ASUS thinks 4GB of RAM will be the standard for high-end smartphones

From megapixels in cameras and cores in CPUs, the specifications competition now seems to be shifting to the amount of RAM in our smartphones. The first phones with 1GB of RAM started to roll out in 2011; the LG Optimus LTE2 ushered in 2GB and the LG G2, followed by the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 had 3GB of RAM. Despite this, even flagships often cut down on the amount of RAM. Asus CEO Jerry Shen, who was in India recently for the launch of Asus Zenfone 2 – which has 4GB of RAM – tells us that we’re going to see plenty of other phones with that specification as well. Shen says this will soon become a trend with other companies too. “This 4GB RAM will become a trend by second half of this year,” says Shen. He expects more handsets featuring 4GB of RAM to start reaching consumers by August or September this year. The other trend that Asus is betting on is moving the buttons to the back, ala LG’s design style. This is important because it allowed the phone to get much sleeker, and this is something Shen feels the customers want. Shen says that thickness of the handset is a key element when it comes to design. The smartphone now features volume keys and camera button at the back below the rear camera like the LG flagships. Shen tells us Asus used this design because it was impossible for Asus engineers to fit the buttons on the sides, which are just 5.4mm thick.