UFS 4.0 Storage Roundup: Everything you need to know about it

Universal Flash Storage (UFS) has become common in almost all smartphones these days. It has replaced eMMC storage in most budget smartphones as well. Now, after 2 years, Samsung Semiconductor has announced the next UFS storage series, which is UFS 4.0 flash storage solution for smartphones and other devices.

The company claims that UFS 4.0 will give double the speed of UFS 3.1 and also keep the power consumption in check.

ALSO READ: How to file a complaint in a consumer court in India? Read on to know everything about it

What exactly is UFS 4.0?

UFS 4.0 is the next generation of UFS technology defined by JEDEC. Samsung has designed it using the 7^th gen V-NAND flash memory technology and its in-house proprietary controller. There is a UniPro 2.0 transparent layer and the MIPI M-PHY v5.0 physical layer as well.

NAND flash memory is a storage technology that can retain data without electricity and V-NAND is an enhancement over NAND because the cell planes are stacked vertically. This gives better speed, increased longevity, and decreases power consumption. Samsung claims that the new-gen UFS 4.0 storage has a maximum bandwidth of up to 23.3Gbps per lane, which is double the UFS 3.1’s speed. UFS 4.0 can simultaneously read and write, offering dual lane data transmission.

UFS 4.0 can deliver a sequential read speed of 4200Mbps and a sequential write speed of 2800Mbps. Power efficiency has also improved a lot. The UFS 4.0 standard consumes 46% less power than UFS 3.1 while giving 2x performance. This means much faster storage without eating away your battery life. For ever mA, it can deliver a sequential read speed of 6.0Mbps.

The size of the UFS 4.0 chip has been kept compact keeping the design convenience in mind. It has a dimension of 11mm in length, 13mm in width, and 1mm in height. The company claims it will have a capacity of up to 1TB which is way more than what portable devices need.

UFS 4.0 Vs Its Predecessors

The table given below clearly states the comparison between the speeds of UFS 4.0 and its predecessors.

This improvement in speeds will benefit 5G smartphones, automotive apps, and AR/VR-enabled devices that require vast data processing.

ALSO READ: Apple confirms World Developer’s Conference from June 6: Check out the program schedule below

Smartphones to come with UFS 4.0 Storage

Currently, none of the smartphone makers have announced smartphones with UFS 4.0 storage. However, Samsung has confirmed that UFS 4.0 will enter mass production in the 3^rd quarter of 2022. It means Samsung’s flagship phones like Galaxy S23 series will be the first ones to feature UFS 4.0 storage, most probably in Q1 2023.

Post that, brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme, and Google will also start including UFS 4.0 in their flagship series in 2023. Since iPhones use NVMe storage, so they won’t be affected.