RAM, ROM, eMMC, UFS you may have heard these terms while searching for your new phone. Today we tell you how much RAM your phone needs to function smoothly. RAM refers to random access memory where processes are cached and retrieved on demand.

With the recent launch of phones like the OnePlus 3 and the LeMax 2, 6 GB RAM is set to be the benchmark for 2017 and while 6 GB of RAM may be over-kill we tell you how much RAM should you look for in your new phone.

1 Gigabyte

1 GB has become the norm in the tech world as far as low-end smartphones go, most phones launched under a tight budget of 3k to5k feature 1 GB of RAM which by no means is super fast but is barely enough to get you through some basic tasks. Buying a phone with 1 GB of RAM is basically ensuring a laggy experience in the long haul. Android 5.1 and 6.0 would make a real mess since they are more intensive and require more power.

2 Gigabyte

Increasing the budget by a couple of thousand rupees gets you a phone with 2 GB of RAM which was the talk of the town in early 2015. Nowadays a 2 GB RAM is a standard needed to run most apps and games with ease, although this again isn’t super fast will get you through most of the basic apps and multitasking on your phone.

3 Gigabyte

Most of the mid-range phones like the Redmi note 3 and the Le 2 now come with 3 GB RAM as standard. 3 GB of RAM is useful in heavy multitasking and running intensive apps simultaneously. Since the game titles and apps are getting more and more mature on platforms like Android and iOS the need for higher amounts of RAM has risen. 3 GB is set to be the standard for better part of 2017 and we will only see a shift from 3 GB to 4 GB in Q2 of 2017.

4 Gigabyte

The flagship phones from Samsung, HTC and LG all boast of 4 GB of RAM which is overkill since Android which is based on the Linux kernel doesn’t require that amount of RAM but still 4 GB is set to be the norm in midrange and flagship phones to come in the near future. Buying a phone with 4 GB of RAM is essentially future-proofing your purchase as it will easily last you at least 12 to 18 months if not more.

6 Gigabyte

The recent influx of newer flagships from OnePlus and LeEco has ensured we are sold on the more the better theory, although 6 GB of RAM isn’t at all necessary by today’s standards, it is a way to sell a device. In theory the more the RAM the more available space for apps and better the multitasking although that isn’t always true, optimization is the key to multitasking so a phone with lower memory can perform better than one with higher, case in point the iPhones which have lower amounts of RAM.

So what amount of RAM is ideal for you? Really that depends on the usage of a person. 3 GB of RAM should suffice for any normal person who wants snappy performance and a future proof device. Just to put things in perspective Google’s official minimum spec for a 64-bit phone is 832 MB of RAM.