The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is the best tab I’ve ever used, I even recommend this tablet over the Apple iPads. It has about double the hardware of most iPads. Samsung will take some time to release Android 5.1.1 Lollipop for this tablet, but you can update it to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop right away using an unofficial build of CM 12.1 custom ROM. This guide will give you all the info about installing this ROM on your phone.

You need a PC with internet connection so you can download the ROM zip and G apps zip file for your phone. Get your tablet ready for this update process by rooting and installing any custom recovery to it. Make sure that the custom recovery installed by you on your tablet is latest so it can support Android Lollipop based custom ROMs. You also need a USB cable to connect your phone to your PC.

Sid CyanogenMod

Backup all the important data you have on your phone because all the data stored on your phone’s internal memory. You can back up your important apps using the Titanium backup app available for free on Google Play store. Also syn your contacts to your Google account.

Beware! The following installation process is only for Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, do not apply these steps on any other device or it may damage that device.

Steps to install CM 12.1 Custom ROM on Samsung galaxy Tab S 10.1:

  1. Download CM 12.1 custom ROM from here. It is a zip file, do not unzip it just put it on the desktop.
  2. Download the Google apps zip file from this page and put this also to your desktop.
  3. Now connect your phone to your PC and transfer both the zip files from desktop to your device’s SD card.
  4. Now unplug your tab from PC and turn it off by pressing and holding the Power key for 3 seconds and select “power off” from the Power menu.
  5. Boot your tab to recovery mode by pressing and holding the Volume Up key, Home key and Power key together.
  6. When in recovery mode, tap on Backup and confirm to back up your previous ROM.
  7. After that, tap on “wipe”, then confirm the step to wipe all the internal memory and restore your phone back to factory settings.
  8. Come back to the main menu and tap on “Install” and select the custom ROM zip file then confirm to install it on your phone.
  9. Repeat the above step to install Google apps zip file. Do not wipe anything this time, just install the Google Apps zip file on the custom ROM.

After all this tap on “reboot” followed by “System” to reboot your phone to OS mode. Wait for some time and you will see welcome screen. Also share your experience of this ROM with us using the comment section below.