Unofficial LineageOS 16 now available for the Razer Phone and Razer Forge TV

If you buy a premium Android device from a reputable brand, you can generally expect to receive at least 2 major OS upgrades. Sometimes, you’ll be lucky to even receive one major OS upgrade, but that only happens when things go terribly wrong for the product or brand. The short-lived Razer Forge TV launched and died in 2015 with Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Android TV, while the Razer Phone launched in late 2017 with Android 7.1 Nougat and received an update to Android 8.1 Oreo. Any hope for an update on the Forge TV is long gone, while there’s still some hope that the first-generation Razer Phone will get Android Pie. However, thanks to custom ROM developers on our forums, you can now enjoy Android Pie on both devices through unofficial LineageOS 16 builds.

Razer Phone ForumsAndroid Stick & Console Computers Forums

Unofficial LineageOS 16 for the first Razer Phone is made possible through the work of XDA Members/LineageOS developers javelinanddart and mikeioannina. The custom ROM is available for download right now on our forums, and the only bugs are that the phone can’t change from its default 120Hz refresh rate and can’t change between the earpiece and speaker and back again. This is a preliminary release for testing, so it’s not surprising that there are some bugs that have yet to be squashed.

Next up is the Razer Forge TV. XDA Members/LineageOS developers gabrielgagz and fgl27 have kept the Android TV box alive long after Razer ended support. The duo previously released an unofficial LineageOS 14.1 build based on Android 7.1 Nougat for the device, and they’re now back with an unofficial LineageOS 16 Pie-based build. The only bugs they’ve mentioned in this initial release include broken playback of Widevine L1-protected content (so no HD Netflix yet), broken remote app voice search, and an issue where the screen may not wake up with CEC on occasion.

Unofficial LineageOS 16 for Razer Phone (cheryl)Unofficial LineageOS 16 for Razer Forge TV (pearlyn)

Both LineageOS releases for these Razer devices are marked unofficial because they don’t meet all the requirements laid out in the Device Support Requirements Charter. Still, with no official Android Pie update available for either device, you’ll have to deal with the occasional bug if you want to keep using these devices and also enjoy the latest Android release.

The post Unofficial LineageOS 16 now available for the Razer Phone and Razer Forge TV appeared first on xda-developers.