Looking at recent Android version distribution and understanding the fact that Android 8.0 is standing on the brink of survival i decided to look for an alternative future solution. As for 8.0, everything is working fine at the moment, I am just doing some research to test the waters out. [LineageOS 20] is a custom firmware based around Android 13 [last version which allows to run legacy applications]. Operating system has been unofficially backported to the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact in 2023.

As you may know [Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact] is my main web surfing phone on the go. I’m fully satisfied with it’s capabilities even in 2023. Except one little problem, related to GPS and speed of satellites detection. Issue showed up couple of months ago and it seems that i finally found an easy way to fix it. After some investigations i conclude that device has a hardware based problem, and to eliminate it completely you need to open phone casing and pull up antenna so it will have tighter surface touching with in-case metallic plate.

UPDATED ON: 2023-04-20 Important update, substantial refactoring, many errors fixed ▒ PREFACE WORDS Following instruction is dedicated to flashing stock Android 8.0 firmware for Russian region, but almost all information can be applied to USA or any other region firmware. So, no restrictions here. Remember that all commands and programs should be executed with admin privileges and your account must have administrator rights! If something goes wrong for some reason be sure to check [TROUBLESHOOTING] section!

A small note on how to make things rollin'. Default configuration of Keenetic Ultra makes XZ1 Compact to stuck in a loop during authorization process. If you can’t pair your XZ1 to 5Ghz WiFi network just switch router network to channel: 56 And you are good to go. Yeah, simple as that. See you around! Imagery by spacedrone808 @Adobe Imagery by spacedrone808 @Freepik

Simple repost of an excellent YT review on my current trusty websurfer ► [Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact] smartphone. Imagery by spacedrone808 @Adobe Imagery by spacedrone808 @Freepik

UPDATED ON: 2023-04-19 Most modern marketing smart-phones are mumbling about support of really large SD cards. But only on Hi-End models. I’m not even speaking about pathetic iphones, which are disabled in terms of external storage due to the greed of executive directors. In this note i will check old mastodonts like: [Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact [2017]] [Nokia PureView 808 [2012]] for compatibility with such ENORMOUS storage device. Sony XZ1 Compact handles such capacity without any problems.

UPDATED ON: 2023-02-06 v1.0b: please [contact me] if you find errors or inaccuracies. In this guide i will quickly show my system configuration tweaked for privacy. I’m using essential stuff like 3G/4G/WiFi & BT. Additional pleasantries are blocked. █ ANDROID 8: OS WITH MINIMAL TELEMETRY Operating System: Android 8.0 [Android 8.1 ain’t good, coz it brought support of neural networks to do effective data mining] Security patch: 1st September 2018 FW Version: 47.

UPDATED ON: 2023-02-16 I’m not a big fan of Sony smartphones. Yeah, their products almost always packed with technology, but in terms of engineering ideas and realization things they suck pretty badly. Same point of view regarding their photography division. But nevertheless I’m using Sony XZ1 Compact as my main portable web gateway on daily basis. Using it due to ultra-compact size and no alternatives available. It’s a 2017 flagship, based upon Snapdragon 835 CPU and paired with 4Gb of RAM.