UFS 2.0 or 2.1? Identify the flash chip in your S8

What is your S8 variant and what flash chip do you get?

  • I have an Exynos S8 and I get UFS 2.0

    Votes: 8 1.8%
  • I have an Exynos S8 and I get UFS 2.1

    Votes: 273 60.8%
  • I have an Snapdragon S8 and I get UFS 2.0

    Votes: 85 18.9%
  • I have an Snapdragon S8 and I get UFS 2.1

    Votes: 83 18.5%

  • Total voters
    449
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lch920619x

Senior Member
Feb 26, 2010
495
364
Singapore
EDIT1:
Before we make any conclusion of Samsung putting inferior components in some S8 units, please read the following, I think Aamir Siddiqui has written it well enough:

Theoretically speaking, the difference between UFS 2.0 and UFS 2.1 objectively exists and is large enough for phone OEMs to tout the superiority of one over the other.
Practically speaking, most average users and even smartphone enthusiasts will not be able to distinguish between the performance of UFS 2.0 versus UFS 2.1, unless they compare both side-by-side. In real life and daily usage, UFS 2.0 will unlikely be the bottleneck in your flagship experience. Had Samsung gone for eMMC 5.1, the memory specification would have had a much more profound and noticeable impact on your experience. Thus as a silver lining, Samsung is only juggling between UFS 2.0 and UFS 2.1 for now.


Edit2:
For the information we have gathered so far, we have come to the following conclusion, if anyone has any finding that differs from this please let us know and show us the screenshot:

Samsung UFS 2.1:
All Exynos Models -> S8 / S8+
Toshiba UFS 2.1:
Snapdragon Model -> S8+ ONLY.
Toshiba UFS 2.0:
Snapdragon Model -> S8 ONLY.


Original Post:
Interesting fact: on their website, Samsung used to list S8/S8+ with UFS 2.1 flash storage, however now they have changed the specs and listing only UFS without specifying whether its 2.0 or 2.1.
See below screenshots of Samsung official website, I took the first screenshot 1 week ago and the 2nd today. Samsung has silently removed the UFS 2.1 line.
42c49c12c8fcc3ce6e1d16159845d688d53f200f.jpg

Screenshot_20170505-102145.png


Now we know that some S8s are using ufs 2.1 chips while others using ufs 2.0 only.
Luckily there's a way to exactly identify your flash chip.
Download any terminal emulator from play store.
for example this one will work
Material Terminal
then type in this in the terminal window:
Code:
cat /proc/scsi/scsi
and you should get the exact model no. of your flash chip, taking my SM-G950FD as an example, i get this:
Screenshot_20170430-160130.jpg

what I circled in red is the ufs model number:

In this case get:
Code:
KLUCG4J1ED - B0C1

a quick google search reveals that this is a UFS 2.1 chip made by Samsung, using MLC flash.

v2-c4588db13175545020afd5dca22a7a00_r.jpg

Now what I heard is that all exynos variants of S8 and S8+ uses UFS 2.1, all Snapdragon S8+ also uses UFS 2.1, and only some Snapdragon S8 uses UFS 2.0.

You may also get something like:
Code:
THGAF4G9N4LBA[B][COLOR="red"]I[/COLOR][/B]RA
THGAF4G9N4LBA[B][COLOR="red"]I[/COLOR][/B]RB
or
Code:
THGBF7G9L4LBA[B][COLOR="Red"]T[/COLOR][/B]RA
THGBF7G9L4LBA[B][COLOR="Red"]T[/COLOR][/B]RC

These two are made by Toshiba, the one ends with IR something is UFS 2.1 while the one ends with TR is UFS 2.0. There might be slight variations in the model no. , anyway it's the letter I and T that matters.

View attachment 4138729
screenshot-toshiba.semicon-storage.com-2017-05-05-10-36-31.png


Alternatively you can use Androbench to test the speed of your flash chip. For the sequential read speed, I believe that S8 with UFS 2.0 usually fall in 500MB/s range, while those with UFS 2.1 can get close to 800MB/s. However keep in mind that this is not the accurate way to go, if you really want the truth, pls use terminal and the code.
For example results from my UFS 2.1 S8:
mmexport1492853705972.jpg

Please test your own S8 and let us know what you get.
 
Last edited:

iamrobk

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2008
75
7
I have the TRC. Disappointing, though not totally sure I'd never notice the difference in practice. Verizon S8.
 

9646gt

Senior Member
Feb 23, 2011
482
44
TRA here on the Verizon s8 :( Didn't Huawei or someone just get slammed for doing this exact same thing?
 

jimbob_sf

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2010
435
110
San Rafael, CA
Verizon S8, TR chip, rev 0600. 547/135 read/write. looks like ufs 2.0 and if what Sammy marketed was 2.1, that's an easy cause for a return.

