Update Sony Xperia ZL C6503 to Latest Android 4.3 10.4.B.0.569 Firmware

With the release of Sony’s latest flagship series starting with Sony Xperia Z, Sony also introduced Sony Xperia ZL, the sibling smartphone of Xperia Z. Xperia ZL is not so much different from the Z1, the hardware specs, software features are almost same. One of the differences in both devices is the front camera. Xperia ZL’s front camera is at the bottom while Z has it on besides the call speaker, while there are other minor differences in the body of both the devices. Other specs of ZL are almost same as that of Z  e.g a 5 inches Full HD display with 441 ppi, 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MDM9215M / APQ8064 Quad Core CPU with Adreno 320 GPU, 2 GB RAM, 13 MP camera at the back and 2 MP on the front.

Out of the box, Xperia ZL ran on Android 4.1.2, Sony previously updated the device to Android 4.2.2 and also announced the plans for Android 4.3 and Android 4.4 KitKat and luckily, Xperia ZL was announced for both the updates. Few days back Sony rolled out Android 4.3 update for the announced devices and you can update your Xperia ZL to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean now.

The new firmware comes up with a lot of performance enhancements, bug fixes, some new features. Camera app has been enhanced as well and has got new features. While there are new ringtones, new themes as well.At the moment, this  update is reaching the users through OTA, perhaps the OTA reach the users depending upon the regions, the process takes quite long for some regions. While it may be hard for some of the ZL owners to wait for the OTA update and taste the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on the ZL, we have the solution right here. In the following post we’ve explained the method to update your device to the latest firmware 10.4.B.0.569 manually using the Sony Flashtool.

Before we head towards the flashing process, here are some pre-requisites:

1. This guide is only for Sony Xperia Z C6503, even though this firmware works fine on C6502, perhaps it would not be wiser to flash it on C6602 to prevent any mishap. Please check your device model first in Settings > About Device > Model.
2. You must have installed Sony Flashtool – Get the full guide here. Also Install drivers using Flashtool > Drivers > Flashtool-drivers > Flashtool, Xperia ZL, Fastboot, select all these and install.
3. Your phone’s battery must be charged at least over 60%. This is highly recommended in order to prevent any power issues during the process.
4. Make sure that you backup your media content,contacts, call logs and text messages.  This is important and recommended so that in case you decide to wipe your phone during the flashing process, you can get all of your data back using the backup.
5. Enable USB debugging mode on your device. To do so, tap settings>developer options>USB debugging. If you can’t find developer options in settings, then tap settings > about device and tap “Build Number” for 7 times and you’ll get em’ activated under settings.
6. To flash this firmware, you do not need to root your device, you do not need to unlock the bootloader. All you need is, your device must be the one mentioned and must be running on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean or Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
7. Download the firmware file properly.
8. Use the OEM data cable to connect your phone to your PC. Using any other data cable might cause connection problems.
9. Alright! Follow this guide to the letter in order to prevent any mishap.

How to Install Android 4.3 Jelly Bean 10.4.B.0.569 on Xperia ZL C6503:

1. Before moving forward, please make sure that you’ve read the pre requisites and ensure that you are set to go ahead.
   1. Download the latest firmware Android 4.3 Jelly Bean 10.4.B.0.569 FTF file. [Use a torrent client to download.]
   2. Copy the file and paste in Flashtool>Firmwares folder.
   3. Open Flashtool.exe now.
   4. Hit the small lightening button on the top left corner and select Flashmode.
   5. Select the FTF firmware file that you placed in the Firmware folder. 
   6. From the right side, select what do you want to wipe. Data, cache and apps log, all wipes are recommended, perhaps you may select if you don’t want.
   7. Click on OK, and it will start preparing the firmware for flashing. This may take a little while to load.
   8. As soon as the firmware is loaded, it will prompt you to attach the phone by turning it off and keeping the back key press.
   9. For Xperia ZL, Volume Down key will do the job of back key, just turn off your phone, keep the Volume Down key pressed and plug in the data cable.
   10. As soon as the phone is detected in Flashmode, the firmware will start flashing, Do not leave the Volume Down key until the process is complete.
   11. As soon as you see “Flashing ended or Finished Flashing” leave the Volume Down key, plug the cable out and reboot.
   12. That’s All! Congrats! You’ve installed latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on your Xperia ZL C6503. Enjoy

That’s All! In case you got any queries/suggestions or face any difficulties regarding this post, please feel free to stop by the comment box below and drop us your message. We will respond as quick as we can.