What memory is in your S8 or S8+

[WMGroomAK]

I originally read about this on Hexus, but followed up with the article on the XDA Developers site...  If you are the proud recipient of a brand new Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+, you may want to check out which memory modules came with your phone...  In something similar to what has occurred with the Huawei P10 & P10+, Samsung is using either UFS 2.0 or UFS 2.1 storage modules for their S8 models.  According to XDA Developers:

 

https://www.xda-developers.com/the-hardware-lottery-continues-with-the-samsung-galaxy-s8s8-varying-between-ufs-2-1-and-ufs-2-0/

 

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Users are reporting significant variance in sequential read speeds on their devices. The UFS 2.1 devices get sequential read speeds hovering between 700-800 MBps, while those with UFS 2.0 for storage would get sequential read speeds in the range of 500-600 MBps.

 

There is no clear and fool-proof way as of yet to identify which of the two you would be getting before purchasing the device.

If you want to find out which modules you do have, XDA says one way to is:

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However, XDA Senior Member lch920619x does mention of ways to conclusively ascertain the same once you have the device in your hand. Using a Terminal Emulator app, users can enter the following command:

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cat /proc/scsi/scsi

This would return the exact Model Number of your flash memory chip. You can google the model number to get more information on the storage. lch920619x got the model number ‘KLUCG4J1ED – B0C1’ on his SM-G950FD [Exynos-based Samsung Galaxy S8 Duos] which turns out to be a Samsung-made UFS 2.1 memory chip.

 

The lottery situation arises with Toshiba-made memory chips. If the model number returned is along the lines of ‘THGAF4G9N4LBAIRB’, then you are lucky enough to get a device with UFS 2.1. If however, the model number returned is ‘THGBF7G9L4LBATRC’, then your device comes with UFS 2.0 storage specification.

 

You can also check the Sequential Reads on your device using AndroBench, but checking the Model Number is the most accurate method of finding out exactly what you have inside your device.

 

Interestingly, the same situation exists for the Huawei Mate 9 too, as far as UFS specifications go. Twitter user @yao_yunfan shared a handy reference table listing and differentiating the model numbers as found on the Mate 9 which was also advertised as a UFS 2.1 device (see below). The model numbers listed on the table match the ones reported by Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ users, indicating that the UFS 2.1 crunch that forced Huawei’s hand on the P10, P10 Plus, and the Mate 9 also affects Samsung on the newest Galaxy flagship.

 

Speculation and anecdotal evidence suggests that the hardware lottery on the Samsung flagships relates only to some Snapdragon Galaxy S8 devices, but this could be incorrect. Both the processor variants of the Galaxy S8+, the bigger and more expensive of the flagships, utilize UFS 2.1. Exynos variants of the Galaxy S8 also seem to be using UFS 2.1. Since Samsung has not responded with an official statement on the issue, it appears prima facie that Snapdragon S8 users may be the ones with the objectively inferior device.

 

http://hexus.net/ce/news/mobile-phones/105424-buying-samsung-galaxy-s8-storage-hardware-lottery/

 

So how serious of an issue is this?  XDA says that while theoretically a manufacturer could use this as a way to tout their superiority over each other, on a practical day-to-day use case, you shouldn't notice as much of a difference between UFS 2.0 & UFS 2.1 than if there was also eMMC 5.1 modules in the mix...  Still though, it is a little disconcerting from a consumer perspective to not be able to easily identify which memory modules are in your device prior to purchase...  

Edited May 8, 2017 by WMGroomAK
added chart

[Doobeedoo]

Well, as I expected Exynos one haves UFS 2.1 heh. I have S6 which is UFS 2.0 and very fast indeed.

[WMGroomAK]

5 minutes ago, Doobeedoo said:

Well, as I expected Exynos one haves UFS 2.1 heh. I have S6 which is UFS 2.0 and very fast indeed.

I have to admit that my S6 Edge has been a fairly good phone for the last couple of years and the only reason I've considered replacement has been issues with battery drain... Fortunately, most of that appears to have been some kind of software issue that a factory reset fixed.

[Doobeedoo]

11 minutes ago, WMGroomAK said:

I have to admit that my S6 Edge has been a fairly good phone for the last couple of years and the only reason I've considered replacement has been issues with battery drain... Fortunately, most of that appears to have been some kind of software issue that a factory reset fixed.

DIdn't have major issues with battery, so probably some app draining in background. Have 7.0 on it, the other day also got larger update for bug fixes, performance enhancements and such. Still, 7.1 is yet to come.

[NumLock21]

I saw it first hand, s8+ acting as battery bank when you connect directly to another phone while doing the transfer.

Lol