Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra offers RAM Plus options up to 16GB. This option is also available on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, released last year. Available options vary depending on the hardware storage and the actual RAM chipset.

RAM Plus doesn’t work the way Samsung’s marketing wants you to think it does. It doesn’t steal your storage. It allocates a chunk of your actual RAM as zRam, compresses data at a higher rate, and stores more stuff in memory that way.

Samsung’s settings menu tells you otherwise, which is either lazy or intentional misdirection. Why Samsung specifically states that RAM Plus uses storage space for virtual RAM when it doesn’t is a mystery, likely a matter of marketing.

The effectiveness of RAM Plus is debated. Some users notice performance improvement, especially on lower to mid-range models with less built-in RAM. For devices with substantial RAM, benefits might not be as noticeable.

If you bought the base Galaxy S26 Ultra with 12GB of actual memory or went ahead for the 1TB model with 16GB, you probably won’t feel a thing.

RAM Plus was originally designed for mid-range devices, but Samsung decided to push it to higher-end devices that do not need it. On devices with little RAM, RAM Plus can make everyday use smoother because apps reload less often.

The tradeoffs nobody mentions

zRam uses extra CPU power for compressing and decompressing data. Your smartphone’s processor is doing work it would not otherwise do.

Virtual RAM is very slow compared to RAM and is used to store memory from programs running in the background. You’re opening yourself up to having a ton of open apps that may drastically hurt battery life.

Turning off RAM Plus via settings doesn’t actually disable zRam altogether anyway. Samsung stuck 16GB as an option because it tests well in focus groups and looks good on spec sheets next to competitors shipping similar numbers.

Image source – @LaidBackDev_/X

Image source – @LaidBackDev_/X

The post Is Galaxy S26 Ultra’s 16GB RAM Plus feature actually useful? appeared first on Sammy Fans.