USB data · 2008
USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
The original USB 3.0, renamed twice. Ten times USB 2.0, enough for hard drives and most flash drives.
- data: 5 Gbps
- video: No (only via USB-C Alt Mode)
- power: 4.5 W (port)
Spec card
- Signalling rate
- 5 Gbit/s, full duplex
- Line coding
- 8b/10b (80% efficient)
- Real-world file copy
- about 400–450 MB/s
- Port power
- 900 mA at 5 V (4.5 W)
- Max passive length
- about 3 m (A-to-B); 2 m for USB-C to USB-C
- Connectors
- USB-A (often blue), USB 3 B, USB 3 Micro-B, USB-C
Also sold as USB 3.0USB 3.1 Gen 1USB 3.2 Gen 1x1SuperSpeed USBSuperSpeed USB 5GbpsUSB 5Gbps
The cable you need
Any USB 3 cable. On USB-A the extra contacts are hidden at the back of the port; a blue tongue is a hint, not a guarantee.
Watch out for
- "USB 3.0", "USB 3.1 Gen 1" and "USB 3.2 Gen 1" are the same 5 Gbps.
This is the speed most people mean by "USB 3". It adds two new wire pairs beside the USB 2.0 pair, one in each direction, so data flows both ways at once. 8b/10b line coding spends one bit in five on clock recovery, which is why 5 Gbit/s becomes about 500 MB/s on paper and 400–450 MB/s in a real copy.
Three names, one speed: USB 3.0 (2008), renamed USB 3.1 Gen 1 in 2013 and USB 3.2 Gen 1 in 2017. Packaging now tends to say "USB 5Gbps". None of the renames made anything faster.
A spinning hard drive cannot fill this link. A SATA SSD in a cheap enclosure nearly can, which is why USB 5Gbps SSDs all quote about 450 MB/s.