🔧 Extend RAM (Virtual RAM) on Realme Phones: Complete Model List, How to Enable, Functions, and Its Impact on Gaming & Editing
📌 Introduction
The Extend RAM / Virtual RAM feature on Realme phones is often assumed to “add RAM” like a hardware upgrade. In reality, what happens is memory management at the system level (Android/Linux kernel): the device uses mechanisms such as swap (paging space) and/or ZRAM (RAM compression), and Realme UI exposes this control as “RAM Expansion.”
Because the implementation depends on Realme UI, Android version, physical RAM size, and storage type, the results can vary between models—especially during heavy gaming or video editing.
🔍 What Is Realme Virtual RAM at the Kernel Level?
On Android systems, memory management is not as simple as RAM filling up and performance instantly dropping.
1) 🧠 Physical RAM, Page Cache, and Memory Pressure
- Physical RAM is used for apps and the system.
- Page cache stores file data for faster repeated access.
When RAM starts to fill up, the kernel will:
- shrink caches,
- perform memory reclaim,
- then push memory pages to other mechanisms (swap/ZRAM) if available.
2) 🔁 Swap (Storage-Based Virtual RAM)
This is what most people mean by “Virtual RAM”:
- The kernel moves less-frequently used memory pages to a swap area (usually a file or partition on storage).
- A kernel process commonly involved is kswapd (reclaim daemon).
Impact:
- multitasking stability can improve because background apps are not killed immediately,
- but latency increases when swapped pages must be read back from storage.
3) 🗜️ ZRAM (Compressed RAM)
Some devices use ZRAM:
- It does not use storage, but creates a compressed “swap” block in RAM.
Advantages:
- faster than storage-based swap,
- reduces storage I/O.
Disadvantages:
- requires CPU resources for compression/decompression,
- under heavy CPU load (gaming), it can add slight overhead.
4) 🚨 LMKD & OOM: Why Apps Can Still Be Closed
Android has LMKD (Low Memory Killer Daemon) and OOM (Out-Of-Memory) mechanisms.
When memory pressure is high and reclaim is insufficient, the system terminates processes (usually background apps).
Virtual RAM only delays how quickly apps are killed; it does not remove the role of LMKD/OOM in the system.
The effectiveness of storage-based Virtual RAM depends heavily on storage quality:
- UFS: faster I/O → swap is more usable.
- eMMC: slower I/O → swap can cause delays or lag when switching apps.
Below is the global list of Realme models (including both supported and unsupported devices): “GLOBAL REALME PHONES – EXTEND RAM (VIRTUAL RAM)”
📊 Realme Phone Models & Virtual RAM Support (Click to expand / collapse)
| Realme Model | Release Year | Virtual RAM Support | OS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realme 1 | 2018 | ❌ No | Android 8.1 (ColorOS) |
| Realme 2 / 2 Pro | 2018 | ❌ No | Android 8.1 (ColorOS) |
| Realme C1 | 2018 | ❌ No | Android 8.1 (ColorOS) |
| Realme U1 | 2018 | ❌ No | Android 8.1 (ColorOS) |
| Realme C2 | 2019 | ❌ No | Android 9 (ColorOS) |
| Realme 3 / 3 Pro | 2019 | ❌ No | Android 9 (ColorOS) |
| Realme X / X2 / X2 Pro | 2019 | ❌ No | Android 9 (ColorOS) |
| Realme 5 / 5 Pro / 5s | 2019 | ❌ No | Android 9 (ColorOS) |
| Realme C3 | 2020 | ❌ No | Android 10 (Realme UI 1.0) |
| Realme 6 / 6 Pro | 2020 | ❌ No | Android 10 (Realme UI 1.0) |
| Realme 7 / 7 Pro / 7i | 2020 | ❌ No | Android 10 (Realme UI 1.0) |
| Realme X50 Pro 5G | 2020 | ❌ No | Android 10 (Realme UI 1.0) |
| Realme 8 / 8 Pro | 2021 | ✅ Yes | Android 11 (Realme UI 2.0) |
| Realme GT 5G | 2021 | ✅ Yes | Android 11 (Realme UI 2.0) |
| Realme GT Neo / Neo 2 | 2021 | ✅ Yes | Android 11 (Realme UI 2.0) |
| Realme 8i / 8s 5G | 2021 | ✅ Yes | Android 11 (Realme UI 2.0) |
| Realme C21 / C25 | 2021 | ❌ No | Android 10 / 11 |
| Realme GT 2 / GT 2 Pro | 2022 | ✅ Yes | Android 12 (Realme UI 3.0) |
| Realme 9 / 9 Pro / 9 Pro+ | 2022 | ✅ Yes | Android 12 (Realme UI 3.0) |
