This guy got his Nexus 5X upgraded to 4GB RAM like it was nothing

Here's a wild story from the bowels of the XDA Board, where humble everyday men turn to kernel-swapping, CPU overclocking, ROM flashing maniacs at night. User Cathair2096 allegedly bought a Nexus 5X in Hong Kong, and like many disgruntled owners, he caught the dreaded bootloop bug just as his warranty expired.

Instead of getting a cheap Chinese flagship, he sent that Nexus to a repairman for reanimation. Said repairman straight up offered to stick an additional 2GB of RAM as he worked on replacing the system chip, and the rest is history.

The screenshots from a healthy Nexus 5X sporting 4 gigs of RAM and running the latest Nougat build seem completely authentic. It's also perfectly possible to replace the Snapdragon 808 SoC + 2GB of embedded LPDDR3 RAM in it with an 808 that has 4GB of the stuff. While a repairshop probably won't be able to source processors straight from Qualcomm, taking a working one from a gutted device is always a possibility.

The undertaking isn't for the faint-hearted, though, as it involves precise and expensive equipment. But if China has the machinery to manufacture iPhones, it sure as heck can access the tools to professionally replace a system chip. The guy reportedly paid $60 for the service. His Nexus 5X lives and the camera app now loads a bit faster. If only such services were available a few years ago, when a 512MB RAM phone was hot stuff!

ALSO READ

source: XDA Developers

Holiday special: Iconic Phones is now 10% off!

Our new coffee table book, Iconic Phones, is a stunning visual tribute to the legends in the world of phones, featuring exclusive high-resolution photography, stories, quotes and fun trivia. Save 10% by using this code at checkout: XMAS10. Offer lasts until 1 January 2026.

Shop Now