This Week in Tech: Sony Xperia XZ leads in adoption rate among new flagships

MANILA, Philippines – This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise after we gave the Xperia XZ a good review, but it turns out Sony’s latest flagship is doing exceedingly well in a highly important metric.

Apteligent, a well-respected resource for modern statistics, discovered how great the adoption rate of the Xperia flagship has been during the second half of 2016. It’s currently beating the likes of the Google Pixel phones and Moto Z.

Looking at the drastic drop in users for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 after its discontinuation, it’s clear how people are choosing Sony as the alternative out of all brands. We find this quite interesting, as handsets like the LG V20 and OnePlus 3T would have been more fitting replacements based on features and performance.

Sony, for the most part, has been quiet lately, choosing to keep silent about its latest earnings and future mobile device plans. The Japanese company may be more focused on its PlayStation push, with its mobile devices taking a backseat until profits justify the efforts.

In other news, Samsung has taken over the top 10 chart of active Android smartphones in the world. With a global 38 percent share of usage, the list is lead by the Galaxy S5, followed by the S6 and S7 Edge. The list doesn’t even include some of the Galaxy Note 7 units that haven’t been returned yet, so the number could be higher.

There’s more interesting data you can browse through on Apteligent’s website. If you recall, we recently used its numbers to report about the difference in crash rates between Android 7.0 Nougat and iOS 10. That data hasn’t changed much up to this day.

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Nokia launches first post-Microsoft era phones

HMD Global’s acquisition of Nokia is now in full swing with the release of the Finnish company’s first truly Microsoft-free phones, the Nokia 150 and 150 Dual SIM.

While they aren’t anything like the Android smartphones we’ll be seeing at MWC next year, these two feature handsets are perfect throwbacks to what made Nokia so great.

Durable and affordable, the pair of phones maintain the same qualities its predecessors — the Nokia 105, Nokia 216, and Nokia 230 — used in becoming commercial successes in budget-conscious markets.

With a starting price of only $26, they’re also ideal secondary phones to whatever you’re using now. HMD Global claims these have “outstanding battery lives,” which would work well with the built-in FM radio and MP3 player.

You may find the 2.4-inch color display tiny by today’s standards, but you’ll have a decent VGA camera at the back with an LED flash for taking quick, less important snaps. (No front-facing camera, unfortunately.)

And, in true Nokia fashion, the phones come with Snake Xenzia pre-installed. You can also play Nitro Racing straight out of the box, but it’s a trial version you’re forced to pay for if you want the full game.

The only fault is the lack of 3G connectivity, but you get Bluetooth, a microSD slot, and 3.5mm audio jack instead.

The Nokia 150 and Nokia 150 Dual SIM will be available in either black or white in the first quarter of 2017. Asian, African, and European markets will be the first to get a taste of these feature phones.