Sony Confirms Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OTA Release to Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact, & Z3 Tablet Compact

By Staff Writer

Sep 04 2015, 21:09 PM EDT

Sony has officially announced on its blog that the 5.1.1 version of Android Lollipop is indeed coming to Xperia devices including Z3, Z3 Compact, & Z3 Tablet Compact. The Japanese tech firm debunks reports that it is skipping Android 5.1.1 Lollipop for the Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Although Sony has already released Android 5.1.1 Lollipop's flash tool late in July, the official over-the-air rollout is still coming up for those who have not updated their phones with Lollipop. Xperia Z3 variants that already received the update are Z3 Compact's D5803 units and Z3 Tablet Compact's SGP612 units.

According to Sony, the official over-the-air update for 5.1.1 Lollipop will come in stages as Google recommends. This means that there are phones who will receive the update on a later date than others. Expectedly, Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update weighs not exceeding to 1 GB.

Sony underscored that the update will come first in the Baltic and Middle Eastern regions. Italy, Spain, Austria, UK, and Singapore will follow. The final version of Lollipop will bring improvements in icons, home launcher, Material Design, power management, and bug fixes, including a security patch for the notorious Stagefright threat.

Changing icon size in home launcher settings is enabled.
Pressing up and down volume bars will bring the graphic up. Tapping the button on the right expands the volume menu.
Tapping the icon on the left side twice silences the phone.
New icons for the settings menu.

Other reported features and changes include:

Material Design. Lollipop gives the Material Design a cleaner minimalist design.
Device Switch. Lollipop now has a more convenient way to switch once device software using the near-field communication (NFC) which will set up the same format for apps, wallpaper and screen layout when transitioned.
Sync with Other Device. This operates using a Google account as key which also provides good access to apps, photos, docs and music from other devices.
Advanced Security. Following security threats, increased protection will guarantee stricter privacy of sensitive data especially when device is lost or stolen. Protection against malware and a better Smart Lock also takes tight grip of information to trusted devices.

To check the availability of the update, head over to Settings > About phone > Software updates > Check for update.