The mid-range smartphone you purchased last year for 1,300 yuan boasted 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

This year, when you decide to buy a similar model for a family member, you discover that the 12GB RAM version is no longer available. The base model now starts at 8GB, and the price has increased by several hundred yuan compared to last year.

This is not a figment of your imagination.

Since the second half of 2026, mid-range phones from various manufacturers have collectively reverted to 8GB of RAM, with entry-level models even reintroducing 6GB and 4GB configurations.

Some bloggers have unearthed comparisons from 2023, when debates raged over whether mid-range phones should start at 16GB and flagship models should offer 24GB.

Three years on, the trend has reversed.

01 Why Did Memory Prices Suddenly Soar?

The downgrade in RAM specifications is not a cost-cutting measure by manufacturers but rather a reflection of the rising prices of storage chips.

Data from TrendForce reveals that DRAM and NAND contract prices surged by double digits for two consecutive quarters in the first half of 2026. DRAM once accounted for a higher proportion of total device material costs than the processor, becoming the single most expensive component.

Some media outlets have reported that DRAM and NAND costs have skyrocketed by approximately 350% compared to the previous year.

The culprit behind the price hike is AI.

A single AI server requires 8 to 10 times more DRAM than a traditional server. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have redirected a significant portion of their advanced production capacity toward higher-margin HBM and server-grade memory.

This has systematically squeezed the production capacity available for smartphones, driving prices upward. Faced with soaring costs, manufacturers have two options: either openly raise prices or covertly reduce specifications.

Open price hikes are straightforward, while covert specification cuts are more subtle—the model name remains unchanged, and the price may even stay the same, but the RAM you receive is 2GB less than last year's equivalent model.

02 Is 8GB RAM Sufficient in 2026?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer; it depends on the operating system and your usage patterns.

For Android, a reality check is necessary.

After booting up, various background services on domestic Android systems consume a significant portion of RAM, leaving only about 3-4GB available for user apps on an 8GB device.

If your usage primarily involves WeChat, short videos, calls, and light shopping, 8GB paired with a well-optimized system should suffice.

Image source: Internet

However, if you're accustomed to running multiple apps simultaneously and frequently switching between WeChat and e-commerce platforms, WeChat—a notorious memory hog—can consume 1-2GB during heavy usage. Switching away to check an order and returning may result in the app reloading from scratch. Similarly, switching back to a game after replying to a message may restart the session.

Such experiences are all too real for heavy multitaskers, and complaints about 8GB models killing background apps have persisted this year.

There are two exceptions, though.

An iPhone's 8GB is not equivalent to Android's 8GB. iOS's background mechanism freezes apps when switched away, preserving resources and maintaining background retention. HarmonyOS also employs aggressive memory management, allowing 8GB paired with HarmonyOS 7 to handle light loads like WeChat, short videos, and video calls without noticeable background killing—but only if you stick to those apps.

03 Memory Expansion Can't Compensate for Insufficient RAM

Many manufacturers equip 8GB models with memory expansion features, advertising 8GB + 8GB = 16GB, which sounds like doubling your RAM for free.

However, memory expansion essentially borrows space from flash storage to act as virtual memory, and flash storage's read/write speeds are significantly slower than actual RAM.

Tests show that enabling this feature on phones with 8GB or more physical RAM does not significantly improve frame rate stability or cold launch speeds.

It may allow one or two additional apps to run in the background, but it cannot save a phone with insufficient physical RAM. Relying on the expanded figure as a purchasing criterion is essentially falling for marketing hype.

04 How to Evaluate RAM When Buying a Phone Now

If your budget is around 2,000 yuan, 8GB is not necessarily a bad choice, but you should be aware of what you're buying.

If your usage primarily involves WeChat, short videos, calls, and light shopping, 8GB paired with a well-optimized system should suffice.

If you're accustomed to running multiple apps simultaneously and frequently switching between WeChat and e-commerce platforms, 8GB will provide a noticeably degraded experience, and upgrading to 12GB is advisable if possible.

Another approach is to consider last-generation 12GB models still available in the market.

Within the same budget, the actual background retention experience of an older 12GB model often outperforms that of a new 8GB model.

However, note that background retention depends not only on capacity but also on the manufacturer's memory management strategy. Some 12GB models with aggressive management may perform no better than moderately managed 8GB models.

In a year of regressing memory specifications, opting for older models over newer ones for RAM can be a valid strategy—but don't focus solely on the numbers.

The reduction in RAM figures is not because manufacturers think you don't need more; it's because memory has genuinely become more expensive.

During this cycle, understanding how many apps you typically run simultaneously on your phone is far more useful than fixating on the marketed "expanded equivalent RAM" figures. #MobilePhoneRAM