Sony Mobile is planning to release a new Beta Marshmallow update later this week with build number 23.5.A.1.238. Sony says the update includes 300 fixes/improvements including the addition of the new Xperia Home launcher with landscape support and fixes for the Calendar and Style Portrait applications.
The company is also releasing a new feature called ‘Soft Charging’, which Sony says will help to maximise your handsets battery lifespan. When switched on, Soft Charging will increase the number of recharging cycles of your battery and prevent degradation over time. You will be to toggle this setting in the following location: Settings > About Phone > Status > Charging Optimisation.
Sony has said that the feature may end up shortening the battery life per charge, but it should increase the overall lifetime of your battery. The new firmware will be available to all on the beta including Xperia Z2 (D6503), Z3 (D6603) and Z3 Compact (D5803) owners.
Some may question why this feature is being introduced for older handsets, considering that most may have owned their devices for a year or longer. Therefore, their batteries may already be degraded to a certain extent. However, this won’t be the case for all owners and it will likely help to see how it can implement similar software across other, more newer handsets. The likes of the Xperia X series already has a similar feature in the form of Qnovo Adaptive Charging. We will let you know once the new update starts to roll.
Thanks Niek and pv18693!
