I finally stopped caring about most phone specs; it changed how I shop for one

by · Android Police

Buying a new phone in 2026 is complicated. Differences between devices are subtler than ever, and many promoted features are gimmicks. Add in the vague promises of AI, and it becomes nearly impossible to know what a phone is capable of.

A phone's features fall into two categories: hardware and software. While the latter is as much down to personal preference rather than fact, the former is easier to analyze. Especially as there's only one hardware feature worth caring about in 2026.

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By  Jon Gilbert

A phone's store page emphasizes the wrong elements

It's easy to miss what you need to know

The most important (possibly the only important) hardware feature on a phone is its memory. Yes, a good chipset, storage allowance, battery, and camera are necessary, but above a certain price point they become mostly indistinguishable in day-to-day use.

But let's take a moment to examine the landing pages of two recently launched phones: the Google Pixel 11 and the Samsung Galaxy S26.

Both phones retail for the same price and are the cheapest way to access their respective lineups. So how do Google and Samsung promote them?

If we reduce the Pixel 11's landing page to its core elements, this is the order in which you learn about its features until we get to the RAM:

  • Color
  • Gemini Intelligence
  • Magic Capture
  • Battery life & wireless charging
  • The size of the camera bar
  • Camera
  • RAM and storage

For the Galaxy S26:

  • Camera
  • Display
  • Size
  • Chipset
  • Cooling technology
  • Fast charging
  • Storage
  • Camera (again)
  • …

The Galaxy S26 landing page only mentions its RAM allocation in a drop-down window that elaborates on the phone's storage options. It's easy to miss.

Both phones ship with 12GB of RAM. That's a crucial detail. So why aren't Samsung and Google promoting it?

Why 12GB of RAM is so important

It's not necessary, but manufacturers want you to think it is

It's no secret that there's a RAM crisis. AI data center demand is driving costs through the roof, and it's having a knock-on effect on phone prices.

But rather than structuring new phones around existing or lower RAM allocations, manufacturers are forcing our phones to need ever higher amounts of RAM.

Gemini Intelligence, a flagship software feature of the Pixel 11 series, requires at least 12GB of RAM to work. So Google has to include 12GB of RAM on its new phones; otherwise, it can't continue pushing AI features.

But it's not only AI. My Pixel 10 Pro, with 16GB of RAM, used an average of 6.9GB over the last three hours.

In the last three hours, I've texted a few friends, played four songs, read a few pages of my book, and checked my emails. I didn't even open Chrome.

8GB of RAM would cause bottlenecks and reduce my phone's performance as soon as I started performing intensive tasks. But here's the thing: I don't perform intensive tasks on my phone.

So why don't we see 8GB of RAM as standard on non-Pro models? In the case of the Pixel 10, it's because Google reserves roughly 3.5GB for AI processing. So, in reality, it has about 8.5GB of usable RAM.

The amusing part of this reasoning is that the AICore app can be disabled, freeing up RAM and storage for regular use. But Google doesn't want you to do that.

Manufacturers don't promote their most important feature

I hate having to hunt down the information I need to know

12GB of RAM on a modern Android phone is the crucial hardware feature behind performance. It's what lets my Pixel 10 Pro open apps with no delay, what makes navigating the Galaxy S26 a joy, and what lets us multitask with ease.

Yes, the chipset is important, but it isn't the bottleneck. You need to do a deep dive into budget phones before you find a chipset that causes the bottleneck instead of RAM.

The first thing I look for on any spec sheet leak or product announcement is the RAM allocation. It's the best indicator of how the phone will perform and what AI features it will have.

Maybe it's quietly tucked between lifestyle images or buried in drop-down menus because it's easy to see that modern phones have more RAM than they need.

We're paying the price for the most important feature

The Pixel 10a is a brilliant phone, and it has 8GB of RAM. It has 8GB of RAM because it only needs 8GB of RAM. Sure, it'll stutter if I play Genshin Impact at its highest settings, but if I were doing that, I wouldn't buy a Pixel 10a.

A phone's RAM allocation speaks volumes. It defines the entire character of the phone, far more than its chipset or display do. That's why it's the first number I look for on any new phone.