As you might know, Samsung will no longer release OTAs for the Galaxy S3 Mini. Thus, the phone will be stuck on KitKat OS, this if you want to keep things official. But, if you are ready to spice things up a little bit, then I recommend you to check the guidelines from below. During this tutorial I will show you how to easily and safely update your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini to Android 5.0 Lollipop OS by using a new custom ROM firmware.
This ROM is a built of pure AOSP Android 5.0 Lollipop OS, as the goal is to bring the default and latest version of Android firmware to your Galaxy S3 Mini. The ROM has been therefore customized and optimized in order to fit with the performances of your SGS3 Mini, which means that running AOSP Lollipop on your phone will be coming as a natural thing, just like when you are applying a new official OTA release. Thus, if you want to test it yourself, then don’t hesitate and check all the lines from below, as you will find there all the details needed for the flashing process.
First of all, you should know that this custom version of Android 5.0 Lollipop OS works without problems on the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. According to the users who have already installed the AOSP ROM, there aren’t any bugs or other software related problems. Of course, since we are talking about a custom ROM, you might find unusual things, but don’t expect to deal with major or with annoying problems – the software can be safely installed for a daily use.
With this custom ROM flashed you will first of all be able to receive the latest Lollipop features and apps. Moreover, by using this ROM you will also be able to improve the performances of your Galaxy S3 Mini. Thus, in a few words, you will be able to improve the battery life, gain more speed, change the default Samsung UI, update the web browsing experience and upgrade other general performances.
But, for being able to do so, first of all you need to complete this step by step guide. Well, this tutorial is, as you might know already, a custom one which means that you are about to apply an unofficial operation. Android 5.0 Lollipop isn’t officially available for your Galaxy S3 Mini so you will use a custom ROM that represents a free aftermarket release of stock Lollipop system – the ROM has nothing to do with Samsung or with Google as it is developed by third party devs.
So, the warranty of your device will get void once you start to apply the steps from below. In fact, starting from now, the warranty will be gone and you will no longer be able to reclaim the same – if you will have problems with your S3 Mini and if you will consider in taking your phone back to service, you will have to pay for the technical assistance, or you will have to learn how to manually fix your bricked Android device.
Also, this tutorial can’t be completed unless you first root your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. Moreover, after ensuring root access, you also have to install a custom recovery image on your smartphone (I recommend you to use the latest version of CWM or TWRP recovery). The Lollipop custom ROM will have to access and modify some in built programs (and that’s why root access must be applied first) while the update is being provided as a .zip file (you can flash these types of files only by using a custom recovery image).
Another thing to do before going any further is a backup. You see, a hard reset operation will have to be performed during the update process. So, your data along with any other personal info and accounts will be then erased from your SGS3 Mini. That’s why, at this point you might want to consider in temporarily saving everything that’s stored on your smartphone. So, go ahead and use backup and restore apps and save your contacts, texts, call logs, images, videos, market apps, internet settings, EFS, audio files and so on.
Since a custom recovery image is now installed on your device, you can use the software for saving the current ROM from your Galaxy S3 Mini. In this way, if the Android 5.0 Lollipop system will not be on your taste, you will be able to choose to re-flash the stock Nandroid backup.
Good; now, before beginning you have to ensure that a computer, your smartphone and its USB cable are somewhere near you. Moreover, on your computer you first have to temporarily deactivate security protection (do that because antivirus and other similar programs might interfere with the update operation) and from your phone you have to check the USB debugging option (first gain developer permission by heading towards “menu – settings – about phone – tap several times on built number” and then access “menu – settings – developer options” and enable USB debugging).
Don’t forget to charge your handset before doing anything else. It is indicated to plug in the charger if the battery power left is currently below the 40% threshold. It is important to do so, as if your S3 Mini will get turned off in the middle of the flashing procedure, your phone might get bricked.
Also, remember that this step by step guide is compatible only with the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini and with no other Android based device – the Android 5.0 Lollipop AOSP firmware from below will work only on the mentioned smartphone.
How to Update Galaxy S3 Mini with Android 5.0 Lollipop Firmware
- Access this page and download the Lollipop firmware file on your computer.
- Then, go here and download Google Apps package.
- Save both files on desktop and don’t unzip anything.
- Connect your phone with your PC by plugging in the USB cable.
- Transfer the downloaded files from desktop on your phone’s SD card.
- When done, remove the USB connection.
- Turn off your handset and reboot your smartphone in recovery mode.
- First of all, from recovery make a hard reset and clear cache: so choose “wipe data factory reset”, “wipe cache partition” and “wipe dalvik cache”.
- Return to main menu of recovery and when ready, select “install zip from SD card” followed by “choose zip from SD card”.
- Pick the Android 5.0 Lollipop package and install the same on your Galaxy S3 Mini.
- Repeat the process for flashing Google Apps package.
- When done, from main menu of recovery select “reboot system now”.
