These days smartphones come with eMMC (embedded multimedia card) storage or UFS (Universal Flash Storage). UFS technology is substantially faster than eMMC which is why it is mostly found on flagship or high-end devices, whereas the latter is commonly found on mid-range and budget devices instead.
Now, JEDEC has announced UFS 3.1, the latest version which succeeds UFS 3.0 found on the latest flagship smartphones including the OnePlus 7, Galaxy Note 10, Huawei Mate 30, etc.
Improvements
UFS 3.1 brings three major improvements over the last generation including:
- Improved write speed
- Lower power consumption during sleep
- Warning notifications in case of performance throttling due to high temperature
The biggest enhancement here would be the improvement in write speed as it affects real-world performance. This would make installing apps and taking photos faster, improving the overall experience.
This kind of technology is already present on SSDs and this improvement brings UFS closer to NVMe SSDs used in iPhones and iPads.
Additionally, JEDEC states that devices with higher density using DRAM will see an improvement in the read speeds as well. In layman terms, this will improve app opening and loading times on newer phones.
Since UFS 3.1 has been announced just now, we are unlikely to see it on flagship devices coming in a few weeks such as the OnePlus 8, Galaxy S20, Xiaomi Mi 10, etc. We’ll see it on the likes of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and other phones which will be released later this year.
