AI is moving onto devices, but can storage keep up? A new storage technology aims to increase speed, reduce power use, and cut delays.
As smartphone makers push more AI processing onto devices, Samsung has developed a new Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 5.0 solution that more than doubles the performance of its previous generation while reducing power consumption.
The storage technology reaches sequential read speeds of up to 10.8 GB/s and write speeds of up to 9.5 GB/s, making it the fastest UFS solution announced so far. The higher speeds are expected to help devices handle large language models (LLMs) and other AI workloads locally, reducing delays and improving response times.
The development comes as generative AI increasingly shifts from cloud-based processing to on-device execution. This transition requires mobile devices to move and process larger amounts of data, placing greater demands on storage performance. In response, storage is becoming a key part of AI computing systems rather than serving only as a repository for data.
Samsung’s UFS 5.0 is based on the latest embedded memory interface standard from JEDEC and delivers bandwidth of up to 10.8 GB/s. According to the company, the performance gain enables faster storage and retrieval of large datasets used by AI applications running directly on devices.
Power efficiency has also improved by more than 40% compared with Samsung’s UFS 4.1 generation. The improvement comes from technologies such as clock gating and multi-voltage operation, which reduce the energy required for data transfers and help extend battery life.
The company has also reduced the size of the package to 7.5 mm × 13 mm × 0.9 mm, making it 16.7% smaller than the previous version. The smaller footprint could free up internal space in smartphones, wearables, and extended reality (XR) devices.
“In the era of on-device AI, storage devices are evolving into a key driver defining AI experiences,” said Jangseok Choi, head of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics. “As we successfully move beyond the development stage of the industry’s first UFS 5.0 solution, Samsung is setting a new standard for storage on the go and will continue to drive innovation for the next-generation mobile platform market.”
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