When brands announce smartphones with an impressive 24 GB of RAM, many question whether it is really necessary. However, to answer this question, it is necessary to understand what the minimum currently required is.
Now, knowing how much RAM you need on your smartphone varies depending on the type of use you will give it. Still, the majority tends to agree that the ideal, in 2024, will be have between 6 GB and 8 GB of RAM. A generalized recommendation supported by various tests carried out by various entities.
Equipment with 12 GB of RAM or more will, naturally, make it possible to keep more applications open at the same time. Something that could become essential in the long term, assuming that future applications will need even more RAM to function fully.
What is RAM memory and how does it work?
It is important to clarify what RAM memory is and how it works. RAM stands for Random Access Memory and, as the name suggests, stores information temporarily. In other words, whenever you turn off your smartphone it is erased.
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When you have an application open, it stores part of its information in RAM memory in order to function. The more applications that are open at the same time, the more information will be stored in this type of memory.
However, this memory is finite and when space runs out, measures will have to be taken to free up space. When this happens, what often happens is that the operating system closes older applications to guarantee the space needed for newer ones to work.
In this case, when you want to use one of these applications again, the operating system has to fetch the information again from the smartphone's storage. Consequently, you will have to load the application and its information into RAM memory again.
It is also important to say that RAM memory is much faster than the smartphone's storage memory. Therefore, the more applications open in RAM, the faster the user experience will be.
It all depends on the applications you want to use
Having explained what RAM memory is, it is now important to look at each user. When buying a new smartphone, you should think about the type of use you will give it.
Keep in mind that different types of applications require different amounts of RAM. For example, games or photo and video editing applications will require more RAM than social networks or an internet browser.
Applications such as WhatsApp or Youtube may require 250 MB or 650 MB to function. On the other hand, more powerful games can exceed 1 GB, as can a browser with several tabs open at the same time.
Therefore, for someone who uses their smartphone for simple things, a model with 4 GB of RAM may be sufficient. However, you should keep in mind that the more apps you open at the same time, the lower the performance will be.