The first USB4-certified devices will arrive on the market starting in the coming months. Here are the benefits of the new smartphone connection
Starting in the first quarter of 2020, the first devices compatible with the new USB4 standard will arrive on the market. The USB Implementers Forum, the association that has been managing the evolution of USB for years, has in fact started the certification process of dozens of devices.
Probably already at the end of 2019 the first PCs and laptops able to connect to these devices will arrive and, in the same period, the add-on cards for older PCs will arrive with which we will be able to add at least a couple of USB4 ports. But, above all, the first smartphones with this new connection are about to arrive. So it’s almost all ready to start a little big revolution: USB4, in fact, thanks to its technical characteristics will open new scenarios and prematurely retire other standards currently widely used. Like HDMI for video connections.
USB4: speeds up to 40 Gbps
The USB4, in fact, is virtually identical to another standard, until yesterday competing: the Thunderbolt 3 connection. The technical specifications of USB4 are in fact the same as Thunderbolt, of which USB4 represents a sort of “royalty free” version. The maximum speed of the new connection rises up to 40 gigabits per second (5 gigabytes per second), which means that the new USB can also be used to send, with a single cable, data and video to a monitor.
But not only: since the flow of data, on the USB4, is managed in a very refined and precise, it will be possible to reserve the necessary bandwidth in case of particularly heavy transmissions such as those in 4K format. That’s why many believe that HDMI’s days are numbered. But that’s not all: by connecting a smartphone to a display via USB4, we’ll be able to transport all of our personal content, streaming service subscriptions and even video games to the high-resolution big screen.
USB4: Charging up to 100 Watts
Another feature that will make the owners of future smartphones with USB4 port happy is the ability of this standard to carry a power of up to 100 Watts, thanks to the integrated Power Delivery (PD) circuit. In this way, we will be able to recharge even the largest battery extremely quickly, without risking damage to the device: the PD standard, in fact, automatically adjusts the power and lowers it in case of problems or risks.