The Sony Xperia Z was only revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show last month in Las Vegas, but already there is a Root method available for the new smartphone. Thanks to the hard-working team over at XDA Developers, they have managed to gain root access through modifying Chainfire’s kernel. The device’s main draw card is the fact that it is waterproof, well partially anyway. It can survive for up to 30 minutes after taking a dip in up to a meter of water. Impressive. It also boasts a 5-inch full HD screen, 13-megapixel camera, and 1.5 GHz processor. The Xperia Z is a very sleek smartphone indeed, and if you’re lucky enough to have your name down for one, this is the tutorial for you.

Make sure you have the Sony USB drivers. You may have this already if you use the device regularly, in which case you can skip this step. This is necessary to connect the device to the computer.

You will also need to have USB debugging mode enabled to complete this guide. You can follow the link that I provided and find out how to do that if you don’t know already.

Before you begin please ensure:

  • You are completing this tutorial using a Sony Xperia Z running Android 10.1.A.1.350.
  • You have an unlocked bootloader on your Sony Xperia Z. Check out Sony’s official mobile site.

Root Sony Xperia Z Running Android Jelly Bean

Step 1. First you need to download the following files and place them on your desktop:

Step 2. Once you have downloaded all the necessary files you will need to locate the Fastboot archive and extract it to your desktop.

Step 3. Now connect your device’s USB cable to your PC but DO NOT connect it to your device yet.

Step 4. Switch off your device and then reboot it into Fastboot mode. To achieve this hold the ‘Volume Up’ button while you connect your device to the USB.

Step 5. You will need to open a Command prompt window. To achieve this hold the ‘Shift’ button then right-click on the desktop. Select the ‘Open command window here’ option.

Step 6. Type in the following:

fastboot flash boot Z_DooMLoRD_CF-Auto-Root-ported_FW-350.img

Step 7. Then type in the following:

fastboot reboot

Step 8. At this stage, you should notice a message on your device saying the device will reboot in 10 seconds. After it reboots, disconnect it from USB cable.

Step 9. Perform a ‘Hard Power Off’ to your device. To achieve this, press and hold the ‘Power’ and ‘Volume Up’ for 15 seconds.

Step 10. Place it in Fastboot mode again following the same procedure as step 4. Ensuring you plug it back into the USB.

Step 11. Again open up a Command Prompt Window following the same procedure as Step 5. And enter the following:

fastboot flash boot Z_DooMLoRD_insecure_FW-350.img

Step 12. Type the following:

fastboot reboot

Step 13. Wait while your device reboots. Once it has finished you need to access Google Play and download BusyBox.

Now that you’re finished, you can instantly download rooted apps. Furthermore, you may be interested in checking our custom ROMs.