14 DAY TRIAL // More good news for Xperia Z owners after Sony announced that the smartphone would receive an Android 4.4.2 KitKat upgrade sometime in May – the firmware has been recently spotted at EMMA.
For those unfamiliar, EMMA is a Sony flash tool for Xperia devices that allows users to flash software on their devices. Keep in mind that using this method will erase all data and content on the smartphone, so if you want to keep anything, you must back it up.
Anyway, the folks over at XperiaBlog report that firmware version 10.5.A.0.227 has been spotted on this flash tool, which means that it might be an early version of the build that is now being tested for the final release.
Last week, Sony confirmed that it would bring Android 4.4.2 KitKat platform on Xperia Z, ZL and ZR in May, but did not share any details regarding the exact release of the update.
This seems to be one of the first signs that Sony Mobile is working to bring the promised upgrade to Xperia Z owners, but as we’re getting closer to the deadline, we will probably have more info on the upcoming release of this major upgrade.
It is also worth mentioning that the firmware build spotted on EMMA is aimed at Xperia Z model C660X, but aside from that, no additional info is available at the moment.
Sony Xperia Z was released on the market back in February and it is unclear whether it will receive another major Android update aside from KitKat. That will highly depend on when exactly Google will launch Android 5.0 or another major update.
Google has a(n) (in)famous policy for updates which says that all devices that are not older than 18 months qualify for a major update, but once these devices pass this threshold, they will be stuck forever on a certain Android OS.
The Xperia Z is likely to reach the 18-month cycle in August, which means that it will probably remain on Android 4.4.2 KitKat (or perhaps 4.4.3) until it gets discontinued.
It’s less likely that Google will launch another major update for Android until fall, but Xperia Z owners will still have the chance to update their devices with unofficial ROMs that include the latest features of the newest Android version.
This will probably come with some disadvantages, but some will prefer to keep the Xperia Z instead of switching to a new device, so this is their only option to upgrade to the latest version of Android.