The story of the in 2021 was one of a "legacy giant" kept alive by a dedicated community despite significant manufacturer roadblocks . While the device was officially released in late 2015, its hardware—anchored by the Kirin 950 chipset and a large 4,000 mAh battery—remained surprisingly capable of running modern software. The 2021 Landscape: A Second Wind

: Use fastboot flash recovery_ramdisk twrp.img (on EMUI 8.0).

As of October 2021, Android 12 source code has just dropped. There is no stable Android 12 ROM for the Mate 8 yet. Some developers are testing Pixel Experience 12, but expect bugs. Stick to Android 10/11 for daily use.

Main custom-ROM options in 2021 (community-driven projects available/active around 2020–2021)

(All require approach or specific device trees)