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Galaxy S6 vs. iPhone 6 vs. HTC One M9: How Samsung might leave rivals in the dust

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:57PM EST
Galaxy S6 vs. iPhone 6 vs. HTC One M9: UFS Memory

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Samsung will soon unveil two Galaxy S6 versions, hardly secrets for anyone who’s been closely following the numerous Galaxy S6 leaks that hit the web in the past few months, and there are plenty of reasons to get excited about the handsets. The phones will have a great new design, a better camera than any other Galaxy models, and significantly less bloatware — at least according to Samsung’s own recent teasers coupled with some of the most recent reports.

On top of that, there’s one more reason to get excited about Samsung’s new creation, as the phone might be significantly faster than any top flagship from the competition, including the iPhone 6 and the upcoming HTC One M9.

DON’T MISS: Is the Galaxy S6 really an iPhone ripoff? Leaked comparison photo lets you be the judge

Samsung on Wednesday announced on its blog that it’s mass-producing UFS 2.0 smartphone memory — specifically, the industry’s first 128GB embedded solution based on Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 2.0. PCMag reports that Samsung will also mass-produce 32GB and 64GB UFS 2.0 memory; the Galaxy S6 is expected to launch with three storage options, including 32GB, 64GB and 128GB.

To most people, this might seem like a boring announcement at first, but it’s actually very important for the company, especially if this particular component is going to be included in the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, which seems very likely. This type of memory would put a smartphone’s storage performance almost on par with speedy laptop and desktop SSD drives.

Phones that have UFS 2.0 memory instead of the eMMC memory standard will be significantly faster across the board, Samsung says.

“Along with faster booting, the next generation of flash storage offers a faster data input/output response, three times faster file copy, and three times the multitasking capability,” the company wrote. “To the average consumer, this means watching high-quality videos, playing high bandwidth games and other entertainment, along with running multiple applications, and downloading or uploading files, all without interruption in functionality.”

Compared to the eMMC 5.0 memory currently found in many top handsets including the Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 6, UFS 2.0 memory is 1.40 (sequential read speed), 1.66 (sequential write speed), 2.71 (random read speed) and 1.07 (random write speed) times faster.

Other advantages include the ability to read and write data at all times, and to deal with multiple commands at the same time, all while having the same low power consumption benefits as eMMC memory.

It’s worth noting that previous reports did say the Galaxy S6 will come with eMMC 5.1 NAND memory (a fresh standard for such storage solutions), and Samsung’s announcement doesn’t specifically list the Galaxy S6 family among the first devices getting the new UFS 2.0 storage, of course. That said, but it’s likely that top flagship smartphones and tablets made by the South Korean giant will soon come with the new storage chips on board.

A table showing speed differences between UFS 2.0 and eMMC standards follows below, while more details about the advantages of UFS 2.0 over eMMC are available on Samsung’s site.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.