Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact Lollipop Update

I got a notification from my phone about updating to Android 5.0.2 Lollipop this morning.  I was already using it on my Nexus 4 and liked it, but it ran horribly slow on that phone.  That was one of the things that prompted me to pickup the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.

One thing that I was disappointed about with the update process is that it is not an OTA update.  You have to do it through your computer.  It's a fairly large download, so I guess I can understand the reasoning, but it's still disappointing after getting everything pushed to my previous Nexus phones.

The download didn't take too long on my 100mbps fiber but your experience may vary.  After that the companion software doesn't seem to do much but drop the file onto the phone and turn it off for you.  It then instructs you to turn it back on after unplugging and starts the install process.  The actual install is pretty much the same as any other phone upgrading to lollipop, including the lengthy "Optimizing app" section.

So far I've enjoyed the update and haven't noticed any negatives to it.  It runs circles around my Nexus 4 running 5.0.1.  It's almost a completely stock Android experience with minimal Sony spread on top of it.  The only thing I've really changed from Sony's default is the keyboard.  I found that the stock Google keyboard is much better than the Xperia keyboard.

-Sean

2 comments:

  1. Can you please share the update process step by step. Thank you.

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  2. The update process is fairly straight forward, but not quite as simple as an OTA update. The biggest difference and the first step is getting the "Sony PC Companion" software from the Sony Mobile site.

    http://support.sonymobile.com/global-en/xperiaz3compact/

    After you get that installed you connect your phone to the computer and choose update in the PC Companion software.

    It will walk you through the steps, but for the most part it will have you click through a few screens then start downloading the update. Expect this to take a few minutes.

    Once downloaded it will push it to your phone and turn it off.

    A couple of minutes later it will ask you to disconnect your phone and turn it on.

    After that the update will install itself. This will take some time though.

    The last step before enjoying your new update is to update all your apps. The Lollipop will break compatibility with some apps, but most will probably just need an update from the app store.

    Enjoy!

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