Almost a month ago, we noted that the Sony Xperia X Compact and Xperia XZ are not getting a fingerprint scanner in the United States once they roll out. That’s confusing because the sensor is there so why won’t Sony enable the feature? Actually, Sony didn’t say anything about it but there was no mention of it when the Xperia X Compact and XZ were announced in the US.
The US website didn’t include the fingerprint scanner on the list of specs so we were wondering why. It seems that it’s only a software limitation because apparently, you can re-enable the feature according to some XDA geniuses. All you need to do is flash the handset to a different region. Don’t choose US once you see the option.
You only need to flash the UK firmware so the fingerprint sensor will be enabled. So from build number 1304-9026 of the US Xperia XZ, you should see the firmware customisation number 1305-2216 after the update. It’s that easy.
We still don’t know why the feature isn’t enabled by default but we’re guessing Sony made a mistake along the way. It’s not too late though for the tech company to make it available out of the box.
VIA: Xperia Blog, XDA
