Samsung are yet to release their official version of Android’s 5.0 Lollipop update for the Galaxy S2, and users have been patiently waiting for the company to say something in this regard. Judging from their previous release schedules, owners of the Galaxy S2 will likely have to wait a little longer before they have a chance to try the latest version of Android on their own devices – but in the meantime, those who’re willing to “pop the hood” of their phones and don’t care about potentially voiding their warranty, can take an alternative approach and install a custom ROM.
XDA developers have already released an image compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S2, and interested users can just head over to their website, download the image and flash it to their phones. The procedure is relatively simple, and the only special hardware required is a standard USB cable to connect the phone to a computer.
It’s worth noting that this is not a “final” build of the operating system, which means that it’s lacking some features compared to the standard Android 5.0 release. According to the developers behind the custom image though, it should offer more than enough for a regular use of the device, and the missing features will be implemented relatively quickly – the team is already hard at work on that behind the scenes, it seems.
The main areas where users are expected to see problems are with certain types of connectivity, mostly Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, although cellular connectivity is also affected to some extent, according to some users. Using an SD card might also lead to certain issues, although nothing too serious according to the developers. And last but not least, the most problematic aspect of the image has been its tendency for random occasional reboots.
Users who’re willing to deal with these issues and want to check out the new version of Android should download the “CodeRom Lollipop” image, restart the phone in Recovery Mode, and flash it. It’s important to remember that flashing a phone is not the same as updating its firmware, as this procedure leads to loss of all user data.
This means that users will have to reconfigure all their apps and settings after the image has been flashed, although Android now supports the saving of certain settings. In general, if a user prepares for the update accordingly, it shouldn’t lead to any serious complications, and the phone should be in a usable state relatively quickly afterwards. Those who find the idea too much should just wait for the official release of the 5.0 update from Samsung, the date for which is still unknown.