Sony Xperia SP Android 4.3 update problems emerge
It is not unusual for certain things to go wrong when a new firmware update is released to the masses and now some Sony Xperia SP Android 4.3 update problems emerge.
The Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update started to arrive to the Sony Xperia SP back in February, but despite a recent bug update being pushed out to end users an annoying problem has emerged that is affecting a number of owners.
It seems that many users are experiencing the display flickering since the Android 4.3 update was installed, and a number of videos have emerged highlighting the issue with one of them we have embedded below.
The issue has so far only been reported on handsets running the 12.1.A.0.266 and 12.1.A.1.201 software builds, and so far Sony has not acknowledged the problem that seems pretty widespread, and this comes as it seems the Sony Xperia SP won’t be treated to the Android KitKat update.
Have you been affected by this problem?
Source: Xperia Blog.
Comments
72 thoughts on “Sony Xperia SP Android 4.3 update problems emerge”
yaa .. my xperia is also having screen flickering issue. And also xperia sp hangs too much. Sometimes i have to restart my xperia. very disappointing. I hope that sony will roll out new bug fix firmware.
My sony experia SP now keeps crashing and its really slow after this software update, is anyone else experiencing this?
Hi yeah struggled to actually get online from phone and to add since yesterday I can’tuse any part of my phone to answer a call it’s around. 60 secs very frustrating so selling phone and going back to sgs or bbz10. Oh and even alarm didn’t go off and missed several very important messages
Amy, I have the same problem, its keeps crashing every now & then with this update and all application are very slow even after removing some of the application like amazon
I hate sony after releasing this update … the screen flickering is so bad and also tne phone is very slow and the apps force closed … I downgrade my phone to 4.1.2 … why sony didnt release a bug update especially the screen flickering or atleast confirmed this bug as the sony developers didnt recognised this bug
For all those who are having screen flickering problems, turn off auto brightness and set brightness manually to 50%. This will be my LAST SONY mobile if the company does not release Android 4.4 for SP. In fact, 4.1 was much better.
My sp keeps crashing and won’t let me unlock the screen most times! So frustrating!
Driving me nuts. Wish had never installed update: slow, keeps freezing, apps don’t load, Facebook won’t load, randomly turns itself off!!! Rubbish
This sucks! I’m now beginning to despise this phone and sony in general. I have only had this xperia sp for 4 months and since the update, it constantly crashes, won’t unlock, Walkman works when it feels like it, calls, texts, instant messaging are a no go most of the time (eg, yesterday it took me 5 MINUTES to type a simple whatsapp due to it freezing and saying app not responding) the above is only afew of the problems currently happening with my phone and I’m stuck with this piece of crap for another 1.5 years!! Sony you suck!!!!!!!!
I have the exact same problem as the guy below me. it’s starting to really bug me now.
I have the exact same problem as ced, but I also have to charge it atleast 3 times a day now, battery improvement was a total lie.
You call that a bug?? I wish that’s the bug I’m having to deal with since I updated to 12.1.A.1.201 last week.
All I need to do is to use my phone, and then leave it for a while, on going back to it, 95% of times, it’s crashed… If it was on “message” before, You get things like “Message not responding”, pressing either “wait” or “ok” to kill makes no difference, because it then takes another “forever” minutes to eventually restart itself…. SO SO frustrating.
Funny, it’s currently crashed even while typing this, all i see is my notification bar at the top, Title called “Contact Details”, and a white screen, without any of the bottom three button thingy displaying.
I liked my phone before this update.. The update definitely made it prettier and smarter, but its now getting useless and mostly unusable.. So REALLY, I wish my bug was that a screen is simply flickering every now and then..
im having the same trouble , phone just freezes and says not responding close or wait takes ages to open and close an app, phone is a nightmare, never buying sony again. they need to releas a fix for this and quickly
Phone freezes regularly, screen inoperative, applications crash, phone next to useless. This update is not fit for purpose Sony…
Phone won’t unlock, camera stops working, barely useable – Can I get rid of this update? PLEASE?!
since the update my phone is shocking takes ages to do anything and then it sometimes shuts downs and it was working fine before the update
sony used to be the dogs now its bollock
Mine doesn’t flicker but it freezes like mad, and it lags often and it was fine before the update. But to shut us out of KitKat when it might fix the issues, that’s hardly fair. I shouldn’t have to buy a new phone just to get something that works because of problems with an update that wasn’t our fault, it’s ridiculous. They should be trying to fix it, not just dump it on us and not try and help us. I wish my screen flickering was the issue, it’d be bearable compared to the problems it has.
