Virtual RAM is a new fad in android phone that is intended to boost the performance of the phone by amplifying the physical RAM of the phone. This can be particularly useful with apps that are memory constrained, since this will just reduce how much memory you’ll use for each app. So let’s break down how virtual RAM works, how to enable it, and a few pros and cons to using it.
How Virtual RAM works and what it is?
Finally, all of this talk about RAM is very important for what really happens inside and makes your phone run smoothly: RAM (Random Access Memory) on the phone is where your apps and processes exist. Having full RAM on your phone can really slow your device down and make it struggle to keep multiple apps open when your phone only has 4GB or less of RAM. Also, it is quite a handy option to use when you want to simulate additional RAM on your phone for when the system gets too loaded to work.
While virtual RAM isn’t exactly the highest thing since sliced bread even on high end phones like the Xiaomi 14 or Samsung Galaxy S24, it can reap massive benefits for budget phones like the Redmi 13 or Galaxy A15, improving performance when heavy multitasking wields its sword.
Activating Virtual Ram On Your Android Phone
The process to enable virtual RAM is slightly different by brand but should be very straight forward. Follow these steps to activate it:
- Open your phone’s Settings.
- Navigate to the relevant section:
In Xiaomi devices go to Additional Settings.
Select Battery and Device Care on Samsung.
On Motorola, go to System and Performance.
Visit Device Information on OPPO. - Check out other options like RAM Extension, RAM Plus, RAM Optimization and the likes.
- Choose the amount of storage you wish to devote to virtual RAM.
- You just have to reboot your device.
Before using virtual RAM, consider these things
Virtual RAM can certainly make things run faster, but it’s no replacement for physical RAM. Here are some points to keep in mind:
- Internal Storage Usage: Since virtual RAM takes some of your phone’s internal storage, you should have enough free space for it to work.
- Automatic Activation: Once you activate it, you won’t have to manually turn it on anymore when your phone slows down. When required, the virtual RAM will automatically allocated from system.
- Performance Impact: Virtual RAM is helpful, but it can’t quite match the performance of real RAM. Although it’s most apparent on low end devices, where it results in faster app loading and less lag when running many apps.
Advantages of Virtual RAM
- Improves multitasking: Ensures low end phones can run multiple apps by more smoothly.
- Automatic management: This system depends on virtual RAM only when it is required, and users don’t need to be involved.
- Better app performance: It does cut that on phones with little or no RAM.
Disadvantages of Virtual RAM
- Storage consumption: What it uses is internal storage, and budget phones often have little internal storage.
- Not as fast as physical RAM: Virtual RAM makes things happen a lot faster, but is not as fast as actual RAM.
Final Thoughts
Virtual RAM is a powerful tool and is hugely useful for extending the power of your phone, particularly on budget models. It won’t quite put you in a position to turn your device into a powerful unit, but will help you complete more mundane tasks. Virtual RAM turns out to be something worth activating if your phone supports it, as it helps to improve the multitasking and performance of your phone as a whole. Just be cognisant of your limited internal storage, this is what’s supplying this extra “RAM”.