Is it worth upgrading from Android 10 to 11?

[Lysander]

Apologies for all the threads recently, maybe this will be one of the last.

My phone (Sony Xperia 10 II) currently uses Android 10 which I really like, it's smooth, functional, it's fast and it looks great. It's a fantastic operating system which I really enjoy using.

But the phone wants me to upgrade to Android 11. Is this an upgrade in the true sense of the word? Might it be slower, will I lose functionality, will some things annoy me?

10 is pretty much perfect for me, should I move to 11 for security improvements or can I stay where I am?

 

[biron_w]

The best thing is to find out what the differences are between 10 and 11. Sony will add different features compared to other manufacturers.

 

[Randomface74]

Always take the latest version to ensure compatibility with apps and security updates for the longest time.

 

[Orcvader]

Sony is usually good and stays close to stock. They don't have that many bugs after a major OS update from my previous experience.

A11 was first released for the 10 II back in January in the South East Asia first so it's been plenty of time to stop the rollout if any major bugs was found, so it should be safe to update.

 

[Lysander]

Interestingly, the reports are really bad about the Xperia 1 II being upgraded to Android 11.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/comments/l9td9n/android_11_is_bad_xperia_1ii/

The phone is incredible, but Android 11 on it is terrible. I will say, if you buy it, NEVER upgrade it to A11, or just use a custom A10 ROM with it.

I don't want anything on Android 11 to be fixed, I just want to get back to 10 where everything worked smoothly

Came here to voice my general displeasure at the nonsensical changes they have made in A11. I mean...the actual is that power menu about?! Why the hell is my screenshot button now 1 billion actions away from my fingers? What's with the weird 'currently open apps' menu??

I absolutely hate this update I agree with everything you are saying. Then went I went back to the goggle messenger it will not give me the option to do group text, they come in as a group but when I reply it goes one by one. The biggest thing I hate right now is that I can't connect my phone to my headphones or connect to my car through bluetooth. Everytime it's connected all is says is connected for phone calls and messages, it never pops up for audio.

OK, it's a different phone, but seeing as the Xperia 1 II is higher spec than the 10 II, it's not a good sign.

 

[ebilcake]

Worth it just to get rid of the update notification..... Yeah, not really worth it but you should install it anyway.

 

[rodders]

I have an X1 ii and like the A11 upgrade. Didnt notice anything to absolutely hate, or wish I never did the upgrade.

 

[chrcoluk]

Hard to say usually the bloggers etc. will just tell you the good points, but often google take as much as they give on an OS update. It can be hard to find a true changes list.

I ended up going with 9 over 8 on my OP6, and regret it, 9 removed call recording, advanced quick toggles, and also for OP6 phones 9 added some horrible super aggressive app killer so hardly any apps stay in memory even though the phone has 8 gig of ram.

 

[Lysander]

Worth it just to get rid of the update notification..... Yeah, not really worth it but you should install it anyway.

Can't see any good reason to install it. Android 10 is pretty much perfect for me which means Android 11 can only go one way.

One can always say "security" but I don't know anyone who's had a security incident with their phone or desktop. I'm not saying they don't happen, but I don't anyone who it's happened to unless it was PEBKAC.

With regard to "app compatibility", there are people the world over still using much older Android versions.

Installing 11 is very likely to be a worse user experience rather than better for me, so I'm sticking with 10 for now.

 

[MANFACE]

Just compare both for features. Check out reviews.

 

[ebilcake]

Can't see any good reason to install it. Android 10 is pretty much perfect for me which means Android 11 can only go one way.

One can always say "security" but I don't know anyone who's had a security incident with their phone or desktop. I'm not saying they don't happen, but I don't anyone who it's happened to unless it was PEBKAC.

With regard to "app compatibility", there are people the world over still using much older Android versions.

Installing 11 is very likely to be a worse user experience rather than better for me, so I'm sticking with 10 for now.

Installed it recently on my OP7 Pro and regretting it to be honest, lots of minor bugs which should never have been pushed out to people and the UI changes don't add anything. It's still probably best to do factory resets with major android updates as there are almost always glitches, but that's not always possible due to banking and authorisation apps needing to be setup again which is a pain.

This is one area where I have a bit more understanding and respect for the way Samsung deal with updates, yes they take longer but generally speaking the updates work as intended.

 

[Lysander]

Installed it recently on my OP7 Pro and regretting it to be honest, lots of minor bugs which should never have been pushed out to people and the UI changes don't add anything. It's still probably best to do factory resets with major android updates as there are almost always glitches, but that's not always possible due to banking and authorisation apps needing to be setup again which is a pain.

This is one area where I have a bit more understanding and respect for the way Samsung deal with updates, yes they take longer but generally speaking the updates work as intended.

Yes, Googling around, a lot of people aren't happy with Android 11 [I'm using just Reddit for a reference site there, though there are many others]. A11 seems to offer nothing apart from glitches, pointless app tweaks and device slowdown.

