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Sony is doing right by its troubled new flagship with a surprisingly quick Android 16 update

The Xperia 1 VII is Sony's first device to get the latest Android version in stable form... well ahead of many of the best phones from other brands out there.

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Sep 18, 2025, 3:44 AM

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Unveiled in May, released in June, stopped from domestic sales in July, and re-released in August, the Xperia 1 VII is facing another "milestone" in September.

This time, however, Sony's latest ultra-high-end handset is in the spotlight for all the right reasons, beating so many of the best Android phones money can buy today to the Android 16 punch. I'm talking about a stable update here, mind you, which apparently started in complete discretion a couple of days ago.

Yes, you can say that Sony technically managed to globally update the Xperia 1 VII to the newest OS version before Samsung did the same for the Galaxy S25 series, even though the two achievements can't really be compared for fairly obvious reasons.

One of those is the much greater popularity of Samsung's latest premium smartphone family, which undoubtedly made it harder for the company to test and ensure that all the Android 16 goodies are stable and safe to use for the masses, and perhaps more importantly, the OS is tweaked and enhanced with all sorts of cool One UI 8 stuff on Galaxy devices.

I was excited when my phone updated to 69.1.A.2.268 this morning but after rebooting I've no idea what was updated

Redditor "wastedyouth" on the lack of Android 16 changes, September 16, 2025

The Xperia 1 VII, meanwhile, seems to have received a collection of UI revisions, add-ons, and new features that's much closer to Google's "vanilla" vision, which unfortunately means that you might not notice many big changes once you leave Android 15 behind.

On the bright side, that makes the 1.1GB over-the-air update pretty easy to download and install on your fancy new (and, hopefully, functional) Xperia phone, which you should absolutely do no matter if you think you needAndroid 16 or not.

Are you interested in buying the Xperia 1 VII now?

I'm starting to think about it No, because I already own one No, software updates don't matter that much No, because the phone is simply not for me No, because the phone is not available in my country

It's always a good idea to stay on the latest software versions, at least if you've made sure they're safe to install, which seems to be the case here based on early feedback from multiple Redditors.

Curiously enough, Android 16 comes with August security patches... in September on the Xperia 1 VII, which is definitely not a good look for Sony. It shouldn't be a big problem, of course, as another update could arrive in the near future, but it doesn't really send the best message from a mobile security standpoint.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.

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