We have said it many times and we will continue to say it for a long time. We love Android because it is open source and you can do so many things that other platform users cannot even think about.
If you want to install a custom launcher on your iOS device, you have to jailbreak it, install a few scripts and then you will be finally able to enjoy another launcher on your phone. On Android, you have to go the Play Store, search for your preferred launcher, press the download button and you are good to go.
Another thing that you can easily do on Android that is not so easy on other platforms is upgrading and downgrading the OS version. You can easily update to the latest version of Android, through official firmware or custom ROMs. If you don’t like that version, you can easily go back to an older version of the OS. This is something that cannot be done on iOS, at least not easily.
Samsung Galaxy devices have exceptional software support, be it official from Samsung or unofficially from the amazing developers that cook custom ROMs which are aftermarket firmwares, better and faster than the ones that come out of the box.
The best thing is that it is incredibly easy to upgrade or update the Android firmware version on almost all Samsung Galaxy devices. The process is the same among all devices. The only thing that changes are the files needed for each device. That is why we have written this tutorial. It will guide you how to install the latest firmware on your Galaxy device or downgrade to an older version of Android.
The guide will certainly work on all devices mentioned below, even though the working list is much longer.
Galaxy S Series
- Samsung Galaxy S5
- Samsung Galaxy S4
- Samsung Galaxy S3
- Samsung Galaxy S2
- Samsung Galaxy S
Galaxy Note Series
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4
- Samsung Galaxy Note 3
- Samsung Galaxy Note 2
- Samsung Galaxy Note
This guide works on all Android devices, starting with the latest version being Android 5.0 Lollipop, then 4.4 KitKat. 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 Jelly Bean, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and even 2.3 Gingerbread (ancient old).
No matter what you have seen or listened, there aren’t a lot of things in order to flash a new firmware on your Samsung Galaxy device. You only need the Odin flashing tool, USB drivers and the firmware itself.
How to downgrade, upgrade and flash firmware on Samsung Galaxy devices
The best way to get a firmware is by downloading it from the SamMobile site. SamMobile is the ultimate site for getting every firmware on every version of Android.
Downloads
Firmware
Galaxy USB Drivers
Odin Flashing Tool
Flashing firmware
- Download the firmware from the link above and move it to a folder that you can easily access. Extract the zip file to get a tar.md5 file. This contains everything including the new Android version.
- Download the Odin tool. Again, extract the file to get a Windows program.
- Take your Samsung phone and make sure that you have USB Debugging option enabled. If not, go ahead and enable it from the Developer Options menu.
- Press the power button to shut the phone down. Once it is off, boot into recovery. There, perform a full factory reset.
- Now, reboot to download mode. This state allows the phone to communicate with the computer and allow it to flash a new firmware.
- Connect the phone to the computer using your best USB cable.
- Select the “AP” box and choose the tar.md5 file to install.
- Press the install button.
That is it. You have upgraded or downgraded the Android version on your Samsung Galaxy device by flashing a new firmware.
downgrade requires phone rooted ?
Now if I install a new firmware in my a51 Samsung phone will it loose network?