Can Llama 3.1 8B run on Moto G (2025)?
YES — Runs, barely
Grade C · 47/100 · formula estimate
What this means
Our estimate says Llama 3.1 8B should fit, but there is very little memory left for the operating system and other apps.
Download the IQ4_XS version, which is about 4.4 GB. We expect it to use about 5.8 GB of the roughly 6 GB available to a model on this phone.
At the estimated speed, a roughly 300-word answer may take about 4 minutes to finish.
This result is calculated from the phone and model specifications. It has not been measured on this exact phone and setup.
1.7tokens/s
estimated · slower than you read
5.8GB
needed at IQ4_XS
IQ4_XS
quant checked
C
grade · 47/100
needs 5.8 GBusable 6 GB
Dimensity 63008 GB RAMCPU / GPUalso sold with 4 GB
Make it bearable
1
Drop context to 2K — saves ~0.3 GB of KV cache and a little speed.
2
Close every other app before loading — the 0.2 GB headroom is real; Android may kill the app otherwise.
3
Expect throttling after ~10 min of sustained generation on a phone chassis.
See how fast it feels
Estimated at 1.7 tokens/s — slower than you read. A ~300-word reply takes about 235 seconds on this phone.
Where the memory goes
| Component | Detail | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Model weights | IQ4_XS GGUF (4.4 GB) + mmap overhead | 4.6 |
| KV cache | 4K context window | 0.6 |
| Runtime | llama.cpp + app overhead | 0.6 |
| Total needed | at IQ4_XS, 4K context | 5.8 |
| Usable on Moto G (2025) | 8 GB RAM − Android system reserve | 6 |
| Headroom | left for the OS and your other apps | 0.2 |
Pick your quant
| Quant | Download | Verdict | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | 3.2 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~2.4 tokens/s |
| Q3_K_M | 4 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~1.9 tokens/s |
| IQ4_XS BEST HERE | 4.4 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~1.7 tokens/s |
| Q4_0 | 4.7 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_K_S | 4.7 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_K_M | 4.9 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q5_K_M | 5.7 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q6_K | 6.6 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q8_0 | 8.5 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
Get it running in 3 steps
1
Install PocketPal from the Play Store — free, no account needed.
2
Download "Llama 3.1 8B IQ4_XS" in the in-app model hub — 4.4 GB, use Wi-Fi. Search Hugging Face for
bartowski/Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-GGUF and pick the IQ4_XS file.3
Set context to 4K — expect ~1.7 tokens/s on this phone.
Related checks
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