The OP from the topic linked in post #5 came back a couple of days ago to post on Reddit, so this is now two months after he first installed Android 11, to report back on whether he'd seen any improvement.

Nope, Android 11 still SUCKS! Even after a couple of "security" updates, it still is trash. ... Honestly most of these so called security upgrades are worthless to 99.99% of users. There is NOTHING Android 11 offers that is better than Android 10 as far as normal usability (unless you are really nit-picking). Gone are the days of "major" face-lifts and UI tweaks. To be honest with you A11 (for me personally) looks and feels worse than A10 - Notification grouping is stupid and the power-screen design is asinine, the notification menu shortcut grouping is reduced and is dumb... So, why would you (or anyone) be excited about A11 as an upgrade? It literally brings nothing to the table. As I said before, they are honestly releasing updates for the sake of updates and nothing else. I wish they would just concentrate on making things like universal system backups work instead of ****ing around with A10-A11 upgrades that are worthless.

It's just a cluster**** unfortunately. Best to wait for 12 [maybe] or stick with 10, it seems.

 

[Bug One]

My P30Pro recently went to 11. Can't see anything that's actually an improvement. Just a few UI animation tweaks that made it feel slower, so I had to turn off.

 

[Ree]

updated my poco x3 late last week and cant say i've noticed much difference nor any bugs either but its early days.

 

[Orcvader]

Yes, Googling around, a lot of people aren't happy with Android 11 [I'm using just Reddit for a reference site there, though there are many others]. A11 seems to offer nothing apart from glitches, pointless app tweaks and device slowdown.

The OP from the topic linked in post #5 came back a couple of days ago to post on Reddit, so this is now two months after he first installed Android 11, to report back on whether he'd seen any improvement.



It's just a cluster**** unfortunately. Best to wait for 12 [maybe] or stick with 10, it seems.

It really depends on the manufacter and their skin. OP in particular have been slipping behind for the past couple of years with their major OS updates, which is now common to have a few bugs. They've also started going with their own style as well starting with 11, so it no longer fully follows Pixel style Android.

 

[Lysander]

OK so I bit the bullet and went from Android 10 to 11 on my Xperia 10 II. I can't notice any difference in functionality, the only difference which is readily apparent are the animations.

That said, these animations are a bit clunky and the phone isn't as smooth as before. Fortunately it seems to be only because of the Xperia app launcher. I have changed it to Niagara, which is a excellent launcher, and it's now totally smooth.

 

[chrcoluk]

The rule I tend to follow is the android version released when the phone came to market is usually the best for that phone.

My one plus 8 pro, shipped with android 10, but also has android 11 support, the one feature excusive to for 11 that I like i always on display, which is important for notifications as the manufacturer cheaped out scrapping the notification LED.

Sadly the guys on reddit were right and my rule was right, it runs laggier, there is buggy that are not present in 10, so i downgraded and use an app instead for notifications.

 

[Orcvader]

The rule I tend to follow is the android version released when the phone came to market is usually the best for that phone.

My one plus 8 pro, shipped with android 10, but also has android 11 support, the one feature excusive to for 11 that I like i always on display, which is important for notifications as the manufacturer cheaped out scrapping the notification LED.

Sadly the guys on reddit were right and my rule was right, it runs laggier, there is buggy that are not present in 10, so i downgraded and use an app instead for notifications.

That's more due to OP's software becoming a mess. 12 is even messier since they're rebasing everything on ColorOS, so migrating a lot of Oxygen OS features over has been very buggy so far.

My previous Sony/HTC/Nexus/etc always ran fine when updating to a later version of Android, but it will depend on the manufacturer and the changes they need to make to the OS.

 

[Lysander]

The rule I tend to follow is the android version released when the phone came to market is usually the best for that phone.

My one plus 8 pro, shipped with android 10, but also has android 11 support, the one feature excusive to for 11 that I like i always on display, which is important for notifications as the manufacturer cheaped out scrapping the notification LED.

Sadly the guys on reddit were right and my rule was right, it runs laggier, there is buggy that are not present in 10, so i downgraded and use an app instead for notifications.

Yes, this is true. On Reddit they said not to update on pain of death and Android 10 probably is better for the phone. But 11 is not bad on this phone at all, whereas it's apparently dreadful on other Xperia 10s.

However, changing launcher does make a big difference. Today I've been messing around with Nova and it's really good, it's pretty much how I expected and wanted an Android 11 experience to be.

 

[Disco_P]

Differences between 10 and 11 on my Xperia 5ii were so minor that the only one I can think of is that messages are separated from other notifications. When the upgrade did happen, I didn't actually notice that it was a fully android version update rather than one of those little patches they occasionally do.

With previous full android upgrades I've had issues with bugs and slowdowns, usually solved by fresh installing or waiting a few months for the OS to mature.