How much RAM does a smartphone need?

When we buy a new smartphone, very few people focus on one of the most important components, namely RAM. Each new generation of smartphones always comes with super new features, with more processing power, with better battery life and a screen with ever higher resolution.
All very beautiful things, but in the end the real difference between a smartphone and another is all in the RAM, i.e. the memory in which data and instructions are saved during their use, which keeps the apps in memory to receive notifications and real-time updates. In this guide we will show you how much RAM a modern smartphone needs to be able to quickly run all modern apps, also based on the operating system on which we decide to focus, since there are substantial differences between the Android world and the world of iPhones.

How much RAM does a smartphone need ">
Without going into technicalities, RAM can be understood as a "way " for people (files) to go from home (internal memory) to the stadium (the processor). The more capacious this "road" is, the more data can be processed at the same time .
In smartphones, many operating system files must occupy RAM at all times, otherwise every time you press any button there would be a terrible delay before changing screens. When you open an app, it immediately places itself in RAM, which continues to fill up with data ready to be used (in fact, all the apps that work in the backgroud remain active in RAM, so that you can immediately send notifications, alarms or warnings).
All this happens until the RAM is completely occupied, and then every new app open, to find space, must overwrite the data of the previous one and the phone's performance slows down dramatically .
So how much RAM does a smartphone need to never see these slowdowns in the apps? Given the continuous evolution of operating systems and apps (which gradually become heavier and heavier), it is worthwhile to immediately focus on abundant RAM quantities, so as to remain covered for at least 2-3 years (the average life years of a smartphone modern).

How much RAM do you need on Android smartphones

Android smartphones, despite all the optimizations that have come in recent years, remain the smartphones that most of all tend to saturate RAM, even on apparently performing systems. If we decide to focus on a smartphone from a third party manufacturer (Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei etc.), we advise you to focus only on devices equipped with at least 4 GB of RAM, even on very inexpensive models.

Below we can find an example of cheap smartphones but with an adequate amount of RAM:

1. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (170 €)
2. Samsung Galaxy A40 (189 €)
3. Huawei P30 Lite (€ 289)

Already starting from the middle range we find smartphones with 6 GB of RAM or more, able to offer all the memory to keep every type of app active! Below we can find the best models for quality / price ratio:

1. Samsung Galaxy A70 (€ 321)
2. Xiaomi Mi 9T (339 €)
3. Huawei P30 (€ 451)

An exception to the rule are smartphones with Android Go, a lightened and optimized version of Android to run well even with only 1 GB of RAM (obviously with apps optimized for this system).
Below we have collected some Android Go smartphones that we can view:

1. Alcatel 1 2019 (55 €)
2. DOOGEE X50L (57 €)
3. Xiaomi Redmi Go (75 €)

To learn more, we can read our article on the best Android smartphones ever for each price range .

How much RAM do you need on iPhones

Apple iPhones are unique smartphones because they are optimized in every detail, including the operating system and the way apps are placed in memory. For this reason, the race to RAM does not make much sense on iPhones, since each value shown in the data sheet is at least doubled (a 3 GB RAM iPhone is as fast as a 6 GB RAM Android).

If we are to focus on new iPhone models, we can safely ignore the RAM parameter; however, if we buy a used iPhone, make sure it has at least 3 GB of RAM, so that we can support the new versions of iOS and open all the apps at maximum speed.
To learn more about the used and refurbished iPhones, we can read our guide Which iPhone is better to buy today "> ways to free RAM on Android and How to Free RAM memory on iPhone .
If the problem is instead the internal memory, we recommend you read our guides Free Android space on internal memory and SD card and Speed ​​up the iPhone and optimize iOS .