If smartphone performance is important to you, the key items you need to pay attention to when picking a smartphone for use are processor and RAM. Together, they decide the performance of your phone. But they do so in different ways.
Most of the time people are getting confused on what the processor and RAM really do. Today’s marketplace has been bombarded by tons of smartphones with different specifications that’s why choosing a smartphone which suits you has become a daunting task. Which one makes the phone run faster? Is it the processor or the RAM?
RAM
In the context of Android, more RAM means Android can keep more sleeping program in the RAM so they will be ready to be quickly resumed when you return back to the apps. More RAM means Android is going to spend less of its time killing and reloading apps from the internal memory/sd card, and instead spend more time doing actual work you care about. This means that more RAM usually give you better/faster task-switching. Having more RAM also allows you to run complex apps that naturally requires a lot of memory, e.g.photo/video editor, complex games, etc.
More RAM enhances multi-tasking. The more RAM a phone has, the smoother it is to launch and switch between apps. More RAM does not make your phone as a whole run faster.
PROCESSOR/SoC
The processor is the central hub of your smartphone. Processors in mobile phones is similar to a brain. It does all the calculations for the tasks directly related to the application software you are running on your phone. When it comes to high level visuals, the GPUs help the processor in running all these together. It receives and executes every command, performing billions of calculations per second. The effectiveness of the processor directly affects every application you run, whether it’s the camera, the music player, or just a simple email program.
Well earlier, smartphones used to come with the processor but nowadays it has been replaced by SOC ( System On Chip). A system on a chip or system on chip (SoC or SOC) is an integrated circuit (IC) that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. It may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions-all on a single chip substrate without it your smart phone is a overpriced paper weight.
The list below contains the most common components that you will find inside a smartphone System on Chip :
Central Processing Unit (CPU) — The “brains” of the SoC. Runs most of the code for the Android OS and most of your apps.
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) — Handles graphics-related tasks, such as visualizing an app’s user interface and 2D/3D gaming.
Image Processing Unit (ISP) — Converts data from the phone’s camera into image and video files.
Digital Signal Processor (DSP) — Handles more mathematically intensive functions than a CPU. Includes decompressing music files and analyzing gyroscope sensor data.
Neural Processing Unit (NPU) — Used in high-end smartphones to accelerate machine learning (AI) tasks. These include voice recognition and camera processing.
Video encoder/decoder — Handles the power-efficient conversion of video files and formats.
Modems — Converts wireless signals into data your phone understands. Components include 4G LTE, 5G, WiFi, and Bluetooth modems.
SoCs will often mention something called the manufacturing process. It’s listed as a number in nanometers (nm). Generally speaking, the smaller the nm size, the smaller the internal wiring of the SoC. This is better for power efficiency and silicon area size.
Example:
Suppose, I am playing Candy Crush at the moment then all the tasks and instruction processing of the app will be done by the processor. Whereas, the app in the background are stored in your RAM. When you switch to other app running in the background and the app opens at the same place where you left it. This happens because it was stored in the RAM. I believe one need a combination of a good RAM and a good processor.
Conclusion
In short, both are equally important; your own personal usage pattern will determine which is more valuable for you. If you generally stays in a single program and is sensitive to input-to-output latency then having faster Processor will be more valuable for you. If you constantly task switch between many different apps or if you need to run complex memory-hungry apps to open complex large files, then having extra RAM is going to be more valuable to you.
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