Is 4GB of RAM large enough for pixel 3 and XL

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Might be an issue. The Pixel doesn't seem to keep much in ram and leads to a lot of apps having to reload. Skip to 5:06 if the video doesn't start from there.

https://youtu.be/NrIHYHLaLzA?t=296

 

[Balaji Chakravarthy]

4 GB of RAM should be ok IMO. Even my laptop running Windows came with 4 GB of RAM. Having too much RAM feels silly and needless.

 

[anon(10092459)]

Might be an issue. The Pixel doesn't seem to keep much in ram and leads to a lot of apps having to reload. Skip to 5:06 if the video doesn't start from there.

https://youtu.be/NrIHYHLaLzA?t=296

I mean, I guess .. Guy's video was horrible. Anybody running a "test" by eyeballin' it then say "sorry, I wasn't paying attention" kinda loses all cred for me.. But to each his own.

Do you guys really open all them apps and keep them open? Games and video and Spotify and all your social media and Chrome and just leave them open and at the ready? Gracious the clutter alone after about 5 apps would drive me nuts. No wonder some people going on about enough RAM and battery size.

 

[Mike Dee]

I mean, I guess .. Guy's video was horrible. Anybody running a "test" by eyeballin' it then say "sorry, I wasn't paying attention" kinda loses all cred for me.. But to each his own.

Do you guys really open all them apps and keep them open? Games and video and Spotify and all your social media and Chrome and just leave them open and at the ready? Gracious the clutter alone after about 5 apps would drive me nuts. No wonder some people going on about enough RAM and battery size.

A lot of open apps just makes it difficult to scroll through them. The Operating system does a pretty good job of memory mangement. I don't know if you or anyone else takes a look at their memory statistics which they seem to have hidden but the OS seems to average about 2.5GB in constant use with 1.5 to spare.

 

[anon(10092459)]

A lot of open apps just makes it difficult to scroll through them. The Operating system does a pretty good job of memory mangement. I don't know if you or anyone else takes a look at their memory statistics which they seem to have hidden but the OS seems to average about 2.5GB in constant use with 1.5 to spare.

I actually DO look at mine, Mike.

 

[anon(10274434)]

I actually DO look at mine, Mike.

Never looked at mine till now - 2.1 GB - I'm good to go.

 

[EMGSM]

4gb of RAM does sound a bit ancient when compared to the 6-8gb phones of today. However, I had the P2 XL and it never had any problems. This in mind, and the fact that Apple phones don't go over 4 gives me some confidence. I hope Google optimized the P3 well.

 

[Almeuit]

4gb of RAM does sound a bit ancient when compared to the 6-8gb phones of today. However, I had the P2 XL and it never had any problems. This in mind, and the fact that Apple phones don't go over 4 gives me some confidence. I hope Google optimized the P3 well.

I don't believe it will be an issue as Android will manage it. That said ti is hard to compare Apple to Android when talking something like RAM since they manage it differently. Suchas Android allows a lot of apps to run in the background whereas iOS is more restrictive on what background activity is allowed (if allowed).

 

[Kalvin Kerns]

4gb of RAM does sound a bit ancient when compared to the 6-8gb phones of today. However, I had the P2 XL and it never had any problems. This in mind, and the fact that Apple phones don't go over 4 gives me some confidence. I hope Google optimized the P3 well.

My GS8 seems to average 2.2 ish RAM usage for what it's worth.

 

[Robisan]

...the OS seems to average about 2.5GB in constant use with 1.5 to spare.

Right. But 2.5GB isn't some perfect number - it's just a function of allocating the available RAM. The OS maintains that average by closing apps to reserve the remaining 1.5 for buffering/fluctuations etc. If RAM were increased to 6 or 8GB the OS could make use of it, allowing it to keep more apps open AND have more reserve.

 

[EMGSM]

My GS8 seems to average 2.2 ish RAM usage for what it's worth.

I loved my S8 until the screen got messed up. I didn't have any lag with it. I'm guessing it used around the same amount of RAM as you.

 

[Mike Dee]

Right. But 2.5GB isn't some perfect number - it's just a function of allocating the available RAM. The OS maintains that average by closing apps to reserve the remaining 1.5 for buffering/fluctuations etc. If RAM were increased to 6 or 8GB the OS could make use of it, allowing it to keep more apps open AND have more reserve.

4GB of ram is quite a bit of memory for a phone. If you feel it is not enough for you than the Pixel is probably not a good option for you

 

[mustang7757]

everyone wants to be a engineer, I think I'll let that up to Google engineer team to decide what's good enough in ram
they do the testing and experiment .who are we to tell them when we don't do testing on phone's and software.

Edit just freaking enjoy your phone

 

[Robisan]

4GB of ram is quite a bit of memory for a phone. If you feel it is not enough for you than the Pixel is probably not a good option for you

Really, this is just not responsive in any way to the content of my post.

 

[Mike Dee]

Really, this is just not responsive in any way to the content of my post.

Of course it is....you responded to my post about how the Pixel manages it's memory. You don't feel that 4GB of memory is adequate and expressed that 6 or 8 would be better for memory mangement. I don't think it's necessary and It's not an option with Pixel at this time so if you are interested in the Pixel it's not a great option for you at this time. Google does not play the spec game like other OEMs. Maybe for the next Generation of Pixels Google will up the memory game.

 

[Robisan]

Of course it is....you responded to my post about how the Pixel manages it's memory. You don't feel that 4GB of memory is adequate and expressed that 6 or 8 would be better for memory mangement. I don't think it's necessary and It's not an option with Pixel at this time so if you are interested in the Pixel it's not a great option for you at this time. Google does not play the spec game like other OEMs. Maybe for the next Generation of Pixels Google will up the memory game.

Please show me in my post where I stated I "don't feel that 4GB of memory is adequate" or anything remotely resembling that. It isn't what I wrote and has nothing to do with the point of my post.

You wrote about how 2.5GB average RAM usage was some mythical, perfect number, so nothing more could even be needed or used. My point was simply this: The OS will efficiently allocate the amount of RAM available to it. IF the OS has more RAM available it can keep more apps in usage while still having a reserve available.

Look at it as a ratio - on your 4GB phone the OS allocates 5/8ths (2.5GB) of the RAM for constant usage and reserves 3/8ths for buffering/fluctuations etc. At the same ratio, more RAM would allow more apps to remain open/available AND have more reserve available for buffering/fluctuations etc. 2.5GB is not some magic, perfect number of RAM usage.

 

[Almeuit]

While I personally don't think 4 GB will suffer -- I do get the angle some are coming from with the "more wouldn't hurt" since it wouldn't.

 

[Kalvin Kerns]

While I personally don't think 4 GB will suffer -- I do get the angle some are coming from with the "more wouldn't hurt" since it wouldn't.

And couldn't possibly hurt the manufacturer to include.

 

[anon(10092459)]

While I personally don't think 4 GB will suffer -- I do get the angle some are coming from with the "more wouldn't hurt" since it wouldn't.

I agree with the sentiment, but I also don't think it's a problem to "only" have 4GB. Some people want to sensational that it's "bad for a 2018 phone" to have 4GB, even though many releases do. Like the S9...

 

[klau25]

I personally am worried a little. My 2 XL does have the slow down issues. This happens mostly when using Android Auto. I don't have a head unit with Android Auto, so everything is run on the phone. Every couple days it will slow down and get unresponsive to almost unusable. I would have to restart the phone. Been tempting to reset my phone, but decided not to since the Pixel 3 is almost here.