realme fans are eagerly awaiting the launch of the GT Neo 2, but I can tell you right now – their Dynamic RAM Expansion technology is just marketing nonsense.
You may not agree with me, but hear me out…
realme Dynamic RAM Expansion : What Is It?
The realme Dynamic RAM Expansion technology is really just a fancy marketing term for good old virtual memory, which has been used in computers for decades.
Virtual memory is simple in concept – you reserve a portion of your hard disk drive or SSD, to use as computing memory. This virtual memory is much slower than actual RAM, but it’s basically “free”!
It’s now being introduced in smartphones as a way to give users additional memory for memory-intensive games or apps, using the internal flash storage (what many brands call “ROM”).
It’s a free feature for brands to add to their smartphones, so it is just a matter of time before virtual memory is part and parcel of all smartphones.
Read more : vivo Virtual RAM for V21, V21e, X60 : How Does It Work?
realme GT Neo 2 : Dynamic RAM Expansion Nonsense
Virtual memory is a critical feature in modern operating systems for computers, and will eventually be standard in mobile operating system soon.
However, the Dynamic RAM Expansion feature realme is going to introduce in their upcoming GT Neo 2 smartphone is really just marketing nonsense.
You may have seen realme advertise this ahead of their launch – LARGEST DYNAMIC RAM EXPANSION IN INDUSTRY, as if that’s something to be proud of.
Searching for high performance that offers a variety of features in line with the latest technology?
The #realmeGTNeo2 is featuring the Largest Dynamic RAM Expansion (DRE) that helps expand the existing RAM of the phone.
realme is boasting about giving us 7 GB of virtual memory, on top of the 12 GB of RAM that the GT Neo 2 comes with. That’s a whopping 19 GB of memory. Sounds fantastic, right?
The truth is – this is just marketing nonsense.
Virtual Memory Is Slow
You will never see computer brands boast about using virtual memory. That’s because virtual memory is really SLOW.
LPDDR4x memory is 17X faster at reads and 28X faster in writes, than even ultra-fast UFS 3.1 flash storage. And there is additional latency involved in using virtual memory.
So it is nonsense to associate virtual memory with “high performance”. Real RAM is high performance, virtual memory is not high performance.
Virtual Memory Eats Into Flash Memory Lifespan
Virtual memory is free for brands to implement, but costs the user in the form of flash memory lifespan.
Flash memory only have a limited number of writes, before their cells start failing. So using the internal flash memory as virtual memory eats into its lifespan.
I certainly hope realme is not going to force the use of their DRE feature, just to prove that the GT Neo 2 is really giving you 7 GB of virtual memory. That would be colossally stupid, like cheating in a benchmark…
Read more : Realme On AnTuTu Cheating : A Bug? No Guidelines?
Virtual Memory Is Poor Man’s RAM
You will never see computer brands advertise that they offer the MOST VIRTUAL MEMORY IN THE INDUSTRY.
That’s because virtual RAM is a poor man’s RAM. You only use it because you CANNOT afford more RAM, not because it’s something AWESOME to use.
That’s why it is hilarious to see realme gloating about how much virtual memory the GT Neo 2 can provide. That’s basically signalling that the phone does not have enough memory, which isn’t even true!
If I were in charge of marketing, I would have gone with :
realme GT Neo 2 does NOT need VIRTUAL MEMORY, because you will never run out of memory with 12 GB of REAL MEMORY!
More RAM Than You Ever Need
realme should have focused on the fact that the GT Neo 2 comes with 12 GB of RAM, which is A LOT of memory for a smartphone. It is actually more memory than many laptops ship with today!
Most apps and games are designed to use 1-2 GB of RAM, with the ability to use an additional 1-2 GB of memory to cache assets.
It would be stupid to make a game that requires 8 GB or 12 GB of RAM, because it would limit how many people can actually play! That’s why AAA mobile games like PUBG Mobile and Asphalt 9 are designed to use less than 1.2 GB of RAM.
Generally, 6-8 GB of RAM is more than enough to run AAA mobile game titles without throttling their memory use.
With 12 GB of RAM, you can literally run multiple apps / games at the same time, without swapping assets.
Read more : Realme Caught Using iPhone To Demo narzo 30A Gaming?
Dynamic RAM Expansion : More Than Useless In realme GT Neo 2
It’s one thing to boast about 7 GB of virtual memory, if the realme GT Neo 2 only comes with 4 GB of RAM. It is nothing more than a marketing ploy for a smartphone with 12 GB of RAM.
In fact, I would consider the 7 GB Dynamic RAM Expansion feature to be MORE than useless in the realme GT Neo 2.
There is simply no real world use case for it, and enabling it will simply eat into the flash memory’s limited write cycles.
If realme wants to impress me when they launch the GT Neo 2, it would be to declare that there is an OFF switch for this useless feature.
And if you do purchase the realme GT Neo 2, take my advice – turn off Dynamic RAM Expansion.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
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