Sony Announces Android 5.1 Lollipop Update for Xperia Z Series, Other Devices

After launching several handsets last month, and rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for several phones in the past few months, Sony on Thursday detailed its plans as to which Xperia smartphones will be receiving the Android 5.1 Lollipop updates later this year.

As per the company, the entire Xperia Z series will be receiving the Android 5.1 Lollipop update, along with the Xperia T2 Ultra and Xperia C3, starting July. The time and availability of the updates may vary depending on different regions. Sony also announced that the Xperia M2 and Xperia M2 Aqua handsets will be directly updated to Android 5.1 Lollipop from Android 4.4 KitKat, skipping the Android 5.0 Lollipop OS completely, and says this update will begin rolling out "a little after" the Android 5.1 update for the Xperia Z series.

To specify,, the Sony Xperia devices that will be receiving the Android 5.1 Lollipop update include Sony Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3v, Xperia Z3 Compact, Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, Xperia Z2, Xperia Z2 Tablet, Xperia Z1, Xperia Z1 Compact, Xperia Z1S, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia Z Ultra GPe, Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia M2, Xperia M2 Aqua, Xperia T2 Ultra and Xperia C3. The dual-SIM version of the handsets will also be receiving the update.

The company last month reportedly started rolling out the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop update to its Xperia Z and Xperia ZR handsets. The Japanese tech giant also announced it was rolling out a firmware update for its Xperia Z1, Xperia Z1 Compact, and Xperia Z Ultra smartphones with several bug fixes.

The Android 5.1 Lollipop update brings improved overall stability and an enhanced ART (Android Run Time) making apps open faster than before. Issues with "Okay Google" have also been fixed. One of most notable fixes is the return of the silent mode that was reported back in November was unavailable in the Android 5.0 Lollipop update. The update will allow Wi-Fi toggle to be handled directly from Quick Settings alongside Bluetooth. The update brings a fix for the memory leak issue that was reported to be affecting Android 5.0 Lollipop users leading to crashing of apps alongside fix for random app crashes of dialler and messaging apps. The Android 5.1 update also brings a fix for the SMS issue that affected limited users.