RAM is one of the most important hardware components in computers, mobile devices, and even small IoT devices. RAM is often referred to as 'The more, the merrier' because of its ubiquitous presence in cutting-edge technology. As simple as it is to upgrade the RAM on your PC or laptop by adding a new stick, this privilege is not practical on smartphones because the RAM is either integrated into the SoC (System on Chip) or soldered on the PCB. To address this, smartphone OEMs have adapted Virtual RAM technology from the PC ecosystem for use in Android devices.
The Vivo X60 Pro, which comes with Virtual RAM by default, and cases like the Redmi Note 10 Pro, which received the Virtual RAM functionality with a software update, have recently sparked interest in Virtual RAM on Android devices. So, does this mean that our childhood jokes about 'downloading extra RAM' have now become a reality? Is Android's Virtual RAM really useful? The answer is fascinating!
Virtual RAM on Android is a technique that uses a portion of your Android phone's regular storage as RAM to effectively increase the total RAM on your device. This concept was first applied to computers, and people gradually began to use Virtual RAM on Android devices with ROOT access by modifying the software on their phones. Now, smartphone manufacturers are incorporating the concept of Virtual RAM into their devices out of the box.
Let's look at an example. You own an Android device with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. With the Virtual RAM feature, a portion of the 64GB storage, say 2GB, will be specifically designated for use as RAM. Your device now has a total effective RAM of 6GB (4GB + 2GB) and a storage space of 62GB.
Virtual RAM will no longer be used directly as a RAM extension. To begin with, the difference between Phone RAM and Phone Storage is that RAM is an extremely fast volatile memory with the primary function of rapid but temporary reads and writes. Internal memory, on the other hand, is slightly slower but holds data for a longer or almost permanent period of time. This allows for a greater number of applications to be stored in RAM and kept ready for use at the user's request.
The Android operating system prioritises the applications stored in RAM when using Virtual RAM technology for Android. Important and demanding applications, such as games and video players, will be prioritised and placed in regular RAM for faster access. Less important applications will be moved to virtual RAM memory. Android device manufacturers optimise virtual RAM usage for efficient app management on physical RAM.
Virtual RAM acts as a supplement to existing RAM. Although virtual RAM memory does not have the exact capacity of phone RAM, it does reduce the workload on the actual RAM by a small margin. When your Android device's RAM storage begins to fill up, it will remove some less-used applications from the memory. So the next time you open that application, it will start from scratch, which will take longer and consume more CPU resources.
With the addition of Virtual RAM, such applications are kept in the background for faster app loading times. You can also think of Virtual RAM as a swap memory, where certain applications are cached in your storage's virtual RAM partition.
Virtual RAM acts as a RAM expander by utilising your Android device's regular storage unit. It will undoubtedly increase the memory capacity of your Android phone, allowing you to store a few more applications. However, you will not notice an immediate improvement in the performance of your Android device. Virtual RAM will speed up a few operations and make your phone feel faster, but the difference won't be as noticeable as night and day. As a result, the overall performance of the device will remain unchanged.
This is due to the fact that most Android devices now have at least 3-4GB of RAM, even in the midrange segment. Based on our testing of multiple Android devices from various manufacturers, that figure is sufficient to keep 8-10 regular applications in memory. So, with an onboard RAM of around 3-4GB, the latest Android OEM devices are capable of retaining apps.
Remember that this is a general case, and the actual memory management of a phone will vary depending on the company, their software optimization, the type of applications used, and so on.
When it comes to cheaper devices in the budget segment, these devices may only have 2GB of RAM in order to keep the cost low and the phone more affordable. This comes at a cost, as OEMs try to cut costs in various aspects of the phone, including the type of memory used. As a result, such Android phones typically include older eMMC storage, which is slower than the latest UFS 3.1 standards.
On such phones, using Virtual Memory to increase RAM is not a good idea because the slower storage will be unable to handle the additional RAM duties when used virtually. This is why we don't see manufacturers using Virtual RAM on low-cost devices because it won't help.
Virtual RAM expansion on Android will not directly improve your gaming performance. Yes, it will help you keep a few applications running in the background because the extra RAM will take over some of the duties of regular RAM. However, if you want the best gaming performance out of your Android phone, it's always a good idea to clear all background applications from the RAM. As a result, Virtual RAM is not a game-changing feature for gamers.
Yes, you can use an external microSD card as Virtual RAM, but you will need ROOT access on your Android phone to do so. Rooting an Android device entails a number of risks that should be considered. So please do this at your own risk, and we will not be held liable for any problems that arise. Because this process employs card partitioning, you will be unable to use your memory card as regular storage after using it as a RAM expander.
Here are some methods for rooted devices for creating a swap file to use as Virtual RAM on an external SD card. Please keep in mind that all of these services require root access. For use as Virtual RAM on your Android device, you should also use a good card memory, such as a Class 10 memory card or better.
You are advised to use the methods listed above at your own risk. If your card fails, you may experience problems with your Android device.
Yes, you can use ROOT to increase the RAM on most Android phones. You can root your Android phone by visiting forums such as XDA Developers, where you can find guides to rooting any Android device. With ROOT access, you can use either a micro SD card (external storage) or the internal storage itself as Virtual RAM in real-time. Here are some methods for obtaining Virtual RAM on Android with ROOT.
Here are some additional questions about RAM on Android devices that are frequently asked.
Clearing RAM on your Android smartphone on a regular basis can have a negative impact. One method is to keep your memory free of background applications, which reduces your device's power consumption and thus extends its battery life. On the contrary, repeatedly clearing the RAM will force you to reload the application, which can be time-consuming. So it all depends on which side of the border you prefer to be on.
If you expect a significant increase in performance with increased RAM size, you will be disappointed. For example, just because a device has a 6GB RAM variant and an 8GB RAM variant does not imply that the 8GB variant is faster. It simply means that the higher variant can store more applications in memory than the lower variant. As a result, having more RAM does not always imply better performance.
Android users can root their devices and virtually increase their RAM. However, increasing the actual Android RAM without a memory card is not possible. Because Android smartphones are not modular, physically increasing the RAM is not possible.