Samsung includes the RAM Plus feature in Samsung devices to improve performance. RAM Plus improves multitasking on your Galaxy phone or tablet by allocating part of the phone's internal storage as virtual memory. More memory means you can run more apps in the background and launch them faster. Still, virtual RAM is slower than physical RAM and may make your Galaxy device run slower. This feature is usually activated by default. If your new Samsung Galaxy phone runs slower than expected, here's how to turn off Samsung RAM Plus.
Why is my phone slower on One UI 4.1?
For the first few months, our Galaxy S22's performance was disappointing. It felt less consistent than our S21 Ultra, which never failed to deliver stellar performance. The S22 Ultra was never slow. Still, it would drop frames and stutter more than expected. At first, we put this down to it being a new device that needed pre-release patches. However, in the end, we were concerned it could be down to the Exynos 2200 found in our UK unit, even though previous Exynos chips never let us down.
While researching ways to boost performance on the S22 Ultra, we found several forum posts mentioning that the new feature, RAM Plus, was the culprit. Owners of the S21 Ultra and other devices that were updated to One UI 4.1 faced the same issue as our S22. One post on the XDA Developers forum came with instructions for disabling Ram Plus.
After trying it on an Exynos S22 Ultra, a Snapdragon Galaxy S20, and a Galaxy M53 5G, we can confirm that something about RAM Plus hurts performance. Immediately after turning it off, the S20 and M53 returned to the levels of performance they saw before being updated to 4.1. The S22 Ultra started to behave as it always should have. It's one of the fastest phones we've used, outperforming its predecessor.
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How to disable RAM Plus in One UI 4.1
If you use an older Galaxy device that can't update to One UI 5.0 or 6.0, use this workaround to turn off RAM Plus. It involves using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) program on your computer. We walk you through the process.
If you're new to ADB, learn how to install and use ADB on your computer. Our guide walks you through installing it on your computer and activating USB debugging on your phone.
After setting up ADB, enter the following command into the terminal:
adb shell settings put global ram_expand_size_list 0,1,2,4,6,8
After the command is completed, reboot your phone. When it's switched back on, navigate to Settings > Battery and device care > Memory and open the RAM Plus menu. Before running the command, change how much virtual RAM you use, ranging from 2GB to 4GB. Now, you can set it anywhere from 0GB to 8GB or 16GB, depending on your device.
Choose 0GB from the list, and reboot your phone as prompted. You'll notice smoother animations, better-sustained performance, and a more consistent experience when it's up and running.
Left: Unmodified RAM Plus menu. Right: Modified RAM Plus menu.
How to disable RAM Plus in One UI 5.0 or 6.0
Turning off RAM Plus in recent versions of One UI is easy. Samsung allows users to turn off RAM Plus through a toggle in the Settings app. Go to the RAM Plus menu via Settings > Device care > Memory > RAM Plus and switch it off using the new toggle at the top of the screen.
You don't need to restart your phone for the changes to take effect.
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Should you disable RAM Plus or use it?
Turning off RAM Plus is easier than ever with One UI 6. If you have a new Samsung phone, give it a shot. You might not notice performance issues with your phone, but turning off RAM Plus to see if you get a boost can't hurt. It might help your battery life. If you're interested in catching up with One UI's latest iteration, we explain everything you need to know about One UI 6.
