Most smartphone these days offer enough RAM to ensure
seamless multi-tasking and gaming. Even the budget smartphones come with at
least 4GB to 6GB of RAM while more performance-heavy phones have 12GB and even
16GB RAM options.
Yet, users face lags and often complain about performance
related issues. The smartphone makers are trying to find ways to counter this
problem. Vivo had added a virtual RAM feature on its recently launched X60
series and now, Xiaomi is believed to be working on a similar solution.
Xiaomi tipster Kacper Skrzypek discovered references to a
memory extension feature in MIUI. He even shared a screenshot of the custom
Android skin to confirm the presence of this feature which can arrive on future
Xiaomi phones.
The feature works similar to Vivo’s virtual RAM. It
basically allocates some storage towards RAM to handle multi-tasking. The
concept has existed on PCs for some time now.
However, even this feature has its limitations. The phone
can allocate only limited storage towards RAM.
On Vivo X60 series, the system was capable of extending the
RAM by 3GB. So, the 8GB RAM variant would automatically become a 11GB RAM
variant while the 12GB RAM variant would help deliver 15GB RAM experience. Vivo
notes that the feature enables a “smoother system user experience,” such as
multitasking between more apps.
It will be interesting to see if Xiaomi reserves this
feature for one of its more premium smartphones or adds it to MIUI across
devices. The latter would definitely benefit a lot of users running older
Xiaomi smartphones. They will be able to extend the phone’s life and get better
performance without having to spend on a new device.
Interestingly, the company is planning to introduce the
latest version of MIUI in India. The software update was announced earlier this
year and is confirmed to run on next Redmi Note phone. Xiaomi hasn’t revealed
the name of this phone but it is likely to be the Redmi Note 10S. The
smartphone maker shared an image of the retail box of the phone which confirms
the presence of MIUI 12.5 on it. The phone can be launched in the country
sometime soon.
It is unlikely that the RAM extension feature makes its way
to MIUI 12.5 though.