UFS 4 is the most advanced standard for the internal storage of smartphones and other mobile devices such as tablets, cameras, wearables, drones or portable consoles. Approved by the organization responsible for the standard, JEDEC, manufacturers such as Samsung are expected to start production from the third quarter of 2022.
What advantages will UFS 4 bring?
The new version of the standard known as universal-flash-storage it will significantly improve the performance and capacity of the current version, UFS 3.1. The goal will be “provide new experiences” in tasks that require large amounts of data processing, high-resolution images, mobile games, 5G devices, future automotive applications or next-generation AR and VR headsets.
UFS 4 will offer data transfer speeds of up to 4,200MB/s and 2,800MB/s in sequential read/write modes. A significant improvement over the 2,100/1,200 MB/s of the current UFS 3.1. Another notable advantage is that while it doubles the performance, it consumes 46% less energy, important considering the mobile devices that will use it.
Additionally, UFS 4 has a maximum bandwidth of up to 23.2 Gbps per lane, also double the speed of UFS 3.1, and atSupporting dual-way transmission, it will allow simultaneous read and write operations. This enhancement benefits 5G smartphones, automotive applications, and AR/VR-enabled devices that require heavy data throughput.
It will also be important improved storage capacity, doubling that of the current standard to reach the Tbyte barrier, and incidentally maintaining the same maximum chip size: 11 x 13 x 1 mm. This would make it unnecessary to use memory cards such as microSD, although the use of this goes beyond storage.
Which devices will release UFS 4
Samsung announced that it would begin mass production of chips under this standard in the third quarter of 2022, so it is certain that it will release them in the top of the range of its next generation of mobiles, the Galaxy S23.
Considering that Samsung is also a global supplier of semiconductors and that it sells chips to all manufacturers, Xiaomi, Huawei, Google, Oppo and others are likely to adopt this next-generation storage standard in 2023.
