & Z3+ on March 7
While Sony’s Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact have just made their way to the US, their British equivalents should start getting Marshmallow early next month. According to the Xperia UK Twitter account, the Z5 series, Z4 Tablet, and Z3+ should get Android 6.0 on March 7th with more details coming later.
Sony has already discounted the hard-sell Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact by $50+
Sony has had a lot of pricing problems with the Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium. It seems like the company thought that its phones somehow stood out from the crowd (which they do in some ways), but it’s clear that the market just doesn’t see it. After reducing the phones’ prices before even launching them, Sony has now dropped them yet again by $50 and $60…
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories February 8, 2016
Sony Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact now available in the States, $599 and $499 respectively for sans fingerprint sensor versions
As previously announced by the manufacturer, Sony has now started selling the unlocked, fingerprint sensor-free versions of the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact in the US for $599 and $499 respectively. They’re available from Amazon, Best Buy and B&H plus a few other popular online retailers from now, although they’re not all selling them at the suggested retail price. Best Buy has already discounted the Compact version by $50.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories January 18, 2016
With the Xperia Z5 having only just been officially confirmed for the US market (albeit without a fingerprint sensor), you could be forgiven for assuming Sony won’t announce anything at MWC in Barcelona this year. Turns out, you’d probably be wrong for doing so.
The Japanese tech giant is reportedly sending out invitations to an event which is due to take place at the main MWC venue, Fira Gran Via on Monday, February 22nd. According to the invitation published by XperiaBlog, the event is set to kick off at 8:30 Central European Time (2:30am Eastern).
We’re not exactly sure what to expect from Sony in Barcelona this year. We’d like to see a new Android Wear smartwatch, perhaps one with a little more style than its current offering. As much as we’re not ready to see the next Xperia Z generation yet, it wouldn’t surprise us at all if Sony unveiled the Z6 (or slightly boosted version of the Z5). They might even announce the recently leaked C-series device.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories January 15, 2016
Sony doesn’t really have the best history of selling their smartphones in the United States, and this probably won’t help them. Yesterday, Sony announced that the five-month-old Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact are coming unlocked to US retailers starting next month. It appears, though, that these devices have a very important caveat: no fingerprint sensor.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories January 14, 2016
Hot on the heels of announcing the brand new pink version of its flagship smartphone, Sony has announced that it’s bringing the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact to the US market starting next month. Once they land, it’ll mark the first time the company has sold its unlocked smartphones in the States since the Xperia Z3.
Spec-wise, both phones are up there with the best of the phones from 2015…
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories January 12, 2016
Sony Xperia Z5 gets a new pink coat
Sony published a blog post this morning to announce that it’s adding a new color variant to its Xperia Z5 lineup: Pink. The new Z5 Pink has all the same specifications and features as the rest of its family, but is in a fresh hue, which Sony claims took a long time to research and create.
According to the company’s lead designer, Rikke Gersten, it wasn’t just a case of making a pink phone. They wanted to find the right shade of pink to compliment the other frosty, subtle colors in the range.
“Choosing a colour is a detailed process. The material of the phone and the design of the curves and edges play an important role and has a great impact on which colour is best suited. We knew we wanted to add pink to the Z5 series from our very first moodboards and sketches as it seemed to compliment the colour palette to the rest of the range.
But to get the tone right with the frosted glass and aluminium frame did take some time. We researched many places in which the most beautiful shades of pink can be found, from nature and Japan’s own Sakura cherry blossom right through to the colours in the sky during a beautiful sunset. We wanted the colour to appear strong and modern, and here the material is playing an important role. I feel what we have achieved with the light dusky pink is fresh, contemporary and modern in the Z5 materials. ”
Of course, Sony isn’t the only company to release a pink version of its flagship smartphone. After Apple released the Rose Gold iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the number of pink premium phones has seemingly been on the rise. Samsung released a ‘Pink Gold’ Galaxy Note 5, LG has a pink leather G4 rear cover and HTC recently launched a pink version of its One M9 to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Sony’s new rose gold pink Xperia Z5 will be available to buy from next month. The company didn’t mention which specific markets or carriers would be getting the new shade. It’s most likely safe to assume that any retailers or carriers selling the Z5 in its current variants will also sell it in pink, although there’s always a possibility that certain resellers get short-lived exclusives.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories October 6, 2015
Sony has joined the likes of Motorola, HTC and Google in announcing which of its products will (eventually) receive the sought-after update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Sony’s list includes several Xperia devices, old and new, and spans devices back to 2013. So, even if you have a Sony Xperia M5, you’ll be able to get the brand new OS on your device at some point. The Xperia-makers state in their blog post that they’ve “been working hard to bring this major update to as many of our devices as possible, as quickly as we can.”
