There are a good deal of reasons to root the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua. I usually tell people to check out custom ROMs like the CyanogenMod custom ROM, but you will not find many custom ROMs available for the Xperia M4 Aqua just yet. The Aqua variant of the M4 isn’t ever going to be one of the most popular smartphones ever made, and it’s still relatively new — those are the two main hurdles it will need to overcome before it is to see something developed by the official CyanogenMod team.

So, with custom ROMs out of the question — for now at least — you will need to get more crafty with your rooted Xperia. One of the main reasons to install CyanogenMod ROMs is they give a very ‘pure Android’ feel. They do this mainly through being light, keeping a ROM that’s close to what the Android developers originally created; and the main way for creating such a light-weight ROM is by ridding itself of the bloatware that would usually come by the devices manufacturer — in this case Sony. You can still remove the bloatware on your Sony Xperia M4 Aqua without installing a custom ROM. All it needs is root access.

These are the instructions to root Sony Xperia M4 Aqua E2303 smartphones running on the Android 5.0 Lollipop update.

REQUIREMENTS

• You must have a Windows PC to follow the steps in this guide or else the tools will not work and the files will not flash.

It’s important you follow this guide on the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua device only. Any other device will probably get bricked.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

1. Download the Flash Tool from this link.
2. Download the .128 firmware from this link.
3. Download the M4 Aqua root Toolkit from this link.
4. Download the universal ADB Driver from this link.
5. Download the TWRP Toolkit from this link.

HOW TO ROOT SONY XPERIA M4 AQUA E2303 RUNNING ANDROID 5.0

1. Install the Flash Tool on your computer from the link provided above.
2. Install the Flash Tool drivers on your computer which can be found by pointing to C:/Flashtool/drivers. (Choose the FLASHMODE DRIVERS after you open the Flash Tool drivers so the Xperia M4 is recognized when it Flashmode).
3. Now wait for the sync to finish in the Flash Tool and click the light that’s on in the top left-hand corner to enter the Flashmode.
4. Select your ftf file.
5. Look on the right side of that ftf file where it shows everything that the ftf file contains and tick the first two options from the list if you want to keep your data.
6. Look further down on the right side where it shows options such as “system.bin” and and check-mark everything apart from the “kernel.sin”.
7. Let the Flash Tool prepare the files and power off your Sony Xperia M4 Aqua device by long-pressing the Power buttons.
8. When the Flash Tool is prepared, hold the Volume Down button on the M4 Aqua and connect it to the computer at the same time. Let go when you see the green light.
9. Your kernel should be changed and now you can use the Root Toolkit to root the device. Enable the USB Debugging Mode before attempting to use the Toolkit by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Build Number 7 times. Now tap on the Menu > Settings > Developer Options and enable the USB Debugging Mode.
10. Run the install.bat file on the computer you get after you have extracted the M4 Aqua Root Toolkit.

That’s all you need to root the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone with model number E2303 using the Flash Tool.