When the Nokia X was announced at the end of February this year, many people were surprised to find out that this happens to be the first Android-powered device from Nokia, who have stood by Windows Phone staunchly before that. While it is not exactly a true blue Android-powered device as it runs on a forked version of the mobile platform, this does not mean that the Nokia X would not be on the receiving end of a custom Android firmware. Sure, the stock Nokia X is unable to support Google’s mobile services like the Play Store or Hangouts, but at least one can now enjoy the benefits of a custom ROM for some spice in life.
Senior XDA developer dhacker29 happens to be the one behind this custom Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean ROM for the Nokia X, where the firmware relies on source code from Code Aurora that comprises of vanilla Android, in addition to the rest of the specific enhancements and optimizations for Qualcomm’s chipset that is already present in the smartphone itself.
The existing build is stable enough for normal, everyday use, with stuff such as network connectivity, camera, FM radio, GPS and location services running without a hitch. Do bear in mind though that certain navigation issues were discovered, which is no surprise considering how the Nokia X has just one hardware button. Good to know that a second version of this custom Android ROM has on-screen navigation buttons.