Sony Xperia M4 Aqua (26.1.A.2.167) and M4 Aqua Dual (26.1.B.2.147) flash file

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua (26.1.A.2.167) and M4 Aqua Dual (26.1.B.2.147) flash file

New firmware rolling for Xperia M4 Aqua (26.1.A.2.167) and M4 Aqua Dual (26.1.B.2.147)

Sony Mobile is rolling out a small software update for the Xperia M4 Aqua, which keeps the handset on Android 5.0 Lollipop. The update moves the Xperia M4 Aqua to build number 26.1.A.2.167 and the Xperia M4 Aqua Dual to version 26.1.B.2.147.

Sony appears to have optimised the performance and importantly has removed some of the baked-in Google apps to free up some much needed internal storage (for the8GB version at least). Some of the apps removed include Google+, Play Games, Play Books and Play Newsstand. The firmware links for each variant can be found below. If you have installed the update, let us know your thoughts below. 

Update: Sony has now confirmed that it has removed apps to free up space. Here is the official changelog statement:

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua FTF firmware files – Android 5.0 Lollipop (26.1.A.2.167)

Xperia M4 Aqua (E2303) 26.1.A.2.167 UK Generic
Xperia M4 Aqua (E2306) 26.1.A.2.167 Latin America Generic
Xperia M4 Aqua (E2353) 26.1.A.2.167 Philippines Generic