Samsung phones might soon offer a 1 TB storage capacity option. On Wednesday, the Korean firm revealed it has already started mass production of the industry’s first 1 TB eUFS (Universal Flash Storage) for smartphones. This new 1 TB storage chip for phones could be ready by the time of the Galaxy S10 launch.
More storage in same size
Samsung’s 1 TB storage chip for phones, which is set at the same speedy UFS 2.1 standard as the 512 GB version, will give smartphones a PC-level storage capacity without the need to insert additional micoSD cards. The massive amount of storage can be used to store almost unlimited photos and HD videos. The Korean firm claims the 1 TB storage chip for phones will store about 260 ten-minute videos in 4K UHD.
“The 1TB eUFS is expected to play a critical role in bringing a more notebook-like user experience to the next generation of mobile devices,” Samsung Electronics’ EVP of Memory Sales & Marketing, Cheol Choi, said in a press release.
The 1 TB storage chip for phones is based on Samsung’s advanced V-NAND flash memory technology. The technology helps enhance density by reducing the power requirements and offers faster speeds as well. The technology uses vertical stacking of single NAND cells, a setup which is much more efficient than a horizontal-layered arrangement.
Despite the larger amount of storage, the Korean firm claims its 1 TB chip will come in the same package as its 512 GB flash memory. This means phones can have more storage capacity without any increase in size.
Samsung’s 1 TB storage chip for phones is also faster
In addition to offering more storage, Samsung’s new eUFS technology is also claimed to be faster than SSDs, microSDs and earlier versions of the technology. According to the company, the new technology has a sequential read speed of 1,000 megabytes per second, which is double that of the standard SSD and 10 times the speed of a typical microSD card. It is also faster than Samsung’s 512 GB predecessor.
Smartphone users are unlikely to experience a sequential read speed as high as 1,000 megabytes per second in real-world use. For the average user, random speeds matter more than the sequential read, and Samsung has claimed an improvement in the random speed as well.
Specifically, random write speeds help apps with continuous high-frame shooting. For now, most phones can capture just a few seconds of high-frame-rate video. However, Samsung claims its new 1 TB storage chip for phones will support continuous, long-term video recording at 960 frames per second.
The faster UFS 3.0 chips are expected to launch this year. Samsung said last fall that it planned to launch the 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB versions based on the UFS 3.0 standard, but it did not say anything about the 1 TB models. UFS 3.0 technology promises almost double the speeds with reduced power use.
Will the Galaxy S10 have the 1 TB storage chip?
The upcoming Galaxy S10 will likely come with the 1 TB option. Samsung started mass production of its 512 GB storage technology in December 2017 and introduced the same tech in the phones launched early the following year. The company even promoted the Galaxy Note 9 as “1 terabyte ready” – using a 512 GB microSD card in the 512 GB model.
We’re now seeing a similar situation with the 1 TB option and the Galaxy S10. Samsung has already started mass production of the 1 TB storage chip at its plant in Pyeongtaek, Korea, and the Galaxy S10 is expected to launch on Feb. 20.
Additionally, we have already heard rumors that the high-end model of the Galaxy S10 would come with 12 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. We can expect more information on phones with 1 TB storage at the Mobile World Congress.
The Investor reported that Samsung just started mass production of the Galaxy S10 last week. That report also somewhat confirms the possibility that the S10 will include a 1 TB storage option. Further, The Investor said the company is currently producing three 4G models, while the 5G model will enter production later. The news site also says the phone will have an in-display fingerprint reader. The 6.1-inch and 6.4-inch versions of the S10 will reportedly have a Qualcomm-developed ultrasonic reader, while the 5.8-inch variant is expected to have an optical reader.
