The Chinese have found out whether 8 GB of RAM is enough for a smartphone in 2023 and whether it is worth overpaying for large amounts of RAM.
Chinese portal MyDrivers checked, how much RAM a smartphone needs for stable operation in 2023. The tests were carried out on the same model of the Redmi Note 13 Pro smartphone with different amounts of RAM: 8, 12 and 16 GB.
The experiment was conducted as follows: on smartphones with different amounts of RAM, the same programs were launched: 16 applications and 4 games. After launching all the programs, the authors returned to the desktop and looked at how many programs the smartphone unloaded from the RAM and how many it left.
First stage — launched only applications. Results:
- Smartphone with 8 GB RAM unloaded 6/16 applications
- Smartphone with 12 GB RAM unloaded 0/16 applications
- Smartphone with 16 GB RAM unloaded 0/16 applications
Second phase — launched applications and games. Results:
- Smartphone with 8 GB RAM unloaded 10/16 applications and 2/4 games
- Smartphone with 12 GB RAM unloaded 2/16 applications and 0/4 games
- Smartphone with 16 GB RAM unloaded 1/16 applications and 0/4 games
Third stage — applications and games were not only launched, but also used for some time, switched between them, simulating everyday use. Results:
- Smartphone with 8 GB RAM unloaded 4/16 applications and 3/4 games, 7 applications are frozen
- Smartphone with 12 GB RAM unloaded 0/16 applications and 0/4 games, 7 applications are frozen
- Smartphone with 16 GB RAM unloaded 0/16 applications and 0/4 games, 2 applications are frozen
Bottom line: obviously, the more RAM on a smartphone, the more stable the device’s operation. However, the experiment showed that a smartphone with 12 and 16 GB of RAM is enough to comfortably use modern applications and games. For large volumes, for example, 24 GB, it is not worth overpaying yet. Perhaps such volumes will come in handy in 3-4 years, when applications become even heavier and more demanding. But smartphones with 8 GB of RAM are already having a hard time, let alone models with less RAM.
Nikita Laktyushin
