Early CyanogenMod 12 ROMs based on Android 5.0 Lollipop are now available for the OnePlus One and the HTC Desire 816, thanks to the development community. Both give users an early taste of the major changes and improvements that are baked into Google’s latest Android upgrade.

The ROMs were built by senior XDA Developers member “Nburnes,” who has published installation instructions in the original XDA threads. It’s basically as simple as flashing the ROMs with a custom recovery — as you would any other custom ROM — and then installing the latest Google apps package.

However, given that these ROMs are based on CM 12, they are considered pre-alpha builds that are far from stable. You definitely do not want to install these on your daily driver, then.

On the OnePlus One, some of the features that are broken with this build include Bluetooth and NFC. “Weird things” also happen inside the Gmail app, the keyboard crashes if you attempt to use swipe gestures, and you cannot set an alarm. Strangely, the carrier name has also shifted from the left to the right side of the status bar.

If you’re using the Desire 816, “everything” except audio, Bluetooth, and sensors are broken.

Again, then, these are very early builds meant for testing purposes only, so they should only be installed on secondary devices you don’t rely on. If you want to get your hands on the ROMs, visit the original threads for the OnePlus One and the Desire 816.

• SourceXDA Developers