| Realme 10 / 10 5G | 2022 | ✅ Yes | Android 12 (Realme UI 3.0) |
| Realme 10 Pro / Pro+ | 2022 | ✅ Yes | Android 13 (Realme UI 4.0) |
| Realme GT Neo 3 | 2022 | ✅ Yes | Android 12 (Realme UI 3.0) |
| Realme C31 / C35 | 2022 | ✅ Yes (Update) | Android 11 / 12 |
| Realme GT 3 (240W) | 2023 | ✅ Yes | Android 13 (Realme UI 4.0) |
| Realme 11 Pro / Pro+ | 2023 | ✅ Yes | Android 13 (Realme UI 4.0) |
| Realme C55 / C53 | 2023 | ✅ Yes | Android 13 (Realme UI 4.0 / T) |
| Realme GT 5 | 2023 | ✅ Yes | Android 13 (Realme UI 4.0) |
| Realme C67 5G | 2023 | ✅ Yes | Android 13 (Realme UI 4.0) |
| Realme 12 Pro / Pro+ | 2024 | ✅ Yes | Android 14 (Realme UI 5.0) |
| Realme GT 6 / 6T | 2024 | ✅ Yes | Android 14 (Realme UI 5.0) |
| Realme 13 / 13 Pro / Pro+ | 2024 | ✅ Yes | Android 14 (Realme UI 5.0) |
| Realme GT 7 Pro | 2024 | ✅ Yes | Android 15 (Realme UI 6.0) |
| Realme 14 Pro / Pro+ | 2025 | ✅ Yes | Android 15 (Realme UI 6.0) |
| Realme Narzo 80 Series | 2025 | ✅ Yes | Android 15 (Realme UI 6.0) |
| Realme GT 8 Pro | 2025 | ✅ Yes | Android 16 (Realme UI 7.0) |
⚙️ How to Enable Extend RAM on Realme Phones
Menu order may vary slightly depending on the model and OS version, but the official flow is usually:
1️⃣ Settings ⚙️
2️⃣ About Phone
3️⃣ Tap RAM
4️⃣ Enable RAM Expansion / Virtual RAM
5️⃣ Choose capacity: 2GB / 4GB / 8GB
6️⃣ Restart 🔄
📌 Technical notes:
On some models, available capacity depends on:
- RAM variant (4 / 6 / 8 / 12 GB),
- available free storage,
- Realme UI policy (sometimes limits the maximum).
🧠 Extend RAM Function – From a System Perspective
At the kernel level, the main goals are:
- providing “breathing room” when physical RAM is full,
- reducing how often LMKD kills background apps,
- keeping app states from reloading too frequently.
Extend RAM helps background app management; it does not increase raw computing power.
🎮 Impact on Gaming
What actually happens:
- ❌ FPS does not increase (FPS is mostly GPU/CPU-bound, not RAM-bound).
✅ App switching stability can improve:
- games reload less often when switching to chat or screen recording,
- fewer force closes on low-RAM devices.
Risks in heavy games:
With slow storage (eMMC), swap can cause:
- stutter when alt-tabbing,
- longer reload times,
- slight delays during swap-in.
🎬 Impact on Video Editing
Virtual RAM can help when:
- large timelines with many layers fill physical RAM,
- switching between apps (music, file manager, uploads) without the editor restarting.
However:
- ❌ it does not significantly improve rendering speed,
- rendering performance is more influenced by CPU/GPU encoder, thermal limits, and storage throughput.
📱 Impact on Daily Use
Most noticeable for:
- social media + many browser tabs,
- chat + camera + marketplace apps,
- devices with 4–6 GB of RAM.
Typical effects users notice:
- apps are closed by the system less frequently,
- app switching feels more consistent.
✅ Advantages of Extend RAM
✔ Helps multitasking stability (delays background app kills)
✔ Useful for small physical RAM
✔ No additional apps required
✔ Can be adjusted or disabled anytime
✔ On UFS storage, the experience is usually smoother
❌ Disadvantages of Extend RAM
✖ Slower than physical RAM (especially storage-based swap)
✖ Reduces free storage space
✖ Can add latency during swap-in/out
✖ Less effective on eMMC
✖ Potential additional storage I/O (usually controlled to avoid excess)
🔚 Conclusion
Extend RAM on Realme phones is a memory-management feature that works through kernel mechanisms such as swap, ZRAM, and reclaim. Its primary goal is stability, not raw performance gains.
For gaming, it is best seen as a way to prevent games from reloading too often rather than increasing FPS. For editing and daily use, Extend RAM helps apps survive multitasking—especially on devices with limited physical RAM and reasonably fast storage.
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