In the past, it was easy to choose the fastest USB, you just need to recognize USB 3.0 instead of USB 2.0. However, nowadays, you can see a lot of products in the market labeled USB 3.2 Gen1, Gen2, Gen3 or Gen2×2, which makes the matter of shopping for USB confusing. Now, we will guide you through the differences between USB 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 (USB 3.2 Gen1, Gen2 and Gen2×2).
At one time, there were only two major versions of USB, 2.0 and 3.0, and all you needed to know was that 3.0 was just faster than 2.0. You can buy a USB 2.0 flash drive and plug it into a computer that has a USB 3.0 port and it will still work fine, but only at USB 2.0 speeds, and when you plug a USB 3.0 flash drive into a USB 2.0 port you will also only enjoy USB 2.0 speeds. If you want to reach peak speeds, you need to use a USB 3.0 flash drive with a USB 3.0 port, it's as simple as that, but with USB 3.1, everything changes.
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USB 3.1 Naming Confusion
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The U.S. USB standardization organization (USB-IF) is responsible for maintaining and updating USB specifications and norms, and providing naming schemes for USB cables and devices. When they introduced USB 3.1, they didn't simply make the name distinguishable from USB 3.0, but instead named the new standard “USB 3.1 Gen2” while renaming the old USB 3.0 as “USB 3.1 Gen1 “.
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To complicate matters, even the transfer speeds themselves have been renamed. USB 3.1 Gen1 (formerly USB 3.0) is capable of 5Gbps transfer speeds and is called “Super Speed”; USB 3.1 Gen2 (the new USB 3.1) has a transfer speed of 10Gbps and is called “Super Speed+”, which technically achieves this by using 128b/132b encoding in full-duplex transfer mode. Full-duplex transmission mode means that data can be transmitted and received at the same time, which is why it's faster.
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The difference between the two is a bit confusing, but for the average consumer, just remember that Gen 2 is newer and better than Gen 1, and you can't get it wrong when shopping. To help differentiate between the speeds, the USB-IF also uses a special logo, which can only be used by manufacturers after they've been certified that the cables match the promised specifications.
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USB 3.2 is faster, but the naming is more confusing
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In September 2017, the USB-IF released the specification for USB 3.2.USB 3.2 can reach speeds of up to 20Gbps, twice as fast as USB 3.1 Gen2, and boasts two 10Gbps lanes, which you can visualize as more wires being put into the same cable. Just like its predecessor, this newer standard is backwards compatible, and without accompanying supportable new hardware will not be able to get the faster speeds. At MWC 2019, the USB-IF released the logo and naming scheme for the new standard, and once again the previous naming was abandoned and changed, with USB 3.0, which has a transfer speed of 5Gbps, being renamed again as USB 3.2 Gen1!
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The 10Gbps standard is named USB 3.2 Gen2 and the 20Gbps standard is named USB 3.2 Gen2×2, breaking with past naming conventions. Physically, it has two 10Gbps channels, so it's actually 2×2. This naming, while it makes logical sense, is even more confusing, and consumers have to have some knowledge of USB hardware to recognize what it really means.
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Simpler naming is coming, but it's not uniformly used
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Starting in 2020, the USB-IF doesn't want users to see these complex names, instead they want Gen 1 products (aka the old USB 3.0) to be sold as “Super Speed USB”, and they recommend that vendors sell Gen 2 products (aka USB 3.1) under the name “Super Speed+USB 10G”. “Super Speed+USB 10Gbps”, and Gen2×2 (also known as USB 3.1) under the name of ‘Super Speed+USB 20Gbps’, once again unifying the change of The name has been changed again.
