Upcoming Nubia Z17 could be the first smartphone with 8GB of RAM

There's confirmation that an 8GB RAM phone, the Nubia Z17, is going to be released – possibly very soon. It's coming from China, of course, by virtue of ZTE's daughter brand Nubia. These phones tend to be high-end models with particular attention paid to design and innovative-semi-useful functionality like the Nubia Z9's touch-friendly display frame. Got to differentiate somehow, right?

Nubia's public relations team has confirmed this particular spec in Chinese social networks, while separate rumors point towards waterproofing and cheaper Z17 versions with 4GB and 6GB of RAM. The spec sheet itself is yet to be officially confirmed, but this model's rumor sphere suggests a 5.5-inch 1080p display with a haptic engine, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, and a dual camera setup (23MP main, 12MP secondary). The operating system is said to be Nubia UI 5.0 on top of Android 7.1.1.

Other than boosting marketing hype, 8GB of RAM doesn't have much practical purpose right now. But it will in the not-so-distant future, when always-in AI assistants will be harnessing smartphones' computational resources to perceive and analyze what's going on around them and their users. Elaborate 3D and VR games will benefit from the additional room, too. So let's have the industry take its course!




1. Bankz

Posts: 2550; Member since: Apr 08, 2016

I thought this recognition belonged to the asus zenfone AR?

2. GreenMan

Posts: 2698; Member since: Nov 09, 2015

8 Gigs of DDR4 RAM is considered un-necessary even on a laptop with full Windows Desktop OS, let alone a bloody smartphone...! My new Windows 8.1 (Upgradeable to 10) Hybrid has mere 4 Gigs of RAM with Intel Core M and it glides through every dang thing I throw at it... Surprising smooth... Now; of course I don't do some heavy-duty video editing or perhaps video gaming (Too old for it now) on it but that's beside the point... When was the last time you saw a smartphone that can run Adobe Programs, full fledged Microsoft Office Suite or perhaps run some heavy duty graphically intensive video games at Full HD...? Now, I'm not saying that's its an absolute overkill... In future, we 'might' need 8 Gigs of RAM to run Android 'reasonably' smooth (Wha...?) but right now, even 4GB of RAM is plenty to run 20+ apps simultaneously... Oh well... Bigger is better, eh?! G'Day!

4. shaineql

Posts: 522; Member since: Apr 28, 2014

When will you realize that phone demands more ram than PC. On windows you never have basically more than 1 app open, 3 at best. On phones you have at least 5 fully running in background (Instsgram,Facebook,WhatsApp, etc etc) with additional 50 background processes. Please think before you spew BS.

5. shaineql

Posts: 522; Member since: Apr 28, 2014

Also stuff such as sensors and cellular connectivity and everything else that phone provides over standard PC. Just check Surface Tablet for example , it runs s**tty with 4GB because it has to keep so much more stuff running than mere PC.

7. trojan_horse

Posts: 5868; Member since: May 06, 2016

GreenMan got schooled by @shaineql. That was fun to read.

15. L0n3n1nja

Posts: 1603; Member since: Jul 12, 2016

My Surface has 4Gb of RAM and runs great, it doesn't have a bunch of extra stuff running compared to a regular PC.

8. middlehead

Posts: 475; Member since: May 12, 2014

You act like PCs don't have dozens of background processes running and want /someone else/ to think before speaking? Alanis Morissette could write a song about you.

9. zunaidahmed

Posts: 1186; Member since: Dec 24, 2011

Are you stupid? And PC doesnt have a lot of apps open? Wtf? Usually have 4-8 internet tabs open, a music app, my steam running in the background. Discord used for chatting is always open too. Windows also have way more services because it doesn't really have to optimize as well as a phone to save battery. If you think a phone needs 8GB and windows doesn't, you should just eat the bulls**t you spewed from your ass. Windows also have way more drivers and peripherals to run. If your phone needs 8GB to run well, android would have never been invented in the first place. Not to mention phones need to save battery, filling up all the RAM with tasks and service would kill the battery in a short while. That's why even the one plus 3 with 6GB ram kills off some task before the 6GB ram fills up. You should really do your homework before s**tting here.

10. shaineql

Posts: 522; Member since: Apr 28, 2014

It's extremely complex topic, I just wrote that phones nowadays need more ram because we use more apps than we do on PC. I have at least 5 tabs in chrome and in Samsung browser up at all times plus dosen of apps, on PC not so much.

11. shaineql

Posts: 522; Member since: Apr 28, 2014

I also have a masters degree in computer networking , I could go in deep about background stuff etc . But answe is simple phones run more apps

13. GreenMan

Posts: 2698; Member since: Nov 09, 2015

And this video is for the eyes of a certain 'CowBoy' here who believes that smartphones need every single Bit of that 8 Gigs:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxStsKhefTk&app=desktop That S8 has 4 Gigs of RAM and it has no trouble keeping 20 or so apps in the background... So... Come-in again...? Nah, he probably won't...! G'Day!

14. GreenMan

Posts: 2698; Member since: Nov 09, 2015

You know how many programs my Windows 8 Tab with tiny 4 Gigs of memory is running at the moment...? 67 to be precise...! Anti-Virus, Cloud Syncing, dozens of system files running, drivers, Bluetooth, Gyrooscpe, Windows Explorer (The UI itself), Java, Runtime, Opera Browser etc... There could also be some malware I'm not aware of...! I'd post you a link but that's unnecessary... Tell you what; Press Ctrl + Alt + Del together (Yes, together... All three buttons) and see how many programs are running in the background... And yet its consuming just 2 Gigs of RAM at about 56% of RAM usage... So... You were saying...? Ha! Never mind... G'Day!

17. ibend

Posts: 6747; Member since: Sep 30, 2014

"On windows you never have basically more than 1 app open, 3 at best." that's just you.. peoples in my workplace open at least 5 applications all the time plus dozens of tabs in browser... and PC actually run tons of stuff actually, try open task manager, processses tab, there you can see tons stuff running in the background.. oh, and I have S8 here.. running chrome with 8 tabs, on background it run 3 games (that I forgot to close), facebook, whatsapp, BBM, playstore, and lets see how much ram left... it say 647MB free

3. shield

Posts: 888; Member since: Sep 12, 2015

Zenfone AR is first 8GB RAM.

12. Ren_Gonzalez

Posts: 59; Member since: Nov 29, 2016

Nubia Z17, Honor 9, and the OnePlus 5. It's going to be 2017's Flagship Killers.

16. skyline88

Posts: 701; Member since: Jul 15, 2013

its Zenfone AR being the first, stop dreaming

19. King_Ijonk

Posts: 6; Member since: Aug 30, 2016

I think nubia is one of the best potential OEM in the future. Im tlking about design. It has a little red circle at the bottom, and it has a million possibilities of beauty and functionality.

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