Sony Xperia M, L and SP are left behind

Sony has decided to pull the plug on some of last year’s releases, namely the Sony Xperia M and M Dual, Xperia L and Xperia SP. That means that for those of you who own these smartphones, an Android update will not be issued.

Sony has had great success with the new Xperia line, including the Xperia Z1, Xperia Z2, Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact the past year so the company has announced that earlier releases will no longer be receiving the Android 4.4 KitKat update, but will be left at Android Jelly Bean. The Xperia L will be lef at Jelly Bean 4.2, the Xperia SP at Jelly Bean 4.3 and the Xperia M and M Dual at 4.2.

All the Xperia phones that have lost Sony’s software support have the specs necessary to run Android 4.4 KitKat, so we’ve yet to receive information on the actual reason why Sony is not pushing the update to these phones. The good news is, that since the smartphones have 1 GB RAM and dual-core CPUs, that means you can get KitKat on them without the support of Sony.

Alas, it’s not an easy task, since you will probably have to root the devices and use CyanogenMod 11 to install Android 4.4 KitKat. Rooting your device will most likely void your warranty, but you probably don’t have much of it left since the Xperia L was released in March 2013, the same time the Xperia SP was announced and the Xperia M in June 2013 and the Xperia SP. If you got them close to their release date, you probably won’t regret voiding your warranty, but if you got them at a later date and still have a year left of your warranty, you should think twice before rooting.

Android KitKat is the best Android OS so far, with the upcoming Android 5.0 (L, Lemon Meringue Pie, Lollipop, Lion, who knows) expected to be even better. If you do feel like you’re in need of updated OS, you should definitely go for KitKat because it offers a lot of awesome features for you to discover, besides fluid workflow and improved battery consumption.

Many people are quite discontent with Sony choosing to abandon support for these relatively new phones, while pushing updates to the Xperia Z, ZR, ZL and Tablet Z, taking them from Android 4.4.2 to Android 4.4.4. The Xperia Z line which will be receiving the update soon has been plagued by battery and performance issues ever since receiving the Android 4.4.2 update, so that’s why Sony decided to push the update as fast as possible.

It is considered by many that Sony is unfair towards their customers by not pushing updates to all the phones that support Android 4.4 Kitkat. Since KitKat lowers system requirements considerably, users are saying that even the 1 GB Xperia phones not receiving the update would be capable of running the OS smoothly. Nonetheless, Sony’s announcement seems final, so for those of you willing to root, get CyanogenMod 11, it looks awesome anyway.

Update: The Sony Xperia C, launched in July 2013, will also be dropped by Sony, being left at Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.