After 4.3 update itself my phone became very bad… I couldn’t use it in a smooth manner…
While opening apps and using Internet, it is hanging.. But before 4.3 update it’s very smooth..
There are lot of inconvenience arising while using it.. Overall the performance of the phone becomes low..
i dont have screen flickering problem but i experience a lot of lagging, apps crashing and now my camera has stopped working altogether just comes up a blank screen everytime i try to open it up…o had this phone less than a mnth…think i will be returning it!!!
My phone keeps crashing as well although my camera is still working. After reading a lot of comments saying their camera doesn’t work, I’m really afraid this will happen to me also. If it does, I’m just going to return it. End of story.
I’m having the same problems mentioned below. Phone keeps freezing and crashing, apps won’t open, camera won’t work, phone is unusable. Is anything going to be done about this?
Same here! When I went to buy this the salesman told me I should buy this instead of Sony Xperia T and I think I regretted it (I don’t know if T has same problems but still). I WANT IT TO BE FIIXEDD I paid 300euros for this piece of…. uughhh!
i have contacted sony support, they tell me i need to send my phone in for a repair, they dont seem to recognise theres a problem with this update. i recommend other people ring them, they might recognise theres a proplem with this update
i hope sony settles these issue with kitkat update and give us the sp owners some relief.
absolute nightmare. It has taken me 4 hours to even open a text message as it keeps on saying “not responding” i am close to throwing my phone out of the window to see if it will respond then!
Same here! How can we fix this?
Same here
Is there any way of removing the update. Mine keeps crashing
Mine keeps crashing too! It’s SO annoying! Oh, and it just restarted on it’s own. UGH
KitKat update is “under investigation” & SP didn’t passed 18 months already…So SP users do not listen to the BS comments
I think update your phone without sim card, because I update my phone without it. No problem I have encountered yet.
Joe, i update whithout sim too….and i got flickering screen.
My screen wasn’t flickering but phone was crashing like everyone else’s. I’ve uninstalled or disabled all the extra amazon and Google apps that have suddenly appeared, plus any that were on the phone when I got it-deeper etc, and it’s made a massive difference. Camera now works, Facebook loads etc. So far, so good.
So so angry re this…my phone is like a 2 yr old phone now…freezing , shutting down, wont let me access anything….why cant they sort this out…..I need a new phone now
Knackered my phone – SONY -> this is ridiculous!!!
Is there a fix ?
What a terrible update. If you don’t fix this, I’ll NEVER buy another Sony product. Not just phone…
My son and I have Xperia SP phones – both have the update – both useless. For 24 months with EE that’s almost £1200. Daylight robbery. Will Sony compensate me for this? Only in my dreams….Never again will I invest in any Sony product
So annoyed about the update. It has ruined my phone.
No flickering screen but just unbelievably slow! It takes around 30 seconds to open email app and then open the new email. It’s horrible. Apparently doing reset/reinstall via Sony Update Service (NOT PC companion) will fix it though.
Had the same issue, installed new update at the weekend and now my phone is so slow. takes forever to open up and access emails or other apps. contacted orange and EE direct but nothing they can do. Had other problems before with mobile data/backlight/wifi and Bluetooth being disabled. Add this balls up to the growing list.
Forgot to add that I’m now on my 5th handset “good will gesture” from orange as I have no insurance. Was quoted £275 to leave my current contract.
My phone wont even switch on after this update
I’m with mike , I also will never invest in another Sony phone, I am extremely frustrated
oh my and i thought i was the only one experiencing such. how i wish i never upgraded my phone. this is really irritating. Sony should get their act together
Want be buying another sony phone th thing is c**p ever since the update liked the phone before hate it now
I have had all these problems now fed up of phone but have to buy out of contract only upgraded december thinking of buying anything else to get rid of this phone
it isnt Sony’s fault but Google, they are the ones responsible for the KitKat firmware.
I did both upgrades, the 4.3 and the 4.3 “fix”, made the phone absolute rubbish. It was so slow and laggy, I remember once answering a call and after swiping across to answer it the phone just kept ringing. Embarrassing, lasted for a couple of minutes. Eventually I downgraded to 4.1.2 and that has been a blessing. Back to fast phone, smooth interface and snappy app changes. I don’t know why they completed the update in the first place. If you hate the phone, try flashing it down again and see how it goes.
How does one go about doing this? I’m new to the whole idea and loathe this update.
