Android RAM usage. How much RAM does Android use on idle ?

Hi,
How much RAM does Android use on idle ? Are 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM enough ?

How much RAM does Android use on idle depends on multiple factors:

What type of device do you use ?
Mobile phones use more RAM than Tablets without LTE, because they work with network connection, mobile data etc.

What Android version is running on your device ?
Newer version usually requires more RAM, so there can be a higher RAM usage on idle.

What applications are installed and what applications are running in the background ?
More applications running in the background means a higher RAM usage.


From my experience:

Phone with Android 13 and no additional apps installed, uses approx. 2 GB of RAM on idle - after is turned on.

Tablet with Android 13 and no additional apps installed, uses approx. 1.5 GB of RAM on idle - after is turned on.

There is a 0.5 GB Reserved RAM used in case of both phone and tablet.

Android 13 requires a minimum of 2 GB of RAM. So 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM are "enough", but not optimal.

2 GB of RAM are required to run Android, but it allows you to use only 2 - 3 basic apps smoothly. To get a better experience, use a high RAM consuming apps or use more apps at the same time smoothly, it is recommended to have at least 4 GB of RAM.

6 GB of RAM are considered to be optimal, to provide a good performance.

Android Go edition uses less RAM on idle than regular Android OS, but the overall performance is lower.

But even in case of Android Go, the minimum RAM requirements are increasing from version to version.

The minimum RAM requirements for Android 12 Go edition is 1 GB. Android 13 Go edition requires at least 2 GB of RAM.

Android 14 has improved RAM management, that can reduce RAM usage. This can boost the productivity of devices with less RAM available.

Improved RAM management can reduce background activities, so less RAM will be used and battery will last longer.

Android 14 has better RAM management, but even though that, it uses more RAM on idle than Android 13.

Phone with Android 14 uses approximately 3 GB of RAM on idle.