14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Mobile has started rolling out an experimental update to Sony Xperia X smartphones, introducing a Battery Saver feature and camera app shortcuts. The update carries build number 38.3.A.0.83 and some of its features resemble the old STAMINA mode.
The new Battery Saver from Sony brings back some features from the old STAMINA mode, similar to Android’s Doze feature, according to XperiaBlog. Back in the day, before Android brought Doze mode in Marshmallow, Sony users had their own battery saving feature called STAMINA mode.
The mode helped reduce power consumption without slowing down the phone or having a negative impact on performance. However, Sony removed the STAMINA mode when Xperia smartphones received updates to Marshmallow, in order to give way for Android’s Doze mode with similar features.
New quick settings and shortcuts for the camera
The Sony Battery Saver feature allows users to enable the mode when the battery drops below a certain level; users can choose any level below 50%. It comes with the option to automatically turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, auto-sync and adjust the screen’s brightness level and timeout. The feature can be enabled from the Settings menu, Battery, and then Battery Saver.
Sony also brought new features for the camera on Xperia X phones, including quick settings and camera app shortcuts. The new shortcut allows users to record videos or snap selfies with the push of a button in the Quick Settings menu or the tap-and-hold menu in the launcher. Sony also expanded VoLTE support for Spain (Vodafone) and UK (EE/Three) users.
Recently, Sony halted the Android 7.0 Nougat rollout to all Xperia devices after encountering some unforeseen issues related to audio playback via third-party apps and SD card encrypted data read performance. Sony has decided to stop the rollout of the 7.0 Nougat update until the issues are resolved, so users wouldn’t be affected.
