Google Pixel 10 Pro has 16 GB RAM, but won't let you use a large portion of it

Google Pixel 10 phones come with 12 or 16 GB RAM, depending on the model you buy. It would seem that there would be enough memory, and applications would purr with delight. Wrong! Google has locked approximately a fifth of the operating memory, and your applications cannot use it, even if they tried their hardest.

AI again

Why did Google do this? The answer is simple: artificial intelligence. While Pixel users are already used to waiting for larger applications or games, Google wants to demonstrate the smoothest possible experience with artificial intelligence. Therefore, it has reserved a portion of the memory specifically for processes related to it.

As a result, while games always start from the beginning, queries to artificial intelligence are processed faster. There’s no need to load anything; everything is ready in the operating memory. Of course, features like direct translation are needed instantly. If you had to wait 10 seconds for the translation to load, your Chinese business partner would have already hung up by then, and you don’t want that.

But what if you don’t use these features? Either because you speak Chinese or because Google doesn’t provide these features in your country? In that case, you are paying for something you cannot use, and the manufacturer didn’t even bother to tell you about it. If there were an option to free up the memory, everything would be fine, but this way, I’m not sure how to view the situation.

RAM Listings

Here is a memory listing for several phones. The selection is purely based on which phones I have available at home. While my latest Pixel 10 Pro has over 3 GB of RAM allocated, the Pixel 8a settles for 300 MB, and Samsung does not utilize operating memory locking (at least according to available listings).

Google Pixel 10 Pro

Google Pixel 8a

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Do you use artificial intelligence on your mobile?

Source: Android Authority