That said, I absolutely love the device despite being the first non-rooted Android I've ever owned. I'm happy enough to keep it until the pixel 2 shows itself.
 

mobilehavoc

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2006
2,172
356
I have TRA ending on mine so assume that's UFS 2.0

I have a Verizon S8. While obviously faster is always better - how much difference does it make in real world? I don't spend time running benchmarks all day so curious if anybody has both devices accessible and do some real world tests like launching apps, multitasking, etc.

---------- Post added at 08:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 AM ----------

I wouldn't be surprised if Samsung used UFS 2.1 for their own Exynos devices and possibly for Qualcomm S8+s since more expensive. Anybody here have an S8 qualcomm version with UFS 2.1? My guess is most S8 Qualcomm (regular) are using UFS 2.1 storage and S8+ Qualcomm are using UFS2.1
 

pete4k

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2014
975
288
I have Snapdragon S8 with 2.0, however I don't think the difference can be noticed in normal use, maybe in timed benchmarks, but not in day to day use and there are so many different things that affect speed much more, like whole bunch of unwanted programs running in the background. I do have Sony cameras :) and now wish to check binning of CPU, any way to do that?
 
Last edited:

nickmilla15

Senior Member
Apr 14, 2013
1,385
770
Orlando
S8+ on Sprint (USA). I have UFS 2.0, but got a different number in the terminal than the two in the OP. Read speed is 734.7, write is 180.39. Not too worried honestly.

Edit: reddit seems to think Qualcomm S8+'s are generally safe. If you have a toshiba chip that doesn't match the OP's post, looks like you have 2.1
 
Last edited:

mobilehavoc

Senior Member
Mar 12, 2006
2,172
356
Looks like so far I was wright. S8+ Snapdragons are UFS2.1 and S8 Snapdragons seem to be UFS 2
 

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  • 12
    EDIT1:
    Before we make any conclusion of Samsung putting inferior components in some S8 units, please read the following, I think Aamir Siddiqui has written it well enough:

    Theoretically speaking, the difference between UFS 2.0 and UFS 2.1 objectively exists and is large enough for phone OEMs to tout the superiority of one over the other.
    Practically speaking, most average users and even smartphone enthusiasts will not be able to distinguish between the performance of UFS 2.0 versus UFS 2.1, unless they compare both side-by-side. In real life and daily usage, UFS 2.0 will unlikely be the bottleneck in your flagship experience. Had Samsung gone for eMMC 5.1, the memory specification would have had a much more profound and noticeable impact on your experience. Thus as a silver lining, Samsung is only juggling between UFS 2.0 and UFS 2.1 for now.


    Edit2:
    For the information we have gathered so far, we have come to the following conclusion, if anyone has any finding that differs from this please let us know and show us the screenshot:

    Samsung UFS 2.1:
    All Exynos Models -> S8 / S8+
    Toshiba UFS 2.1:
    Snapdragon Model -> S8+ ONLY.
    Toshiba UFS 2.0:
    Snapdragon Model -> S8 ONLY.


    Original Post:
    Interesting fact: on their website, Samsung used to list S8/S8+ with UFS 2.1 flash storage, however now they have changed the specs and listing only UFS without specifying whether its 2.0 or 2.1.
    See below screenshots of Samsung official website, I took the first screenshot 1 week ago and the 2nd today. Samsung has silently removed the UFS 2.1 line.
    42c49c12c8fcc3ce6e1d16159845d688d53f200f.jpg

    Screenshot_20170505-102145.png


    Now we know that some S8s are using ufs 2.1 chips while others using ufs 2.0 only.
    Luckily there's a way to exactly identify your flash chip.
    Download any terminal emulator from play store.
    for example this one will work
    Material Terminal
    then type in this in the terminal window:
    Code:
    cat /proc/scsi/scsi
    and you should get the exact model no. of your flash chip, taking my SM-G950FD as an example, i get this:
    Screenshot_20170430-160130.jpg

    what I circled in red is the ufs model number:

    In this case get:
    Code:
    KLUCG4J1ED - B0C1

    a quick google search reveals that this is a UFS 2.1 chip made by Samsung, using MLC flash.

    v2-c4588db13175545020afd5dca22a7a00_r.jpg

    Now what I heard is that all exynos variants of S8 and S8+ uses UFS 2.1, all Snapdragon S8+ also uses UFS 2.1, and only some Snapdragon S8 uses UFS 2.0.

    You may also get something like:
    Code:
    THGAF4G9N4LBA[B][COLOR="red"]I[/COLOR][/B]RA
    THGAF4G9N4LBA[B][COLOR="red"]I[/COLOR][/B]RB
    or
    Code:
    THGBF7G9L4LBA[B][COLOR="Red"]T[/COLOR][/B]RA
    THGBF7G9L4LBA[B][COLOR="Red"]T[/COLOR][/B]RC

    These two are made by Toshiba, the one ends with IR something is UFS 2.1 while the one ends with TR is UFS 2.0. There might be slight variations in the model no. , anyway it's the letter I and T that matters.

