The Role of RAM (LPDDR) in your Phone / Everything You Need to Know - MyPhonTech

In this article, we will learn about the importance of random memory in mobile phones and whether it affects the speed of your phone and when you really need it.

What is RAM (LPDDR) and What is Their Importance:

Random Access Memory (RAM)  is Storage for accessing ongoing operations to make your Smartphone ultra-fast.

The type of RAM used in almost all electronic devices today is DDR memory and this is divided into 3 types depending on their use:

1. Standard DDR (used in all desktop PCs, Laptops, and servers).
2. Graphics DDR (GDDR)  'used in Graphics Cards,graphics-related applications'.
3. Mobile DDR (LPDDR) 'used in smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, embedded electronics'.

so the RAM used for all smartphones is LPDDR  'Low Power Double Data Rate'.

Why is RAM Necessary for Smartphones?

RAM is much faster than Internal Storage (NVMe , UFS ), Data  is transferred from internal storage (operating system, apps..etc) to RAM so information can be easily recovered by the CPU in a very short time and therefore ensured the fluidity and speed of your phone!.

So the RAM plays the role of an intermediary between the internal storage where the O.S and the applications are installed and between the Processor.

and it's characterized by several specs.

 The Three Most important Specs of RAM LPDDR:

  When buying a phone, you see smartphones with different capacities: (4, 6, 8, 12, 16) and of course you will choose the smartphone with the largest capacity to support games and heavy applications.

          But in fact this is not enough! Because there are other important features of RAM that allow running heavy games and apps without affecting your phone speed. These characteristics are Basically the clock  speed & data rate .

 companies have been working on to improve, especially Samsung.

Where the LPDDR3, LPDDR4, LPDDR4X and LPDDR5 Generations come from,   each one is better than its predecessor.

For example, iphone 14 pro max has LPDDR5 RAM.

LPDDR RAM  Generation :

In December 2014, Samsung introduced the first 4GB LPDDR4 modules used in older smartphones.

Next, LPDDR RAM versions are optimized to keep up with current phones and technology :

• 1) LPDDR4    1.2x    faster than LPDDR3 "3200 Mbps" 

(Liste phones : iPhone x ,Huawei P30 lite,Google pixel..etc).

• 2) LPDDR4x  1.15x faster than  LPDDR4 "4,267 Mbps"

(Liste phones : Huawei P30 Pro,iphone 12 Pro..etc).

• 3) LPDDR5    1.5x    faster than LPDDR4x "6,400 Mbps"

(Liste phones : iPhone 14 pro,Xiaomi 12S,Samsung S22 ultra..etc).

• 4) LPDDR5X  1.3x    faster than LPDDR5 "8,500 Mbps" 

 (will be use in next Flagship phones).

FAQs About RAM  LPDDR - Phone :

1) Does ram play role in phone speed? 

Yes, since the operating system runs directly from RAM, the faster the RAM the faster the smartphone becomes .

2) Does the phone use all the RAM?

the RAM is continuously used by the operating system if the RAM is saturated by other applications their execution becomes slow or takes a long time to load and can crash your smartphone.

3) How much RAM does operating System ' Android 12', iOS16 Consume?

Android 12 required 2Gb of Ram to running the system,While iOS16 in iphone  need 40% less RAM to hold the same number of apps in memory as an Android phone , this is why old iphones like iphone 8 with just 2GB RAM can support ios16! . 

4) Who Manufacture  RAM?

There are three major RAM manufacturers in the market :

 Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.

 but Samsung is the top RAM supplier for most companies.

5) How to optimize my phone's RAM memory to increase their speed?

If you have a Flagship phone you have no slowdown problems Because it has better RAM capacity and an intelligent processor called NPU which can intelligently optimize your phone's memory according to your daily use.

 but for entry-level smartphones there are several methods to optimize RAM memory to make your phone smoother.

•  Disable or remove unnecessary apps.
•  Do not use live wallpapers and heavy widgets.
•  Use optimization applications (best Method) such as CCLEANER.
•  Boost RAM of Android phone  (virtual RAM) for low RAM capacity (2 GB or 3 GB).

6) Increase RAM of Android phone is really useful? 

in reality this operation increases the RAM virtually and not physically by using part of the micro SD card (need to have a rooted phone) or by using part of the Phone's internal memory by affecting the same operation of a RAM, this operation is functional for smartphones with low RAM capacity (2 GB or 3 GB).

7) Is RAM inside or outside The Mobile Processor Soc?

Unlike the PC, the RAM of the Smartphone is soldered inside the Mobile Processor Called SoC System On a Chip and never moved or changed like PC RAM does!.

  See photo of some mobile processors with different RAM inside :

8) is phone with 6Gb RAM faster than phone with 4Gb RAM ?

No, for normal use  , you only notice the difference when you have many apps open in the background or when you use demanding apps like Games.

Note that a smartphone with 4GB LPDDR5 RAM is faster than a Smartphone with 6GB LPDDR4X RAM!  because  LPDDR5 is 1.5 times faster than LPDDR4x.

When do you really need a smartphone with a large RAM capacity?

    If you are someone who love Games or use heavy apps, you should choose the smartphone with large RAM capacity , but if you are a simple user, choose the smartphone with only 4GB, it is enough .