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories October 2, 2015
Intelligent Active image stabilization on the Xperia Z5 is insanely good [Video]
Intelligent Active mode has been a feature of Sony’s Xperia line for years now, but it looks like the Japanese company is just continually making improvements. Surely benefitting from the rest of the Xperia Z5’s camera enhancements, the below videos demonstrate just how good Sony’s SteadyShot with Intelligent Active mode is…
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories September 11, 2015
When the Xperia Z family first launched a few years ago, Sony proudly advertised their waterproof capabilities. For almost every generation of phone, up until this year, the hardware manufacturer used imaged of phones being used to take photos in swimming pools, or in the sea, as a way to sell its products. They’ve even come with some impressive-sound IP-rated certificates to prove their durability under water. And, while the the Xperia Z5 range comes with IP68 rated waterproofing, you might want to refrain from taking them to the beach to take your own underwater pics…
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories September 7, 2015
Sony Xperia Z5 Snapdragon 810 chip avoids overheating using “dual-pipe” method
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor came under much scrutiny in its early days on the market. Early uses complained about the processor overheating too easily, specifically in the Sony Xperia Z3+/Z4. A teardown posted to Weibo clearly indicates that Sony has opted to use a dual-pipe system in the Z5 and Z5 Premium to better dissipate hit from the processor to help it last longer before overheating…
The Sony Xperia Z5, Z5 Premium and Z5 Compact have all had price cuts before they’ve even hit the market. Prices were revealed just a few days ago, and Sony has already seen fit to adjust the price points. Perhaps in response to the sense of disbelief at how expensive they would be…
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories September 2, 2015
Sony this morning announced three new phones under its Xperia brand: the Xperia Z(zed?)5, a smaller Xperia Z5 Compact, and a higher-end Xperia Z5 Premium. It can be a bit confusing trying to differentiate between the three, so we’ve put together full specification lists for them. Behind all of Sony’s marketing mumbo-jumbo, this is what you can find inside these three devices… expand full story
Two last minute leaks seemingly confirm the Sony Xperia Z5‘s existence, and show off the smartphone in some of the best quality images we’ve seen yet. A retail store poster appears to reaffirm previous rumors that we’re going to see Sony announce a small, medium and large version of the Xperia Z5 at IFA a little later today.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories August 31, 2015
Ahead of its official press announcement in Berlin later this week, Sony’s upcoming flagship smartphone family has been shown on video in what appears to be a pre-release interview recording with press, which somehow managed to find its way to YouTube. The video is in French, and YouTube’s auto-translating tool isn’t the hottest. Still, we’re now expecting Sony to release a trio of smartphones.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories August 27, 2015
New Xperia Z5 press pictures leak from official channels
XperiaBlog.net is reporting that official Sony Mobile accounts across social media channels today inadvertently published press pictures of the yet-unannounced flagship Xperia Z5 smartphone. Note that we ourselves weren’t able to verify this.
Sony itself teased earlier this week the unveiling of a smartphone “with greater focus,” and that all would become clear on the 2nd of September. That date, of course, falls during IFA Berlin, the annual technology trade show where Sony will be present and has been known to unveil new hardware. The images seem to show the phone packing another one of Sony’s Exmor RS pixel-stacked image sensors, although XperiaBlog.net states that the images confirm this one is a 23MP sensor — Sony doesn’t publicly list a 1/2″ 23MP sensor on its sales site, so it would have to be one they haven’t announced yet.
Aside from that, the images show the phone in gold, white and dark turquoise colors, as well as an “Xperia” logo engraved on one side, which we haven’t seen on previous models. We predicted earlier this week that this new phone could come with Sony’s hybrid autofocus technology, which Sony says combines two technologies — Phase detection AF for quick response and Contrast detection AF for added precision — to allow “fast, accurate focusing in all situations, even if your subject is moving.” Sony’s software is widely panned for softening up images and doing other things to negatively degrade them.
Sony Xperia Z5 Stories August 4, 2015
Possible Sony Xperia Z5 and Compact leak shows larger power button with built-in fingerprint sensor
Having just launched its latest super mid-range smartphones, Sony will turn its attention to the next flagship launch which is surely just around the corner. If a recent leak holds any truth, the next Xperia could jump on the fingerprint sensor bandwagon and incorporate the feature in to its side-mounted power button.
An image tweeted by Vizileaks shows what it claims to be the next generation Xperia Z and Z Compact separated by an iPhone 5s. For the sake of saving confusion, we’ll call them the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact for now.
What’s really interesting about these images is that they clearly show fingerprint recognition setup screens on the display. The closest device (Z5) shows the progress icon, which isn’t too dissimilar to those we’ve seen on other phones. Look at the furthest phone and you can see a tutorial screen clearly showing the user how to register the fingerprint; by placing their thumb on the power button.
This power button seems vastly different in design to previous Xperia phones. It’s a large, pill-shaped button rather than a tiny, fiddly round button like the one featured on the Z3.
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Like previous iterations of Xperia, it would appear that the next pair will feature very similar form factors to every other Android-based Sony smartphone in recent history. Although unsurprising, that is a little disappointing.
Sony announced a new Xperia Z at IFA last year, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the company chose to refresh its lineup once again at the Berlin tech show. It would fit in with the manufacturer’s release schedule, although there’s no guarantee Sony will choose to do so this year.
