The USB-IF continues its windmill fight against the homemade mess of confusing standards by revamping the website with new logos for branding on products. Designations such as “SuperSpeed” or the new “USB4” no longer exist, only speed and charging capacity are to be advertised.
However, the logos shown on a subpage for the certification of products are not entirely new, because the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) already had a series of logos for the new connector standard USB-C 2.1 (not protocol) last autumn presented, which are to be used to provide 60 watts and 240 watts when using USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) 3.1. If it is a certified USB4 connection, the data rate of 40 Gbit/s could be included in the logo even then. Incidentally, the new maximum of USB4 in version 2.0 of the standard is now 80 Gbit/s.
According to the USB-IF, terms such as “USB4” or the term “SuperSpeed”, which is still frequently used, should not even be used by end users. Instead, the new logos should only be used to advertise speed and charging capacity or a combination of both. It can be assumed that the underlying protocols such as “USB4 Gen 3×2” will continue to be used internally, among experts and in data sheets.
Logos for speed and charge performance
There are three different logos for the transmission speed on a device, which refer to the packaging and the connection on the device. Red and blue USB logos with the words “Certified” and the speed of 40, 20, 10 or 5 Gbit/s should be found on the box. There will probably also be a version for 80 Gbit/s with USB4 2.0, which is still missing in the examples. On the device itself, the port should be marked with a simplified logo that says the same thing. If a device can also be charged via this port, the logo must be placed on the pictogram of a battery. Hardly any manufacturer will actually implement this recommendation purely for design reasons. MacBooks have always been a prime example of this.
Logos for USB chargers
Two versions are provided for USB chargers, one with “Certified USB Charger” and an indication in watts and one with “Certified USB Fast Carger” and an indication in watts. What is confusing in the example chosen by the USB-IF is that the normal charger delivers 240 watts, but the fast charger only achieves 100 watts. So is “Fast Charger” worse than just “Charger”? However, as USB expert Benson Leung explains on Reddit, where the changes to the logos were first noticed, behind the term “Fast Charging” is the support of the PPS (Programmable Power Supply) standard introduced with USB-PD 3.0, which regulates the voltage and the Power can change in real-time by delivering maximum power based on a device's charge status.
Logos for USB chargers (image: USB-IF)Logos for USB-C Cables
For USB-C cables, there are also two types intended for the packaging and the cable itself. According to the recommendation of the USB-IF, a combination of transmission speed and charging capacity should be used for the red-blue logo. The simplified version can be used for the logo on the cable itself. An exception, however, applies to cables of the type “Hi-Speed USB Cable”, which are only to be advertised with the charging power. “Hi-Speed USB” is the very old USB 2.0 protocol with 480 Mbit/s, which can also be combined with USB-PD 3.1 with 60 watts or 240 watts. The standards for USB protocol, USB-C connector, USB-PD and now also the USB logo must always be considered separately.
Logos for USB-C cables (Image: USB-IF)