Sony has released its hotly-anticipated Android 10 upgrade for the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5. Last month, the Tokyo-based firm announced it would bring Google’s latest and greatest software to its newest devices in December. Weighing in at around 700Mb, the upgrade to Android 10 certainly shouldn’t clog up too much of your available memory. If you haven’t already received a prompt alerting you to a system update, you can obtain it manually via your phone’s settings menu.
It’s worth emphasising only Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 owners will be able to get the latest version of Android. Sony has already announced the Xperia 10, 10 Plus, XZ2, XZ2 Compact, XZ2 Premium and XZ3 will have to wait until 2020 onwards to receive Android 10.
So what’s new for Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 owners in Android 10? Well, a lot it turns out. Unlike a number of other smartphone vendors, Sony doesn’t diverge too much from Google’s stock Android skin. There’s a subtle tweak here and there, but for the most part, you’ll be using the operating system as Google intended.
There’s not a single headline feature that makes the jump to Android 10 immediately noticeable. But combined, every little feature makes a noticeable difference.
First and foremost, Sony Xperia fans will now be able to enjoy a system-wide dark mode. Not only will the gloomier look go easier on your eyes, it should also increase your battery life too.
Of course, it’s not just naive apps that support dark mode. Xperia owners will note a number of popular third-party offerings such as Instagram will also display pitch-black tones, too. Better yet, some will even turn their respective dark themes on by default if you’ve already got it enabled on a system-wide level.
Elsewhere, there’s also a new gesture navigation system baked into Android 10 that rids of the home button in favour of an inward swipe from either the left or right-hand side of your device. All in all, the new Android gestures work very similar to those introduced by Apple for its iPhone X back in 2017.
Google has once again gone all out with software trickery in Android 10 and the whole operating system feels smarter because of it. For instance, now if you receive a text from a friend for family member that mentions an address, the notification for the message will contain a link that’ll let you quickly see the location in Google Maps.
Then there’s new permissions that certainly represent a huge privacy boost for Android. The biggest change here is with location settings – users now have more control over when and how apps are able to capture their location.
There’s also a number of other Android 10 features that are worth shouting about, such as a new share sheet, Focus Mode and an improved Files app.
Want to know even more about Android 10? You can read our comprehensive guide to its new features here.