How to Root the Lenovo A850

Rooting the Lenovo A850 has now become much easier than ever, as the Framaroot app lets you easily root the device to get the most out of it. Two of the popular custom recoveries have also made their way to the Lenovo A850, so you now have the ability to flash custom ROMs as well.

Rooting is the process of gaining administrative rights on your Android device.  Once we root our Android device, we can then make changes to it to customize it well beyond what it normally can do.

Once you have root access on your Lenovo A850, you’ll be able to:

• Remove apps that were preinstalled by your carrier/manufacturer from your device.
• Free up storage space (because of the above benefit).
• Increase battery life (apps that might have been running constantly can be removed).
• Increase performance (after removing apps that are always running, the device will be less bogged down and run smoother).
• Update to a new version of Android (by flashing a custom recovery/ROM, see the end of this procedure for more info on that).
• Tons of other customizations when you use your new found administrative rights to flash a custom ROM (again, see the end of this procedure for more info on that).

Interested? Here’s how to root your Lenovo A850:

I. Before You Begin

1. This will void the warranty of your device. We won’t be held responsible if you end-up bricking or damaging your device. Do it at your own risk.

2. This should flash a custom recovery as well.

II. Downloading Required Files

1. Download Framaroot APK and save it to your desktop.

Framaroot APK (It’s attached in the first post)

2. Download the appropriate custom recovery for your device and save it to your desktop.

Custom Recovery for ROW firmware (Download link’s given in the first post)

OR

Custom Recovery for CN firmware (Download link’s given in the first post)

Note: To find out whether you have ROW firmware or CN firmware, head to Menu > Settings > About phone > Version info > Baseband version. Your firmware name should be listed there.

III. Rooting the Lenovo A850

1. Enable Unknown sources on your device by heading to Menu > Settings > Security > Unknown sources.

2. Connect your device to your PC via USB cable.

3. Copy Framaroot APK from your desktop over to the root of your SD card.

4. When it’s copied, disconnect your device from your PC.

5. Open File Manager and tap on the Framaroot APK you just copied to your device. Install it on your device.

6. Launch the Framaroot app from your App Drawer.

7. Select Install SuperSU from the dropdown menu.

8. Tap on Boromir.

9. It should begin rooting your device.

10. And you’re now rooted!

Brilliant! Your Lenovo A850 is now rooted. If you had any issues rooting your device with the Boromir exploit, try using Faramir or Barahir exploit as they seem to be working for this device.

Think root-access isn’t enough for you? Then maybe you should flash a custom recovery on your device. It’ll then let you flash a custom ROM on your device. Here’s how:

IV. Flashing a Custom Recovery on the Lenovo A850

1. Extract files from Custom Recovery .zip to your desktop by right-clicking on it and selecting Extract here.

2. Plug in your device to your PC using the USB cable.

3. Copy either CWM Recovery Image or TWRP Recovery Image from your desktop over to the root of your SD card.

4. Once it’s copied, unplug your device from your PC.

5. Head over to the Google Play store and download and install Mobile Uncle Tools on your device.

6. Once installed, launch it from your App Drawer.

7. Tap on Recovery Update.

8. Tap on the Recovery Image that you just copied to your device.

9. It’ll start flashing the selected recovery on your device.

10. When the recovery’s flashed, reboot your device.

11. You’re all done!

Excellent! You’ve successfully flashed a custom recovery on your Lenovo A850. You can now go ahead and flash a custom ROM on your device.

You can click here to find all of the Lenovo A850 How To’s.

You can also find all of the Lenovo A850 ROMs we have here.