Upgrade Memory

[Akhlas]

How can I extend my RAM in Samsung Galaxy J5

 

[Dannydet]

You can't. It's in the hardware

 

[svim]

You cannot add any more RAM to your J5, with smartphones the RAM is soldered directly to the motherboard. It's in no way similar to PCs where there are memory slots that you can work with. What your phone came with is what it will always have.

 

[artemis_2]

You cannot add any more RAM to your J5, with smartphones the RAM is soldered directly to the motherboard. It's in no way similar to PCs where there are memory slots that you can work with. What your phone came with is what it will always have.

Is it possible to solder other (bigger) RAM instead original one?

 

[mikedt]

Nope, absolutely impossible. You'd have to redesign the thing to do that

 

[lvt]

Is it possible to solder other (bigger) RAM instead original one?

Yes if you have the skill and all necessary equipment.

RAM replacement isn't new, there have been services that can replace your PDA's RAM before. I remember when I have my Dell Axim PDA, the cost to upgrade the RAM from 64MB to 128MB was like $100 or so.

But today's smartphones are disposable items, no one would pay $100 to add 2GB RAM to an old phone because it's already half the cost of a brand-new phone.

 

[lvt]

Nope, absolutely impossible. You'd have to redesign the thing to do that

Manufacturers don't always install the maximum amount of RAM that the SOC can support. For example my Oppo R15 and my Vivo V11 have exactly the same Helio P60 CPU but the Oppo has 6GB RAM while my Vivo has 4GB.

 

[lvt]

This YouTube video will show the process to replace a chip in smartphones

 

[artemis_2]

Yes if you have the skill and all necessary equipment.

RAM replacement isn't new, there have been services that can replace your PDA's RAM before. I remember when I have my Dell Axim PDA, the cost to upgrade the RAM from 64MB to 128MB was like $100 or so.

But today's smartphones are disposable items, no one would pay $100 to add 2GB RAM to an old phone because it's already half the cost of a brand-new phone.

Thanks much for the info. I am glad it is possible, for it opens the door to new possibilities, in re-engineering those thingies.

Is there possibly some sort of elementary hardware specifications of a mobile, as it exists for computers? How to assemble, how to disassemble and similar?

 

[mikedt]

Manufacturers don't always install the maximum amount of RAM that the SOC can support. For example my Oppo R15 and my Vivo V11 have exactly the same Helio P60 CPU but the Oppo has 6GB RAM while my Vivo has 4GB.

I know Oppo and Vivo are actually the same company, BBK, and the SoC may support the larger RAM.

But are both the 4GB and 6GB RAM chips physically and electrically compatible with each other? Can you actually remove the lower capacity chip and just replace with the larger capacity, and will it work? For example with a Samsung J5? Because that's what's required.

 

[lvt]

Is there possibly some sort of elementary hardware specifications of a mobile, as it exists for computers? How to assemble, how to disassemble and similar?

A smartphone is also a computer but at smaller scale and it's designed to use the least space possible so the concentration of components is incredibly dense.

Fore more details I recommend the website ifixit.com. There are tons of teardown articles and videos that you can read and learn.

 

[mikedt]

This YouTube video will show the process to replace a chip in smartphones

Looks like the hot-air BGA reflow equipment and tools may cost a lot more than a phone might cost, and not really economic for a one off phone job. A professional servicer in a workshop yeh. I don't think this is something that could be done with a toaster oven or something at home.

 

[svim]

Yes if you have the skill and all necessary equipment.

RAM replacement isn't new, there have been services that can replace your PDA's RAM before. I remember when I have my Dell Axim PDA, the cost to upgrade the RAM from 64MB to 128MB was like $100 or so.

Of course it is possible to change the RAM in a typical smartphone, if you have the time to get a few years of training and several hundreds of dollars of disposable income to buy the necessary tools and equipment, along with a suitable work place environment. Plus be prepared to go through a few phones as they will be trashed while you get the skillz necessary, there's an unavoidable learning curve involved.
But for almost any consumer that's just fantasy. And if you have that much time and money to devote to just upgrading RAM in your phone, you also have the resources to just buy a flagship (or several) that have plenty of RAM already. So to answer the OP's actual question I'll still contend that no the RAM in that J5 will remain as is, it's not upgradeable.

 

[Hadron]

I doubt even a professional servicer will do this in most cases: they'll generally just replace the whole motherboard if there's a problem with any soldered component.

Another question is whether the device firmware is coded to detect the RAM capacity or hard-coded to use what should be installed. I don't know the answer, but it's another way in which this project could fail.

 

[artemis_2]

A smartphone is also a computer but at smaller scale and it's designed to use the least space possible so the concentration of components is incredibly dense.

Fore more details I recommend the website ifixit.com. There are tons of teardown articles and videos that you can read and learn.

Excellent. Thanks much. Exactly what I needed. -- Yep, I rather see smartphones as computers, and hence my passion to learn about them.

 

[lvt]

But are both the 4GB and 6GB RAM chips physically and electrically compatible with each other? Can you actually remove the lower capacity chip and just replace with the larger capacity, and will it work?

It will work, for example the Helio P60 supports up to 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, so be it 4GB, 6GB or 8GB, they are of the same form factor, use the same socket and voltage. You can literally replace the 4GB chip with a 8GB chip without problem. Just like upgrading RAM on your desktop computer but you will be dealing with a soldered memory module instead of a removable memory module.

For example with a Samsung J5? Because that's what's required.

I can't speak for the J5 specifically, you should check the SOC's specs to see how much RAM can be installed.

 

[lvt]

I doubt even a professional servicer will do this in most cases: they'll generally just replace the whole motherboard if there's a problem with any soldered component.

It depends, for example sometimes it's cheaper to replace the storage chip on the iPhone 6S with a 128GB memory chip than buy the whole 128GB mainboard then do a mainboard swap.

Another question is whether the device firmware is coded to detect the RAM capacity or hard-coded to use what should be installed. I don't know the answer, but it's another way in which this project could fail.

That's a good question, I also wonder what happens if the RAM amount is higher than what the system can manage?

1. The system issues an error message and stop.

2. The system continues to boot normally but will only use the RAM up to its designed limit and ignoring the rest.

I think the (1) is more realistic.