Oppo’s New Memory Expansion Technology Lets Users Get More RAM in Their Phones

An upcoming software update from Oppo will let users of certain Oppo phones temporarily increase the amount of RAM their phone has.

The Oppo A74 is the only phone that can use the company’s Memory Expansion Technology for now. Credit: Oppo

The company recently released its Memory Expansion Technology, RAM Expansion, for its Reno5 Series, A94 and A74 Series smartphones in Singapore. It allows users to temporarily convert part of their smartphone’s available ROM to virtual RAM.

The amount of virtual RAM varies depending on which phone model you have. Reno5 Series smartphones are capable of adding 7GB of virtual RAM. A94 and A74 Series smartphones, meanwhile, can add up to 5GB of virtual RAM. Currently, only the A74 Series can utilise the new feature with plans for the Oppo Reno5 Z, Reno5 5G and A94 series to receive the update in June and the Reno5 Pro 5G to receive the update in July.

Oppo Singapore’s marketing director, Dylan Yu, said that the feature will elevate the user-centric experience for Oppo users and grant them the ability to customise their smartphone’s performance to adapt to their lifestyle requirements and needs.

For those out of the loop, ROM or read-only memory is a non-volatile storage medium that is used for permanent storage. RAM or random-access memory, on the other hand, is a volatile storage medium that stores temporary information quickly, which means it needs a constant source of power to store information. Should the device be turned off, it loses all information stored in the RAM. RAM is also one of the fastest types of memory, allowing your device to quickly switch between tasks, meaning that the amount of RAM a device has is one of the primary factors that affect its response speed. The amount of RAM your phone needs depends on what kind of apps and features you have on it, as well as the kind of tasks you’re using the phone for.

Credit: Oppo

To use the new feature, users of the previously mentioned Oppo smartphones need to go to their phone’s settings and select RAM. Afterwards, tap on RAM, enable RAM expansion and drag the slider to indicate how much virtual RAM you want the phone to expand.

Of course, this brings up the question of exactly why one would require that much RAM on a phone. It’s understandable for desktops and laptops since they’re used for work, and even photo or video editing. For a smartphone though, it’s rare that apps would require more RAM past the typical 6GB or 8GB available on flagship models. The Reno5 Pro 5G already has 12GB of RAM onboard, which means with the expansion, you could get up to 19GB of RAM. With most laptops even coming with only 16GB of RAM, it’s interesting to see what a phone with 19GB of RAM could do.

Additionally, it also begs the question: how fast would the virtual RAM be? ROM storage is slower, which means that even if it’s converted into virtual RAM, the speeds wouldn’t be on par with the original RAM. We guess we’ll just have to wait and see if this new feature will really be as useful as it seems.

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Written by John Paul Joaquin