Owing to its small smartphone repository, Japan’s Sony Mobile is usually among the first to get going with major Android OS updates. The company’s contributions to Google’s AOSP (more on this later) also play a huge part in the timely release of OS updates.
The stable Android 10, for instance, arrived in early December 2019, about three months after Google’s release. The company is pretty much done with updating its devices to the new OS (Xperia 10 and 10 Plus still wait) and now attention is set to turn to the Sony Android 11 update.
Google should bring out the public beta version in May, as usual. Since Sony was well represented in last year’s Android Q beta testing program, there is no doubt that one or two Xperia handsets will enter this year’s Android R beta program as well.
Sony Xperia 1 II could be invited to try Android 11 beta
List of eligible devices
As noted, Sony doesn’t have a huge number of phones out there. This leaves only a handful of devices eligible for the big Sony Android 11 update.
Since the company’s software update policy is to provide at least two major OS updates, below are the devices we think Sony will upgrade to Android 11 OS:
– Sony Xperia 1 II
– Sony Xperia 10 II
– Sony Xperia 1
– Sony Xperia 5
If you own any of the above Xperia handsets, rest assured that an update to Android 11 will be made available officially. As for those donning the likes of Xperia 10 and its Plus counterpart as well as Xperia L4, all of which have Pie preinstalled, don’t get your hopes too high.
Of course, Sony is likely to release a couple or so more phones before the end of the year and since they’ll possibly come running Android 10 out of the box, they should easily fit the bill for the official Sony Android 11 update.
Sony Android 11 update release date [Expected]
In 2012, then Technical Lead of Android Open Source Project at Google, Jean-Baptiste Queru, named Sony Mobile as one of the leading contributors to AOSP. At the time, he said the following about Sony:
Since Sony has been contributing a lot to the Android Open Source Project, they have fewer changes that they need to maintain on their own: those changes of theirs are already there when the source code is first released.
Source
It didn’t end there. In 2017, Google named Sony as the standout AOSP partner. Google said Sony contributed more than 30 feature enhancements and 250 bug fixes to Android Oreo. There is no reason to believe Sony is no longer a lead contributor to the upcoming Android 11 update.
Sony Xperia 5 is eligible for Android 11 update
That said, Jean-Baptiste Queru’s words come into play. That since Sony has early access to AOSP than most vendors, the company’s Android OS stable updates can be expected not long after Google makes the stable version available.
But when will Google release the stable Android 11 update? Probably in mid or late Q3 2020 (August or September), just like Android Pie and Android 10 more recently. Granted, the stable Sony Android 11 update may arrive in Q4 2020, you know, just like what happened with Android 10.
It’s worth noting that the information contained in this article isn’t official. Sony hasn’t revealed its Android 11 update plans, but when it does, we will update our story with the official details.
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This article originally appeared on https://piunikaweb.com/2020/04/23/sony-android-11-update/
