With all the new devices coming out of the recently concluded IFA 2014, it seems an inevitable counterpoint that some old devices that are part of these manufacturer’s catalogs will get the proverbial axe. In Sony’s case, it recently declared “end-of-life” status to four devices – the Xperia L, M, SP and C. What this technically means is that there will no longer be firmware updates for these devices.


All of these devices were announced in 2013, with the Xperia L being announced the earliest in March. For the Xperia L and M, this was a bit anticipated already. Hardware-wise, these two devices will probably not be able to run Android 4.4 KitKat that smoothly – sporting dual-core 1Ghz Snapdragon processors. Of course, that will not stop tweakers from installing custom ROMs that are based on KitKat, but officially – the last update for these devices was in March this year for Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

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The Xperia SP was a bit more powerful, sporting a 1.7Ghz dual-core Snapdragon processor, an Adreno 320 GPU and 1GB RAM. And yet it still got the axe, the last update for it rolled out February this year for Jelly Bean.

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But if anyone has the right to feel aggrieved, it will probably be owners of the Xperia C. This device was launched in July 2013, running on a less expensive but 1.7Ghz quad-core MediaTek processor. The Xperia C has gotten very little attention from Sony, only getting 3 minor firmware updates in its lifetime – it stayed at Android 4.2 its whole life, at least officially. The only love this device will get now is through custom ROMs, which probably gets it at least to KitKat level. Do you own any of these devices? What are your plans for it now?

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VIA: Xperia Blog (1), (2), (3)

7 COMMENTS

  1. Definitely not fair from Sony.and I got Xperia sp and its so annoyed to hear that. So im gonna change to Samsung note3 cuz Sammy always keep updating their devices. At least the 2013 devices

  2. Really unfair…..When Xperia M can get 4.3JB then why not Xperia L, both the phones has same tech specs. Xperia L having more internal memory i.e. 8GB
    then why not sony is giving 4.3 JB update for Xperia L….Totally Unfair from SONY. Really real bullshit.

  3. Never. again. a Sony for me. I own a Xperia SP which I believe is eligible to get more updates. But Sony, after giving us hope for a KK update, has abandoned us cruelly. I will never again believe them. I would rather buy a much more cheaper Micromax. Why should I pay an exorbitant amount for a device which does not get upates for at least 3 years when I can get a phone for just about 1/4 of its price!

  4. Hmmm. Same comments – always the same comments. HTC Desire HD anyone? HTC One S? Samsung have done the same in the past, too. As have Nokia with both Symbian and Android phones.

    MAYBE IT’S JUST SOMETHING WHICH HAPPENS??! If you want the latest shit, buy the latest shit. If you can wait, wait and buy it later. You can NEVER guarantee that phones will be upgradeable to as-yet-unknown OSs. DEAL WITH IT.

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