The magic of custom ROMs, y’all
Source: Samsung
Android phones typically last at least two to three years, though these days, most of the best phones come with four years of software updates. But if you’re willing to give the custom ROM space a look, phones can last a lot longer. Custom ROMs aren’t as popular as they once were, but they can still be a way to breathe new life into an ancient smartphone. If you still have a Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2 — both originally launched in 2012 — kicking around in a drawer somewhere, you might want to dig them out. A decade after their release, they’re both getting Android 13 via a custom ROM.
An unofficial build of LineageOS 20 is now available on the XDA forums. It’s based on Android 13, which first graced the AOSP over a month ago. As you may imagine, this build is in a very early stage — LineageOS 20 is still in active development, and no official builds are available. LineageOS 19 wasn’t officially launched until early this year, so we might be in for a long wait. Likewise, this build is also an early one: features like NFC, Bluetooth audio on calls, SD cards, and network monitoring are broken. Most of these features should be fixed as the firmware keeps maturing.
Before installing it, you should keep in mind that the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2 are ten years old at this point, and only getting older. And when you install 2022 software on 2012 hardware, you can’t expect it to run perfectly. After all, the Galaxy Note 2 comes with at most 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and the Galaxy S3 can include as little as 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. It was a tremendously powerful phone back when it was released, but its specs have not aged well. We’re all about re-purposing new hardware, but you probably shouldn’t use this as a daily driver.
With that out of the way, head over to the official thread on XDA to learn more and download it for your Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2. As always, follow instructions as written to avoid bricking your device, and remember that this is always done at your own risk.
