It's July 2017: Someone is suffering from rain and hail, and owners of tablets and smartphones are suffering from the fact that their device has 512 MB of RAM. If you are still wondering whether to buy such a device or not, then be sure to read this material.
The price of tablets and smartphones with 512 MB of RAM is on average about 2,000 rubles, it cannot be lower, this is the very bottom. Can they be considered full-fledged smartphones and tablets? Which applications will work on them and which ones will not? This question can only be answered with practical tests.
Test configuration:
Supra M72KG Tablet Phone
- OS Android 4.4.2
- Processor MediaTek MT8312 (6572)
- Memory 512 MB RAM and 4 GB Flash (1.24 GB available)
- 7-inch display, 1024×600 pixels
- Wi-Fi and 3G network
- Operator Megafon (North-West)
- Only official apps from Google play
The device is not new, but it differs from the same modern ones only in a slightly weaker processor.
Test menu
- Google play
- Messengers
- Social media clients
- Office programs
- Games
- Thoughts and conclusions
Google Play
Such ultra-budget devices are produced by little-known firms that do not claim to be popular or famous. And there is nothing to be surprised if the standard Google Play application stops considering the device certified after the next update. A 'non-certified device' means, in practice, that you won't be able to enter the app store anytime you want to, but only when you're 'lucky'. This happens randomly even with a stable connection and free space on the system partition.
Messengers
Telegram was able to download and install from Google Play. But, despite all attempts, it did not work to start it, the application was closed without explanation. Probably, the problem could be solved by studying the w3bsit3-dns.com forum, but the average user is unlikely to do this.
WhatsApp could not be verified. After entering the phone number and subsequent requests during the day, the confirmation code did not come. It was not possible to find out what caused this and how the application works.
Viber also presented an unpleasant surprise. When registering and entering a phone number, absolutely nothing happens. Viber is looking at you, you are looking at Viber.
Google Hangouts works flawlessly. At the same time, notifications about new messages come even with running heavy applications (Subway Surfers). This is most likely due to the fact that this messenger is part of the firmware and has priority over third-party applications.
Skype works surprisingly correctly, no crashes were noticed, but everything happens very slowly.
Tell us about your experience of using these instant messengers on personal devices with 512 MB of RAM, maybe the described problems are peculiar only to a specific tablet phone?
Social networks
The official VKontakte application pleased with its fast launch and tolerable work. But after the release, a depressing picture is observed – the application took all the RAM for its needs, including the minimum required for the launcher to work. I had to wait about five seconds before the desktop regained its familiar appearance. 512 MB of RAM for this application is the limit and if at this moment they call you, then you will most likely miss the call.
The app Facebook will not work properly on a smartphone with 512MB of RAM. It starts, but every time you try to scroll through the page or go to private messages, it stops responding and becomes impossible to use. Alas, this social network is not at all stretched between the sugar shores.
The interface of the Odnoklassniki application is very similar to VKontakte, and the speed of work Facebook. You can use the application only conditionally, each action causes almost physically tangible opposition. It cannot be recommended for use on a daily basis.
At first Twitter I did not send the verification code for a long time, and then I could not create an account. It would be a pity, it would be interesting to observe the active life of tweets with 512 MB of RAM.
Office programs
In Microsoft Office 2016, a test document in .docx format was created with 4 chapters of the work of J. Hasek 'The Adventures of the Gallant Soldier Švejk during the World War' and added to the tablet memory. The fundamental possibility of opening a document, making a record in it and saving changes was assessed.
WPS Office + PDF application works correctly, albeit with delays.
Google Docs is very slow in the absence of RAM, although it allows you to use all its functions. But, at the same time, the low information content of its interface is annoying. When the document is loaded into the device's RAM, the running blue line is the only thing that indicates the application is working.
Microsoft Word politely warns that 512 MB of RAM is too little for normal operation … And immediately pleases me with the fastest work of all the applications discussed above. Information content and control are also at their best, pressing the screen is practiced almost without delay.
Games
Real Racing 3 was installed from Google Play, but the application could no longer download the cache due to lack of space on the internal storage. And this despite the fact that all unnecessary was removed, including third-party applications.
Derby Destruction Simulator prompts you to enter your name before going to the main menu. The default GBoard keyboard on the tablet took about 20 seconds to launch, and after entering the nickname, the game crashed. Screenshots taken in the menu turned out to be blank afterwards.
When running 3D programs, RAM is critical, because the video processor does not have its own memory and it uses shared memory. The more graphics, the more RAM you need. On a smartphone with a slightly more advanced MT6582 processor and 1 GB of RAM, there are no such problems, the game starts without problems. Despite the clear hints from above, it was decided to try another 'hard' game.
Demolition Derby 2 using the Unity graphics engine crashes when loading the startup screen.
As it became clear from the tests carried out, it will be possible to play, perhaps, in runners (Subway Surfers and others like them), as well as the simplest board games, like Sudoku, Checkers, Throwing Fool, etc. There is nothing to be happy about, there will be no screenshots.
Thoughts and conclusions
It's 2017 and no decent company produces smartphones with less than 1 GB of RAM. And there is exactly one reason for this. Modern applications (including system ones) have grown in size in the process of 'improving' their graphical component. When an application is launched, all these 'improved' graphics immediately appear in RAM, displacing everything unnecessary from it, including previously launched applications and processes.
The conclusion is simple – buy a smartphone or tablet with 512 RAM only if you are willing to endure the limitations. Use only one messenger, only one social network client and play tic-tac-toe.
I propose to discuss the moral character of companies claiming that their products for 2,000 rubles are smartphones, as well as share their own ways to bypass the annoying limitation in the form of a lack of RAM.