Last Updated on December 11, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

Sometimes people want something different when they look to buy a new smartphone. Many of those people looking for something different enjoy what the Huawei P9 has to offer. It’s known as being a great smartphone with unique specs, and yet if you buy one, you can probably rest assured no one else that you work with or known will get one too. The P9 Lite is the baby sister version of the P9 handset, and it comes with watered down specs.

Everyone who finds the Huawei P9 and the P9 Lite smartphones appealing thanks to their original might also consider the fact that a custom ROM is available to be installed appealing.

A custom ROM throws away that version of Android that you see on your device that millions of other people around the world are using, and gives you something different. Sometimes people want to install a custom ROM because they know of a ROM that gives better battery life and other times it is the different feature or design that attracts people’s attention.

Note: Make sure you check what model number the custom ROM is made for from the download links. Whenever we create a post such as this one, it means the model numbers are all thrown into the same article. Don’t assume that all custom ROMs will work for all model numbers. Each download link will mention what model number the ROM is for somewhere on the page, either in the custom ROM thread title or the original post closer to the download link. If you still don’t see it there then have a read of some comments or leave a comment yourself if you aren’t sure, and the custom ROM poster or other people subscribed to the thread will help you out. 

RocateX ROM (Android 7.0 Nougat)

There aren’t too many custom ROMs available just yet for the Huawei P9 Lite smartphone, but the few that are available do offer people plenty of reason to get them installed. Take the RocateX ROM for example, that comes with Viper4Ansroid preinstalled thanks to the root access with SuperSU that it also offers. The Viper4Android application is one of the most popular root apps out there to date. It isn’t available from the Google Play Store, but that isn’t because it isn’t popular or a great app. It’s just because Google took offense to that particular app and didn’t want it on offer from the official Play Store. Anyone who has used the Viper4Android application known what an asset it is to have running on a device. A truly must-have app for music lovers. In addition to SuperSU and Viper4Android, it also comes with a fingerprint quick action, Kernel auditor, transparent notification shade, a 3D panorama app, Emui theme editor and loads more.

The old version of the RocateX ROM was based on the Android Marshmallow software update, and now the newer version is based on Android 7.0 Nougat.

Download: RocateX ROM

MedroM (Android 6.0 Marshmallow)

The MedroM custom ROM is ROM based on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow software update. It comes with a few neat features that plenty of people are enjoying, including is being pre-rooted with a systemless root version of the SuperSU application, BusyBox, zip aligned, deodexed, debloated, so you don’t get any of the stock applications taking up your space, the ROM is closer to the stock version of Android since it has been debloated, Xposed framework, Viper4Android, Adaway, 3D panorama pictures and still loads more.

About the only feature, we don’t promote here is the ad away which is designed to take away websites revenue so they can’t make money. That’s a problem for many websites that depend on money coming in to keep the websites running. Most people aren’t aware that it actually costs money to run a website, especially if the website is getting a lot of views. Apart from that, the rest of the features are good. Viper4Android we’ve already talked about in the custom ROM above. Xposed framework is a feature that allows you to change the way the UI looks just like you would get from installing a different custom ROM. You don’t typically need custom ROM to use Xposed, as many people just root their devices with SuperSu and then run Xposed as an alternative to a custom ROM, but the fact that this custom ROM comes with Xposed is still useful because you can tweak things directly from this ROM without having to find another ROM with the tweaks the way you want them.

Download: MedroM ROM

Resurrection Remix (Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow)

Not everyone likes installing an unofficial custom ROM, but those that do will enjoy checking out this unofficial Resurrection Remix custom ROM. Ported specifically for the Huawei P9 Lite, the version of the Resurrection Remix custom ROM on offer here is based on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software update. Resurrection Remix custom ROMs are very featured rich, and typically have far too many features than it makes sense to try to fit into a quick ROM review. Nonetheless, we’ll run through a few of the main features to give you an idea.

With this Resurrection Remix custom ROM, you get Cyanogenmod 13 Sources RR Customizations, countless status bar tweaks, numerous gestures and animations, a fantastic recents panel, an app circle bar, heaps of new stuff coming from the lock screen, incredible quick settings on offer, an advanced reboot menu, cool navigation bar changes and still loads more.

Download: Resurrection Remix ROM

AOSPA – Paranoid Android

Paranoid Android custom ROMs are some of the best custom ROMs available for any device—the only problem being that this one is still in its beta stages. Paranoid Android ROMs are also known as AOSPA ROMs because they are close to AOSP (Android Open Source project) but with a few additional features that certain people value. The main features you get with a PA ROM are the theme engine and an advanced power menu. You can read up on any other changes that the developers might have done from the download link that directs you through to the official XDA-Developers web forum page for the ROM.

Download: Paranoid Android ROM

Veno Kernel

The Veno kernel is up for grabs if you want to improve the battery life of your Huawei P9 Lute smartphone as well as improve the performance. You can always get some battery optimization from a custom ROM if it has removed many of the stock applications, but the best way to create a longer lasting battery is by tweaking the hardware with a kernel like we have here with the Veno kernel.

Update: the developer of the Veno kernel is currently working hard to get it working for the Android 7.0 Nougat update.

Download: Veno kernel

Rusty Kernel

The Rusty Kernel might get its name because the person who created it admits to not being much of a developer, so you definitely won’t want to install this one on your daily phone. Nevertheless, it’s still one of the few kernels that is available to be installed on the Huawei P9 Lite smartphone.

Check the official thread from the download link before installing this one, so you have all the information available. You can also reach out to the original poster of the kernel by leaving a comment on its thread.

Download: Rusty kernel