How do you downgrade? My phone keeps crashing and battery drains really quick since upgrading to 4.3. Actually been close to throwing my phone at the wall multiple times because it annoys me so much!
How did you downgraded your phone to 4.1.2 ? did you take somewhere ?
Please let me know cause i have the same issue
I have had this problem occur once but since i updated my SP, my battery life has gone downhill completely. I had a similar problem with my Nokia Lumia a few years back when i updated it the battery life went downhill and eventually the phone didn’t work. (i know its a different OS but i can see the same happening to my SP) annoying
I have contacted Sony on numerous occasions about these problems with my SP only to be fobbed off, they just don’t want to know.
I’m absolutely disgusted at their customer service, their software has rendered my phone pretty much unusable and they just kept telling me what I should try, why not just admit there is a problem and get to work on a fix, at least then they may be able to tell us when the phones will be useable again.
I have demanded a replacement and been told no so have given them a week to come up with an amicable solution or I will be contacting Watchdog
Who is with me on this?
How did you solve the problem? I have contacted Sony support centre also and they sent me an email tellning me to try to perform a repair of the software using PC Companion. I have tried but it did not work out.
I still have the problems with my Sony SP but Sony have now acknowledged the problems have told me they are working on an update to fix the issues, sorry but it just sounds like a brush off to stop me messaging them over and over again.
I sent them a link to this review site so they could read all the complaints, though don’t think they are really bothered, I certainly won’t be buying Sony again.
Sony really does not bother about all the feedback, I am another disgusted customer. Went to their support shop multiple times for the lag issue. You can get a swop/refund after they acknowledge that the multiple trips to the support shop constitute an “anomalous” happening and that “some customers may have less than perfect handsets” as told to me by support staff – thanks sony I didn’t need a brain to figure that out. Bottom line: they replaced my handset and I have zilch improvement. Sony belongs to the bin.
I’ve sent a complaint to watchdog.
I have recently changed my phone to an xperia sp because the reviews in general were good, but the 4.3 iteration of the OS is extremely slow, and very unstable. It reboots, it locks up, it is a real pain, I hope Sony are listening to users because this is totally unacceptable.
I had major problems with my sp after the update I took it back to the ee shop and they sent it away for repairs and now it’s back with the old firm ware and is working well don’t waste time contacting Sony they don’t care and are useless
Where is that ee shop that you sent it, because i would like to take mine too ?
I’ve had major problems with my SP after the 4.3 update, it’s extremely slow, the screen locks and the device just switches itself off even in mid call. Just been advised by EE that sony are releasing an update soon, but no idea when. Fat lot of good that is!! Hope Sony are able to release software update sooner rather than later as phone is so unreliable it’s heading for the bin
I have the same problem, the phone is near on impossible to use and it is so stressful, it doesn’t matter what I do, nothing is working. I have tried resetting it 3 times and it still proper slow and unresponsive. I seriously just want to throw my phone at the wall.
I have that problem whenevr i try to surf internet n playing online games it shut it off itself and restart and again and again untill i plug the charger what a waste.why this is happening its so frustrate dont know what to do
I received the latest update from Sony last week, so far the phone is back to normal with all the apps working as they should. Much quicker again now with no lag or freezing.
At last I have a usable phone back again but this has put my partner and a few friends off ever owning a Sony phone, bad move Sony.
Johnz
I have an xperia T running 4.1.2 and i cant use my mobile data while out , my missus has the same phone but on 4.3 and she has the same problem ….both suffer from horrible reboots mine did it most of the yesterday , i think its a problem with google apps being geared towards high end phones , when our phones are using an app that requires mobile data it crashes our lesser spec’d phones ,both phones also get really hot aswell…google and sony have some explaining to do
unroot ur phone
i had the same problem but now its fine
I have the Sony xperia sp love the phone until the dreaded update. Three days after doing the update the phone switched its self off, great! Straight to carphone warehouse were I purchased it from (4months ago) where it was sent away for repair then sent on to Sony as carphone warehouse could do anything with it! Three weeks its been repaired and waiting for it to get it back to store! I’m just wondering what software it will be running when its back??
I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER SONY PRODUCT AS LONG AS I LIVE. I’m so disappointed with my Xperia SP. It’s so slow its completely useless and it crashes constantly.
My Sony SP crashes on me at least once a week after the update. Has vowed not to buy Sony phones any more in the future after seeing the poor support from them to rectify this issue.
Superb Sony, all the below credits goes to you. Cheer up for this.
sony has really dissapointed me i hope your happy sony i am going to tell everyone i know never to buy a sony phone again nor any of your other products.