Cheap smartphones are about to change everything

Re:Cheap smartphones are about to change everything by pgeorgi on Saturday May 17, 2014 @04:40AM (#7759611)

Android 4.4's low memory mode really isn't. I'm running Android 2.3 on a 256mb system comfortably and on a 128mb system with some minor hacks. 4.4's "low memory" mode still wants 512MB.

While you won't see many new 256 or even 128mb systems out there anymore, 2.3 provides more usable memory to applications on an (otherwise) identical configuration.

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Re:Cheap smartphones are about to change everything by DiabloD3 on Sunday May 18, 2014 @01:02PM (#7763553)

IMNSHO, 128 and 256 just was never relevant for a smartphone, especially one that ran early Android. My original generation Kindle Fire tablet (came with a hacked up Amazon'd version of 2.3, I swapped out for CM, currently running Android 4.4) has 512mb of memory and was horridly slow with stock Amazon ROM. No cell phone radio, no microphone, no camera, decent for the time GPU, still slow.

It gets a little bit faster with every new version of Android that comes out, and with ART enabled it is noticeably faster in some apps. 128 and 256mb devices should just be scrapped, there is simply no reason to keep them around anymore.

So, I stand by what I say, even with low memory mode needing 512mb, it is far better than being stuck with Android 2.3.

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