Best Custom ROM for an old Android Device?

[airborne]

I have this old conferencing device that's basically like a Android phone with a webcam, the problem is it's running Android 7 which means none of the current apps like Teams/Zoom etc can be installed.

Could I install a Custom ROM like LineageOS on it?
How would I determine if it will work before hand, if I recall correctly the device must have an unlocked bootloader etc?

The specs of the device:
Snapdragon 625 processor 2.0GHz eight-core CPU ARM Cotex-A53 64-bit
Qualcomm Adreno 509 GPU OpenGL ES 3.1+
RAM 2GB 933MHz LPDDR3
eMMC 5.1 Storage 16GB

 

[Herr der Verboten]

LineageOS -> Check if compatible, and do it?

Laai windows 11 on it

 

[airborne]

LineageOS -> Check if compatible, and do it?

Laai windows 11 on it

It's not on the list and it's some weird no name brand hardware.
After seeing that I'm assuming I'm out of luck with finding any newer Android OS that will be compatible with it?

 

[Herr der Verboten]

It's not on the list and it's some weird no name brand hardware.
After seeing that I'm assuming I'm out of luck with finding any newer Android OS that will be compatible with it?

side load older apkses?

CC says no:

Let me look into this for you. Short answer: almost certainly not, and here's why.

The device isn't on the LineageOS supported list — as the forum poster already discovered. LineageOS requires device-specific builds. Even though the Snapdragon 625 is well-known and has LineageOS support on phones like the Redmi Note 4 or Moto G5 Plus, you can't take one of those ROMs and flash it onto different hardware. The kernel, device tree, and vendor blobs are all device-specific — display, camera, Wi-Fi, touch input, etc. would all fail.

GSI (Generic System Image) is also likely a dead end. GSIs require the device to be fully Treble-compliant and to have launched with Android 9 (API level 28) or higher — devices upgraded to Android 9 from earlier may or may not support GSIs. This conferencing device shipped with Android 7 (Nougat). Project Treble compatibility requires the device to have either launched with Android 8.0 Oreo or newer, or to have been updated to it with proper Treble support. An Android 7 device from a no-name manufacturer almost certainly never got a Treble-compatible update, so GSIs are out.

Bootloader unlocking is the other wall. Even if Treble somehow worked, an unlocked bootloader is essential when flashing a GSI or custom ROM. No-name brands rarely provide bootloader unlock tools or codes, and without documentation on this specific hardware, there's likely no known method.

What might actually work for the use case (running Teams/Zoom on old hardware): if the goal is just video conferencing, it might be worth checking whether older APK versions of Teams or Zoom still function on Android 7 — sites like APKMirror host historical versions. That's probably a more realistic path than trying to get a newer OS onto unknown hardware.

 

[Zurg]

How would I determine if it will work before hand, if I recall correctly the device must have an unlocked bootloader etc?

Yes

 

[airborne]

side load older apkses?

CC says no:

I was thinking of doing that but the security concerns of running an ancient unpatched OS and app is pushing it a bit far.
Probably time to toss it.

 

[Conack]

Nee sies, gooi weg

 

[B-1]

A ROM is built for a very specific device. Its not like a PC where there is a standard architecture. If its some unbranded device tou can try search XDA forums but its unlikely.