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Tips of Identifying USB Port Types

Author: Apogeeweb Date: 1 Jun 2021  9036

usb symbols labeled

Introduction

USB is very common, because it is indispensable for data transmission and charging. In modern life, we can see one or more USB ports on desktop computers, laptops, TVs, game devices, cars, media players, phones, and other electric devices, etc. USB devices are very important for our life. Look at your computer or smart phones, we probably know what it used for, however, fewer people know the full name of USB and what the real meanings of USB protocols and USB types.

USB Ports, Cables, Types, & Connectors

Catalog

Introduction

Ⅰ Figure USB Ports and Standards Out

Ⅱ USB Port Colors Meaning

Ⅲ USB-C vs Type C

Ⅳ USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0

Ⅴ According to Labels Behind USB Ports


Here are some easy steps to identify USB ports with different standards.

Ⅰ Figure USB Ports and Standards Out

usb devices

USB (universal serial bus) aims for input and output interfaces standard. It is widely used in information transformation products such as personal computers and mobile devices. The USB interface has hot-swappable, plug-and-play functions, and can be connected to a variety of external devices, such as a mouse and keyboard, etc. Our mobile phone charging uses the USB connector. These USB devices give us great convenience. USB chargers, USB connectors, USB hub, USB ports and USB cables, are all USB the same? What is USB 2.0 and USB 3.0? Low speed, full speed, and high speed mean what? What are Type-A, Type-B, and Type-C? Here you will get a full answer.

  • Versions of USB

usb versions

The USB 1.0/2.0/3.0 we often say refers to the technical specifications. The biggest difference among them is speed, that is, they indicate the speed of USB transfer files. The maximum transmission bandwidth of USB 3.0 is up to 5.0Gbps (640MB/s). Now many high-speed U disks or hard drives of portable electric devices use USB 3.0 or USB 3.1. USB also includes the old USB 1.1 standard and  USB 2.0 standard. The traditional maximum transfer rate of USB 1.1 is 12Mbps. Generally, manufacturers call its products that comply with the USB 1.1 standard as "full-speed USB." When the high-speed USB 2.0 was first introduced, the highest transmission rate was only 240Mbps. Later, the USB Promoter Group increased the rate to 480Mbps in October 1999, which is 40 times faster than the traditional USB 1.1. USB 2.0 is backward compatible with USB 1.1. Of course, USB 1.1 devices are "upward compatible" with USB 2.0, but they cannot reach the transmission speed of USB 2.0 and automatically stay at low speed. The maximum length of the USB 2.0 cable is 5 meters, but if five USB adapters are used, the maximum length can be up to 30 meters.
Although you'll still be able to connect old-school devices with USB Type-A or USB Type-B connectors, but now you have more choices, that is USB4. USB4 is a USB system specified in the USB4 specification which was released in version 1.0 on 29 August 2019 by USB Implementers Forum. It leverages the Thunderbolt 3 protocol to deliver speeds up to twice as fast as the USB version it replaces. The USB4 architecture defines a method to dynamically share a single high-speed link with multiple end device types to best serve the transfer of data by type and application.

 

  • USB-A, USB-B, and USB-C Port Types-Which is faster?

usb types

Type-A/B/C determines the appearance of the USB ports. For example, the mouse, keyboard, USB flash drive and other interfaces we use are generally Type-A, which is also the most widely used interface. Type-B is more common in printers, monitors and other devices. In the past, Micro USB and Mini USB commonly used in mobile phones were portable versions of USB 2.0. The appearance of Type-C is very recognizable, slimmer. Its biggest feature is flippability, that is, USB-C connector has no up or down orientation, so you never have to flip it over to plug it in.
1) Type-A: Standard USB Port

usb type a

Type-A is the most common types of USB ports on computers. It has a notable feature: direction requirements. The connector (male port) must be inserted into the interface (female port) from a certain direction, in addition, because the appearance of the two sides of the USB male port is very close, this insertion process often makes mistakes.
2) Type-B: Commonly used in printer equipment

usb-b

Type-B is the most common and popular data interface type on printers and displays, and some displays will also use it.
3) Type Micro-B: USB standard for mobile devices

Micro USB and Mini USB

Currently, most Android phones use the Micro USB interface (USB Micro-B), which is still widely used in various mobile portable devices.
4) Type-C: It will become mainstream

Type-C

Although Type-C has just appeared, it is foreseeable that as the USB Type-C technology matures, various notebooks, tablets and even smart phones in the future will begin to use the USB Type-C interface.

 

Ⅱ USB Port Colors Meaning

usb port colors

Color

USB Connector

USB Speed Standard

Note

White

USB-A or USB-B  Micro USB-A

USB 1.0 or USB 1.1

*

Black

USB-A or USB-B Micro USB-B

USB 2.0 Hi-Speed

*

Blue

USB-A or USB-B

USB 3.0 Super Speed

*

Red

Sleep-and-Charge USB-A

USB 3.1 Gen 2 

USB 3.2

Usually denotes an "always on" port

Yellow

Sleep-and-Charge USB-A

USB 2.0 or USB 3.0

Higher power or "always on" port


Ⅲ USB-C vsType C

The Type-C is the same as the USB C, because the USB C is also called USB Type-C. However, there are slight differences between them. Let’s look at the following facts.
Features of USB-C Connector:
1. Ultra-thin
The old USB port size is 14mm * 6.5mm, while the USB-C is only 8.4mm * 2.6mm.
2. No Orientation
Like the Lightning, there will be no problem regardless of whether it is plugged in or reversed. It claims to be able to up to 10,000 times of repeated plugging and unplugging.

