Good news Xperia Z owners. It’s time to update your phone. Here’s how to install the latest Android 7.1 Nougat on your Sony Xperia Z via LineageOS.
Sony Xperia Z, the your never-aging device has a chance of revival. Xperia Z was released years ago by Sony to enter the flagship market. Xperia Z, to some extent, met Sony’s expectations. Xperia Z happens to be the most popular Xperia smartphone created by Sony till date. It happened to be the very first real water proof smartphone with some top of the line specifications on-board. Xperia Z was quite unlucky as it couldn’t join the Android Marshmallow league. Sony ended its official updates at Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. Many of the devices which were released alongside the Xperia Z were not able to even join the Android Lollipop league. Sony did a great job by keeping this device’s official updates alive for quite a time. Xperia Z, since then, has been surviving only because of custom ROMs. We have been getting a chance to taste the new versions of Android in the form of CyanogenMod, Resurrection Remix, AOSP and many other custom ROMs.
2016’s end also marked the end of CyanogenMod. The project was discontinued by Cyanogen Inc. To replace CyanogenMod, its original developer came up with the idea of LineageOS. Just like CyanogenMod, LineageOS was made available for hundreds of Android smartphones all at once. Xperia Z has also been blessed by LineageOS. At the time of writing this post, we have the latest LineageOS 14.1 based on Android 7.1 Nougat out for our beloved device.
Installing LineageOS 14.1 on Xperia Z is simple. You only need a working custom recovery to flash this firmware. Your device must be running on latest Android 5.1.1 Lollipop firmware before the installation of this firmware. A breakdown of the entire processes is given below. Follow the instructions to the letter to start enjoying Android 7.1 Nougat LineageOS 14.1 on your Sony Xperia Z.
Precautions
- This guide is intended for Xperia Z only. Do not try this on any other device.
- Charge your Xperia Z up to 50% to avoid any power issues during the flashing process.
- Unlock the bootloader of your phone.
- Flash a custom recovery on your Xperia Z.
- Backup everything including your contacts, call logs, sms messages and bookmarks. Also create a Nandroid backup.
- Follow this guide to the letter to avoid a mishap.
Disclaimer: The methods involved in flashing custom recoveries, ROMs and rooting your phone are highly custom and may result in bricking your device, and has nothing to do with Google or the device manufacturer that is SONY in our case. Also rooting your device will void its warranty and you will be no longer eligible for any kind of free device services by the manufacturers/warranty providers. In case of any mishap we may not be held responsible.
Install Android 7.1 Nougat on Sony Xperia Z C6602/C6603/C6606 via LineageOS
- Download Android 7.1 Nougat LineageOS 14.1 ROM.zip file.
- Download Gapps.zip [ARM- 7.1 – pico package] file for Android 7.1 Nougat.
- Copy both the .zip files to your Xperia Z’s internal or external SD card.
- Boot your Xperia Z into custom recovery. If you’ve installed dual recovery using the guide linked above, you should use TWRP recovery.
- Now in TWRP recovery, perform a factory reset under wipe option.
- Now get back to the main menu in TWRP recovery and select “Install”.
- Under “Install”, scroll all the way down and choose ROM.zip file. Flash this file.
- Once done, get back to the TWRP recovery menu again and this time flash Gapps.zip file using the instructions as stated in the above step.
- Once you’ve flashed both files, wipe cache and dalvik cache under wipe option.
- Reboot your device into system now.
- That’s all. Your device should boot up in LineageOS 14.1 Android 7.1 Nougat now.
In case something goes wrong, you may considering restoring the Nandroid backup. Another way to fix your device from the bricked state is to flash a stock ROM. Here’s our comprehensive guide on how to flash a stock firmware on your Sony Xperia.
If you’ve got any queries, feel free to reach us out through the comment box below.
