The Galaxy S2 is nearly twelve years old, and it's arguably one of the most important phones Samsung ever released, putting the company on the map as a true contender. It was also my first smartphone, so perhaps I remember it more fondly than others. Despite its advanced age, the Galaxy S2 refuses to die, as XDA user rINanDO has managed to get Android 12 booting on the device.
Android 12 on a phone with a 1.2 GHz processor and only 1GB of RAM is impressive, as is the fact it works as well as it does. Unofficial ROMs are always buggy for the first few builds, and even more so on hardware this old. Despite that, this ROM is mostly functional, with the following features listed as working:
- RIL (Phone/SMS)
- Audio
- Bluetooth (audio & headset)
- Wifi
- IMEI
- Touchkeys
- Hardware encode/decoder
- Display
- DRM, for e.g. Netflix
- Selinux enforced
- BitGapps
- Magisk v23.0
- FM Radio (using Spirit2)
These bits are unfortunately broken, though:
- AGPS
- Camera Video recording
- PowerHAL
- Live Display
- MicroG support
The camera and some sensors are listed as "sometimes working," but that probably isn't a big deal to many. The fact the phone works with Android 12 at all is incredible, even if it's unlikely to be used as a daily driver at this point. This ROM isn't going to magically turn the S2 into a good smartphone experience for 2022, but it does show what the hardware is capable of still.
I'm looking forward to installing this over the weekend and playing around with my S2 again. Going back to that phone is like meeting up with an old friend, and I appreciate the nostalgia it'll bring me. If you're like me and want to try this for yourself, you'll need the international I9100 model (instead of one of the 25 other variants). The instructions can be found on the XDA Forum here.