Last Updated on March 28, 2017 by Mathew Diekhake

Stock Android refers to the operating system Android delivers to your smartphone manufacturers and phone carrier networks. That version of stock Android is then played with by both the carrier and manufacturer to give you a unique experience that is not something you would find from any other device you can buy outside of their own businesses. From an Android perspective, that’s not a good thing. Sure, you might find the occasional apps that a brand like Huawei brings to you that you can use. But for the most part, these apps do very little for you and tie you down a whole lot. For each application that is installed, you lose a little bit of device performance. Multiply that by fifty or more and that’s the amount of system apps you probably wish were not on your device. Therefore, by removing these system apps, you are not only increasing your natural operating system performance but also the battery life too.

System apps can be removed by using applications like the Titanium Backup application which is available for anyone with a rooted Huawei Honor 4X smartphone. It’s also achieved by installing a custom ROM just like the CyanogenMod 12.1 custom ROM that is available to install on your Huawei Honor 4X smartphone.

CyanogenMod Honor 4X

The CyanogenMod 12.1 custom ROM represents the latest CyanogenMod available for the Huawei Honor 4X smartphone, but it’s an unofficial build. The unofficial builds are usually ported from a different device. That means they are not released by the real CyangenMod team and they can be less stable. For that reason, we usually don’t endorse them as much as we do the official builds — particularly for everyone who is not an experienced Android user. For everyone else who doesn’t mind flashing the stock ROM or a new ROM when required, you can try updating your Honor 4X smartphone to Android 5.1 Lollipop using this custom ROM.

Files You Need

  • Download the unofficial CyanogenMod 12.1 ROM file for the Honor 4X smartphone from here.

We are using Team Win’s TWRP recovery when referencing the steps for you to follow during the guide below. Those steps will vary to a degree if you are using a different custom recovery such as the ClockworkMod Recovery. You should still be able to follow this guide if you do have ClockworkMod Recovery; however, the wording on the buttons will be different.

You must have root access to the Huawei Honor 4X’s internal system before you can install a custom ROM on the device. Likewise, you must have a custom recovery installed on the Huawei Honore 4X before you can install a custom ROM on the device. We recommend people install TWRP Recovery to follow this guide.

Installing the CyanogenMod 12.1 custom ROM on the Huawei Honor 4X smartphone

  1. Download the unofficial CM 12.1 custom ROM for the Honor 4X smartphone from the files section above and have it waiting on the desktop of the computer.
  2. Connect the Huawei Honor 4X smartphone to the computer with the USB cable.
  3. Copy the CyanogenMod 12.1 custom ROM file over to the internal storage SD card.
  4. Unplug your device from the computer when you have the CM 12.1 ROM on the SD card and then proceed to turn off your device.
  5. Reboot the Huawei Honor 4X smartphone directly to recovery mode.
  6. Tap on the Backup button from the main recovery menu.
  7. Tap on the Wipe button from the main recovery menu.
  8. Tap on the Install button from the main recovery menu.
  9. Follow the on-screen instructions to browse the SD card and install your unofficial CyanogenMod 12.1 custom ROM zip file.
  10. Wait until your new custom ROM is installed and then choose the option to reboot the system from the main recovery menu.

In conclusion, that’s how to install the unofficial CyanogenMod 12.1 custom ROM on the Huawei Honor 4X smartphone. Once your fingers tap on the reboot system button you should see your smartphone reboot to normal mode and the CyanogenMod 12.1 ROM boot right away.