Hydrogen OS
Screenshots of Hydrogen OS on OnePlus One. OnePlus forum

The Hydrogen OS ROM is available for OnePlus One users, but cannot be used as a daily driver.

The Chinese startup company recently unveiled homegrown Hydrogen OS or, H2 OS based on Android 5.0 customisations that adheres to Material Design style. The OS is meant for Chinese users only. Currently it is available in closed beta for testers, though not globally.

But those who are not native users and wish to lay their hands on an early version of the H2 OS ROM, there is some good news. GotltBro has shared the ROM for advanced users on the OnePlus forum, which was originally posted by NisseCool.

As this ROM is from the closed beta going on in China, it is not recommended to be used as a daily driver. Besides, it is a modified version and includes crack and gapps. A few hiccups include non-functional Gestures and the missing music app. The member has put out a number of screenshots that show a better implementation of Material Design.

The H2 OS seems to be more responsive and less bloated when compared to Cyanogen OS 12, according to forum the member who has also highlighted a few issues;

  • Camera works better than Cyanogen OS 12, but does not possess the auto focus on faces with green rectangles
  • Weather app is not as good as COS 12
  • No restart option and on-screen buttons

Meanwhile, folks at XDA forum have also tried the Chinese ROM, which appeared to be quite smooth and responsive.

"It is very smooth and minimal, not many apps installed. But most important is that it is Multirom compatible. It had MiUI type horizontal launcher, permissions manager, custom UC styled browser, Baidu IME, a custom market, Google play store and some Chinese app I couldn't guess at. I haven't installed many apps so it is quite responsive. And there is no quick settings in the notification drop down," observes a forum member named munich.

Following are the download links in different file formats.

Hydrogen OS or H2 OS mirrors

Mega.co.nz

Google Drive

FileConvoy or go to source thread or check it here

This ROM can be installed using TWRP recovery. Check out the step-by-step guide to install custom ROM on OnePlus One via TWRP. But proceed with extreme caution.

To know more about H2 OS hit the development thread over the OnePlus forum. Below are a few more screenshots of H2 OS.