There are a large number of USB ports on the market, but if we focus on the ecosystem of a PC, this number is considerably reduced to just 3 options: USB-A, USB-B and USB-CEach of these ports uses a different connector, the most popular being type A and type C, with type B reserved mainly for printers, scanners and UPS devices, although it is very popular in certain industries outside the world of home PCs.
Once we are clear about what the Types of USB ports that we can find in any PC or peripheral, it is important to know that not all cables are the same. As the USB standard has moved up in category to offer greater performance, the requirements that a cable must meet to be able to take full advantage of it are different.
That doesn’t mean we can’t continue using an old cable, since compatibility will always be there, but we can enjoy a higher transfer speed, which, in the end, is what always varies with each new standard that is launched on the market.
Types of USB cables
Once we are clear that, if we talk about a PC and peripherals, the three types of connectors that we can find are USB-A, USB-B and USB-C, it is time to know what the types of cables are based on their standard.
- Compatible with USB 1.X. This is the oldest standard. The latest version of the standard was the version that reached 1.5 MB/s transfer speed.
- Compatible with USB 2.0. This version allows data transfer at a maximum of 60 MB/S.
- Compatible with USB 3.X. With version 3, the data transfer speed was substantially increased, a speed that varies depending on the version of this standard.
- USB 3.0. It reaches a maximum of 600 MB/s.
- USB 3.1. It reaches a maximum of 1.25 GB/s.
- USB 3.2. Its maximum transfer speed is 2.5 GB/s.
- Compatible with USB 4.0. Reaches a maximum of 5 GB/s.
How to differentiate USB cable types
The only way to be able to differentiate a USB cable from other models is through the color of your connectoras long as the manufacturer follows the color code that we can find on desktop and laptop PCs so that users know what type each one is.
If the color of the USB Type A connector (USB-C does not use color codes) is colored Navy bluemeans it is compatible with USB 3.0 or higher. If the color is Light Bluemeans it is compatible with up to USB 3.1 and if it is red or orangethis will be compatible with up to USB 3.2.
On some computers, we can also find colored ports yellowports designed only to offer fast charging, not to establish communication between the peripheral and the PC.
If it is blackmeans that it is compatible with USB 2.0 and lower. And we say partially because at the specification level it is impossible to know if it is compatible with up to USB-4 or if it only supports USB 3.2, to give an easy-to-understand example.
If we want to be sure what type of USB cable we are using, the best and only way to do it is if it does not use the color code that we have mentioned above and look at the packaging where that information should be displayed.