    View attachment 4138729
    screenshot-toshiba.semicon-storage.com-2017-05-05-10-36-31.png


    Alternatively you can use Androbench to test the speed of your flash chip. For the sequential read speed, I believe that S8 with UFS 2.0 usually fall in 500MB/s range, while those with UFS 2.1 can get close to 800MB/s. However keep in mind that this is not the accurate way to go, if you really want the truth, pls use terminal and the code.
    For example results from my UFS 2.1 S8:
    mmexport1492853705972.jpg

    Please test your own S8 and let us know what you get.
    3
    Bwa ha ha! Poor Snapdragon S8 suckers!

    Exynos all have 2.1. Snapdragon 8 has 2.0.

    Interestingly, Snapdragon S8+ also has 2.1.

    Exynos, of course, can also be bootloader unlocked and rooted.


    Some Samsung Galaxy S8 units only have UFS 2.0 storage

    https://phandroid.com/2017/05/05/samsung-galaxy-s8-plus-ufs-storage-check/

    Yes yes, that makes a much bigger difference than not having WiFi calling, VoLTE, RCS, HD-Voice, Samsung Pay, and proper BAND12 compatibility.
    2
    If you're perfectly fine paying several hundred dollars to RENT a phone that's not really yours -- oh and has inferior specs to the Exynos variant -- it's your choice. You can spend your money how you like.

    I choose to totally control my phone, be the admin. Specs are sometimes a mix of what's available and compromise. (2014 Moto Nexus 6 was too big but had stereo speakers. I went with the 5.2" version called the Moto XT1225, but it doesn't have stereo speakers. But it has all the same other specs of the Moto Nexus 6 AND a 3900 mAh battery. Yes, the smaller phone has the larger batter.)

    But in this case, the only thing the Snapdragon has the Exynos doesn't have that would be of any interest is the FM radio. None of my phones since like 2010 have had that, so I guess I'm not missing it either.

    Thanks for the wiki entry on the phone, your overly elaborate sig didn't really get that across. :rolleyes:
    2
    Yes yes, that makes a much bigger difference than not having WiFi calling, VoLTE, RCS, HD-Voice, Samsung Pay, and proper BAND12 compatibility.

    If you live in the US, that is.

    I have the Exynos and we have WiFi calling, VoLTE, HD-Voice, RCS (Universal Profile), Samsung Pay and support for all bands in Qatar.

    Heh if you live in Qatar, that's the normal version isn't it? Plus, the person who posted it has "Atlanta GA" in his profile, I'm assuming that's somewhere in the US

    Since I use AT&T GoPhone, and me and my wife are both using the using Moto XT1225 (which is not a branded AT&T phone -- it's the "international" version of the Droid Turbo, with LTE bands 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 17) for the past three yearas and we both use Google Voice, we don't need AT&T VoLTE or Wi-Fi calling nor care about it in the least.

    1) AT&T only gives VoLTE/Wi-Fi calling to their branded phones on postpaid service, not to their in-store prepaid service nor to non-branded phones. Couldn't care less.

    2) I already have Wi-Fi calling if I wish with Google Voice and I have Voice over LTE if I wish. (Yes, I know Voice over LTE with Google Voice data phone calls is not "HD-Voice" but it is technically Voice over LTE data.) But since I have AT&T, even when I make phone calls using my underlying AT&T phone number, I simply drop down to HSPA temporarily -- and guess what? I STILL have data + voice! I will never need VoLTE -- only Sprint/Verizon CDMA crippled carriers NEED VoLTE.

    3) I also couldn't care less about Samsung Pay if it means I can't be the admin (rooted) owner of my own phone. Any phone I own will always be rooted.

    For me, Samsung Pay is somewhat laughable. Pull out my phone, pull out my wallet? Same thing. I never go out without my wallet while occasionally I have forgotten my phone (and usually go back for it).

    But more importantly, I will not buy a phone I cannot root on Day #1. If you are not the admin of your phone, you don't actually own it. The carrier or manufacturer owns it and you are paying hundreds of dollars to RENT it.

    That's how Samsung was able to BRICK those Note 7 phones a few months ago that people didn't want to turn in. Only some of the Note 7 phones had bad batteries -- others were perfectly fine, and at the time was the highest spec phone out there. Many people loved their Note 7 phones and didn't want to give them up for something lesser. But for people who weren't rooted, Samsung forced an OTA that BRICKED the phones. They were able to do that because the people hadn't returned the phones to the REAL owner -- Samsung. ;)

    If I pay several hundred dollars for a phone with top tier specs, it will be MY phone in every way possible.

    Oh, there's this too:

    Snapdragon 835 Galaxy S8 Models Are Inferior to Exynos Variants in Almost Every Way
    https://android.gadgethacks.com/new...ior-exynos-variants-almost-every-way-0177210/