For the last few years, devices with MTK systems-on-chip haven’t received much in the way of official Android updates. Some OEMs were limited by MediaTek itself, which previously wasn’t the best at updating proprietary drivers, binaries, and kernels with every Android release. Custom ROM developers also had trouble with providing third party kernels due to lack of proper source code.
Recent actions taken by Mediatek have given hope that this SoC manufacturer has finally decided to take a different approach with respect to open-source licensing. Unfortunately, some users with older devices are still left behind. Development for devices with MTK SoCs still continues, however, and as a result we have KitKat ROMs available for three older devices: Newman N1, Micromax A110, and ZTE Grand V970. These builds come courtesy of XDA Recognized Contributor superdragonpt, who managed to create a custom kernel capable of running KitKat; and XDA Forum Members qus1 and lingfude, who created the builds for aforementioned devices.
These ROMs are considered stable, so you can use Android 4.4.2 KitKat as a perfect replacement for the stock firmware. It’s definitely nice to see custom ROMs and kernels for older devices, which were almost impossible to update due to software and hardware limitations.
MTK devices aren’t overly popular, but we truly believe that such achievement should be brought to your attention. The developers put a lot of efforts to support devices left behind both by their OEMs and SoC manufacturers. Please head over to the following threads if you are looking for KitKat ROMs for selected MTK devices:
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