The OnePlus 3 is the latest smartphone to come from OnePlus and in many ways, it marks a new chapter for the company. It is the first device to be available at launch and the first device to be available to buy invite-free. However, in the wider market, it is also one of the first high-profile devices to come sporting a whopping 6GB RAM. As such, this is thought to be one of the most powerful devices on the market and especially when coupled with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor.
As a result and at almost half the cost of devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, the OnePlus 3 seems like a surefire hit. However, a video surfaced on YouTube this week and has caused a little bit of concern. The video pits the OnePlus 3 against the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge to test how they perform on speed and multitasking. In short, it did not go too well for the OnePlus 3 with the Galaxy S7 Edge seemingly winning out in most, if not all, departments. Since the video went live, social media has been discussing the implications of the 6GB RAM OnePlus 3 and whether it is as powerful as first thought. So much so that Carl Pei of OnePlus also seems to have joined the conversation. After being linked to the video on Twitter, Pei notes that the test would have been fairer if the Snapdragon 820 on the OnePlus 3 had been pitted against the Snapdragon 820 version of the Galaxy S7 Edge. More revealing though, is that in a follow up comment, Pei notes that there is some tweaking goes on at the expense of RAM management to benefit battery use. As Pei puts it, “we have a different strategy for RAM management that benefits battery. We think this is the best user experience.”
This tweet in itself is now causing some debate on reddit as to whether the OnePlus 3 should indeed be considered to be a true 6GB RAM smartphone, due to the assumption being that its capabilities out of the box are comparable to a 4GB smartphone. Pei did also point out in the Twitter conversation that due to the company releasing the device tree and kernel, the parameters can be modified for a more efficient RAM management system, although it is unclear how much, if at all, this will impact on battery life due to the suggestion that the current out of the box optimization is designed to improve battery consumption. You can read more on (or join) the ongoing debate on reddit by heading through the via link below. Alternatively, you can also check out the video which started off the entire debate by hitting play below.