Sony Xperia X Tips and Tricks

Just bought the new Sony Xperia X, or want a closer look at Sony’s first 2016 smartphone and some of the best features that are hidden away? Here’s our Xperia X tips and tricks guide to help you get the most out of this slick Xperia mobile.

Check out our full Sony Xperia X review for our in-depth thoughts on Sony’s new 2016 mobile.

How to use or turn off the Sony Xperia Tips help feature

The Xperia X is a helpful little phone that offers up advice on how to use it, including personalised tips after you’ve used it for a certain length of time. These tips will pop up quite often when you first start using a phone, usually when you load up an app for the first time.

Of course, if you don’t want these tips to appear, you can turn them off by heading to the Xperia X’s settings menu and scrolling down to ‘Introduction & Tips’. In here you’ll also find the ‘Introduction to Xperia’ feature, which is like an interactive manual offering guidance on the phone’s various functions.

How to use the Sony News Suite

Sony’s News Suite app is a quick and easy way to check out the latest headlines, as well as keep up with any RSS feeds you follow. Just find the News app in the Xperia X’s apps drawer and give it a tap to begin.

Once inside, you can flick left or right to skim through the different areas of news, including sport, gaming and science/tech. Only interested in a couple of those subjects? No problem, just head to the News Suite settings by tapping the dots in the top right corner and hitting ‘settings’. Go to ‘Edit tabs’ and you can select exactly what kind of news is displayed. You can also change the notification settings, if you want to be poked more or less about the latest headlines.

If you’d rather add your own news streams, tap the ‘My Feeds’ tab and you can either stick your own RSS feed in or perform a search. You can also set up a stream based on a key search term.

How to get super-long battery life on the Xperia X

Sony’s Stamina Mode and Ultra Stamina Mode are hidden away in the Xperia X’s settings (head to the ‘Battery’ menu and you’ll find them), and when activated they’ll extend your phone’s battery life by automatically culling some of the X’s features.

Check out our Xperia X battery feature for more info.

How to change the colour vibrancy and image sharpness on the Xperia X’s screen

Sony’s trademark X-Reality software can improve the clarity of your images on the Xperia X, or if you prefer you can switch on the Super-vivid mode to really boost the phone’s colour palette.

To toggle these screen modes on or off, head to the Xperia X’s settings menu and then scroll down to Display. You’ll find the options in ‘Image enhancement’.

How to stop your Xperia X from hibernating when you’re using it

If you head back into the Display menu in the Xperia X’s settings and then scroll down to the Sleep feature, you can set exactly how long the Xperia X waits from the last input it received before automatically hibernating. It’s a good idea to set this quite low, so you don’t accidentally leave the phone turned on when it’s not in use.

Of course, if you set this to just a minute or so, then chances are the Xperia X will occasionally fade to black when you’re busy reading an email or checking out a website. Thankfully with Sony’s Smart Backlight Control feature you can ensure that your screen stays on if you’re actively using the handset, overriding that turn-off time as long as the front-facing camera detects your eyeballs.

To turn the Smart Backlight Control on, just go to the ‘Smart Backlight Control’ option in the Xperia X’s Display settings and flip the virtual switch. Job done.

Check out our Xperia X hub for more features and info. You can grab the Xperia X from O2 from £32 per month, with no upfront cost.

More Xperia X tips and tricks are incoming. Got any tips of your own? Let us know in the comments below.