Samsung Unveils UFS 5.0 With Up to 10.8 GB/s Speeds for AI Devices

Samsung has unveiled what it calls the industry’s first and fastest UFS 5.0 storage solution, a new generation of flash storage designed to support the growing demands of artificial intelligence on mobile devices.

The company says UFS 5.0 is built specifically for future smartphones, XR headsets, AI wearables, and other devices that increasingly rely on on-device AI processing rather than cloud-based services.

As AI features become more advanced and large language models begin running directly on mobile hardware, storage performance has become a critical factor. Samsung says UFS 5.0 reduces latency and improves response times for AI workloads processed locally on devices.

More Than Twice the Speed of UFS 4.1

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 Samsung, the new storage reaches sequential read speeds of up to 10.8 GB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 9.5 GB/s. The company says this is more than twice as fast as its previous UFS 4.1 solution.

The increased performance could help accelerate AI model loading, image generation, content creation, advanced camera processing, and other data-intensive mobile applications.

Improved Power Efficiency

Alongside the performance gains, Samsung says UFS 5.0 improves power efficiency by more than 40% compared to its UFS 4.1 storage.

The company credits the improvements to technologies such as clock gating and multi-voltage support, which reduce unnecessary power consumption during storage operations.

Lower power use could help manufacturers extend battery life while continuing to add increasingly complex AI features to smartphones and wearable devices.

Smaller Design for Future Hardware

Samsung has also reduced the physical footprint of the storage package.

The UFS 5.0 package measures just 7.5mm × 13mm × 0.9mm, making it approximately 16.7% smaller than its predecessor.

The smaller size should provide device makers with greater flexibility when designing compact products such as foldable phones, smart glasses, XR headsets, and next-generation wearables.

Mass Production Starts Later This Year

Samsung plans to begin mass production of UFS 5.0 during the fourth quarter of this year.

The new storage will be available in capacities of up to 1TB and is expected to power future flagship smartphones, XR devices, AI wearables, and other next-generation mobile platforms.

The announcement comes as the technology industry continues investing heavily in AI infrastructure. While Samsung is focused on enabling more AI processing directly on devices, Microsoft recently announced plans to expand its datacenter footprint in Texas and has argued that the future of AI should not be controlled by only a handful of companies.