Sony confirmed it won’t give the Xperia 10 VI its promised Android 17 update

Software updates used to be a struggle even for the best Android smartphones, but in recent years this issue was largely solved. However, it turns out the Sony Xperia 10 VI will feel like a blast from the past, as it’s now officially skipping its last major Android update.

Sony Xperia 10 VI won’t get Android 17

Sony has confirmed the 2024 mid-ranger Xperia 10 VI won’t get Android 17. This comes as a surprise because the company promised three major software updates when the phone launched. 

The device was released with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset and Android 14, so the upgrade to Android 17 was supposed to be its major release. In a notice posted on Sony’s UK support site, the company said its hardware cannot support the upgrade.

The Xperia 10 VI has a storage configuration issue

In the notice, Sony says it did a “detailed technical assessment” before taking the decision not to make the Android 17 upgrade available. The assessment discovered that there are “limitations related to the device’s storage configuration” that would make the Android 17 experience inadequate.

In its message, the company apologized for the change, recognizing “that this falls short of our original announcement.” There are no further technical details about the limitations that made the Android 17 user experience bad enough to break such a promise.

This is the first time a major Android smartphone manufacturer has broken their promise for software updates. This decision is made even more baffling by the fact that it won’t affect other Sony phones, including the Xperia 10 VII, which sports the same 128GB storage and Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset.

Reactions from Sony users on Reddit were unanimously negative, with many comments suggesting this could lead to regulatory action. Of course, this decision was also painted as the company shooting itself in the foot and confirming it's not trustworthy.

There are still security updates coming

In its message, Sony also clarified that it’ll keep its promise to offer security updates for four years after the initial launch of the phone. This means the Xperia 10 VI should get security patches until June 2028.

The issue appears to be specifically related to this model’s “technical specifications,” and it won’t impact Sony’s promises for other Xperia models. Of course, we don’t know what technical requirements future versions of Android may have, so this could turn out not to be true as well.

Jost another nail in Sony’s coffin

With Sony largely out of Western markets and its sales dwindling over the last few years, I won’t be surprised if this is just another step towards the end of its mobile division. My only hope is that this remains a one-time issue and we won’t see other brands making the same type of decision in the future.

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