14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung is currently offering the Android 5.0 Lollipop update to a number of its flagship phones including the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4.
But these are recent devices that are barely 12 months old (the case of the Galaxy S5), so it’s only natural for Samsung to update them.
Nevertheless, back in February, the Korean tech giant made an unexpected announcement, confirming that the Galaxy Note II (launched back in 2011) would be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop, too.
Google’s software update policy recommends manufacturers to offer major updates for smartphones that are no more than 18 months old. Well, in this case, it seemed like Samsung was going to make an exception.
However, if the Galaxy Note II somehow managed to get lucky, the original Samsung Galaxy S (launched back in 2010) won’t probably meet the same fate.
Five-year-old Samsung Galaxy S gains new life
But leave it to the folks at xda-developers to port Lollipop on a 5-year-old device and you won’t be disappointed. User "humberos" has created a custom ROM which ports Android 5.1 to the first-gen Samsung Galaxy S.
While most of Samsung’s phones (not to mention from other manufacturers) are yet to see the Android 5.1 Lollipop update, which so far has been reserved to the Nexus bunch, the old Samsung Galaxy S can get it ahead of the most recent S phones.
The firmware is based on an open source OmniROM project, but be advised that as of mid-March 2015 the software has been tagged as an alpha version, so you’re probably bound to discover some bugs and malfunctions.
You probably don’t remember at this point, but five years ago when it launched, the Galaxy S arrived with a 4-inch display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution. The phone drew power from a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 single-core processor working hand in hand with PowerVR SGX 540 graphics and 512MB of RAM.
The original Galaxy S allowed support for GSM and HSPA networks and shipped out with Android 2.1 (Éclair), but an upgrade to v.2.3 Gingerbread was later made available.
Other features included 8GB/16GB of internal storage, microSD card for memory expansion, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and a 5MP/0.3MP camera combo.
Judging by today’s standards, the Galaxy S is an impressive smartphone, but Android 5.1 Lollipop might breathe some new life into it, if you have one laying around the house.
