There was a time when Android phones with 512 MB RAM were considered good enough for daily usage. We had our phones running on Android ICS back then. Times changed and things evolved. Android KitKat came into being and was touted as one of the most stable Android OS till date. Many KitKat running phones packed 2 GB RAM at that time.
Then came Android Lollipop with its power saving improvements and brought along a new breed of smartphone packing a whopping 4 GB RAM.
These 4 GB RAM Android smartphone created ripples in the smartphone world. OnePlus 2 and Asus Zenfone 2 were among the first wave of such phones packing 4 GB RAM.
And now before we could understand why the need for RAM has increased so drastically in the smartphones, many companies are announcing their next generation flagship models with 6 GB RAM. Yes, you read that right. Six gigabytes of Random Access Memory!
The Smartphone with 6GB RAM
So, you might be wondering which phone is getting launched with 6GB RAM – No, it is not Samsung or Lenovo or Motorola. It is the Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo that has now teased us with their upcoming flagship Vivo XPlay 5 that will (probably) become the first phone with that kind of RAM in India!
While not too many details are forthcoming, the XPlay 5 is expected to be powered by Snapdragon 820 processor and 6GB of RAM. The device is expected to be launched on March 1st in Beijing in China. Interestingly, the phone will have a curved display on the both sides.
The 6-inch display is also expected to come with Quad HD display, 4300 mAh battery sporting a 16mp rear camera!
Why Do We Need So Much RAM In Android Phones?
Modern day smartphones are much more evolved than their predecessors that were launched decades back. They are almost as fast as our early computer systems, but cost a lot less.
Current smartphone users, don’t just use their phones for reading and editing office files, playing music, watching videos, browsing, chatting, and capturing photos. We use them for shooting slo-mo full HD videos, playing high graphics game, and even use our smartphones for capturing ultra-HD (4K) videos.
In order understand why we need so much RAM for doing these tasks, let’s take a look at the role of RAM in any computer system. All computing devices have some form of permanent storage media (hard disk drives, SSDs, and flash memory) for storing users’ data.
Modern apps and even the camera sensor sends and need data at a much faster rate than what is supported by the storage media. That’s where RAM comes into the picture. It acts as a bridge between the apps/sensors and the permanent storage as it is blazingly fast.
But you might still ask as to why are phone manufacturers making phones with 4/6 GB RAM.
Short answer- They need to offer better phones with beefed specs for maintaining their competitive edge. Nothing else.
I am not saying that 6 GB RAM in phones is useless, but what I mean is that you won’t be able to use 6 GB RAM completely. Android loves to use a lot of RAM for improving user experience, but most of the apps are not yet designed to use the full potential of phones packing 6 GB RAM.
Buying a 6 GB RAM phone will make your purchase future-proof and will also grant you bragging rights, but nothing more than that. Choose wisely!
[…] you might be wondering which phone is getting launched with 6GB RAM – It is the Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo that has now teased us with their upcoming flagship […]