Apple Lightning

3. Fast Transfer Rate
The maximum transfer rate of the USB-C port is 10Gb per second, which is much faster than USB 3.0.
4. Two-way Transmission
Unlike the old USB port, the power can only be transmitted in one direction. The USB-C port is bidirectional, so it can have two transmission power ways. Therefore, users can not only use laptops to charge mobile devices, but also use other devices or mobile power sources to charge laptops.
5. Strong Power Supply Capability
The standard specification cable equipped with Type-C connector can pass 3A current, and it also has a super USB power supply capacity, which can up to 100W of power.
6. Backward Compatibility
USB-C can be compatible with the old USB protocol, but users need an additional adapter.
USB-C refers to the Type C port that uses the USB 3.1 standard, but it should be noted that USB-C is not equal to Type C. Because there are many

computer usb c port

Type C devices that can only reach USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 transfer rate.
With the improvement of technology, Type-C also supports the USB3.1 standard. Because the voltage and current increase, the coding consumption is reduced, from 20% of USB 3.0 to 3%. In other words, users can quickly transfer data and video through Type-C, or charge faster. Also users can charge other devices with their mobile phones. As for the display, when using Type-C for data transmission, there is no need to use another power cord to power the display, which solves the problem of messy desktop cables. Even the relatively high-end HDMI and DP ports cannot do it.
The USB-C connector can be expanded into three: power supply/ USB transmission/ VGA or HDMI, which is the next-generation mainstream USB interface. The type-c cable is also of great help to the arrival of the 5G. Because the port of it becomes smaller, the flattening of electronic products is promoted. And in the transmission of audio and video, the tc data line has faster speed. At present, well-known technology manufacturers such as Sony and Apple have widely used type-c cables on their electrical devices because they can support multiple formats and reduce the limitations of USB. In short, the arrival of the 5G actually wants everyone to experience faster bandwidth, so the corresponding supporting facilities should also keep up. The type-c cable is undoubtedly one of them.

 

Ⅳ USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0

Although USB has developed to the USB3.1 protocol, we often see two types of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 on devices. How do we distinguish these two interface types in daily use? Some people will say that USB 3.0 port is blue and USB2.0 port is black, which is easy to distinguish. In fact, it is not. Even though most USB3.0 ports use blue, there are many special cases. Here are some examples.

usb 2.0 port color usb 3.0 port color

 

The color of the USB ports on some models does not have any special treatment, and it looks no different from USB 2.0 type, and it is all black. However, it is often marked with "SS" in front of the logo. "SS" is the abbreviation of "SuperSpeed USB", which means connector or port that uses the USB 3.0 standard. The black USB type is also suitable for USB 3.0.

usb 2.0 vs usb 3.0

 

The USB ports in Apple's new MacBook notebooks are all USB 3.0 standard, but in order to keep in harmony with the color of the computer cover, a white connector design is adopted.

apple new macbook usb port

 

The USB ports on the Razer gaming notebooks are also USB 3.0, but in order to match the bright green keyboard backlight on the body and the Razer logo, the color of the USB port adopts "green". It improves the recognition of the machine and the brand, because no third-party manufacturer has adopted a green USB interface design.

Razer gaming notebooks port

 

In addition, distinguish the metal pins of the USB ports. Generally, USB 2.0 uses a row of 4 pins, while USB 3.0 has a two-row pin design, with 5 pins in the front row and 4 pins in the back row.

usb connector pinout

 

In addition, there is also a hybrid port of eSATA and USB 2.0, which can plug in both USB devices and eSATA interface devices. However, they are common in business models of previous years.

eSATA and USB 2.0 port

 

Ⅴ According to Labels Behind USB Ports

usb labels

"+" sign - It represents the USB interface with high current output capability. The ordinary USB interface provides a maximum current of 500mA, but it may not be able to drive when encountering "high energy consumption" devices such as mobile hard disks and USB optical drives. Therefore, when it appeared, the output current on this interface can reach 1000mA (1A), which greatly enhances the drive capability.
"SS" - It is actually a symbol of USB 3.0. If the USB port has “SS” (or “SuperSpeed”) on its label, it’s a USB 3.0 port. If it’s“SS 10”, it’s a USB 3.1 port.
"Lightning Logo" -It generally appears on notebooks, and the USB port with it has a power-off charging function. That is, it can use its own battery or an external power supply to charge the mobile device when it is turned off. The lightning mark with an arrow indicates the Thunderbolt 3: two-way charging and two-way data transmission. Thunderbolt 3 supports for up to 40Gbps of throughput, alongside reduced power consumption and the ability to move as much as 100 watts of power over the interface. And it also means that a single cable is all you need to push power and transfer a large amount of information (up to and including video data for two 60Hz 4K displays) to and from even a complex device like a computer, something many laptop manufacturers have been quick to take advantage of.

USB is an important interface on the computer. Almost 90% of the external devices are connected by it for mobile hard drives, such as U disks, printers, etc. Understanding the above information can analyze and solve the most common problems of unrecognized external devices of USB. At the same time, it is also very useful for us to choose USB products.

 

Ⅵ Frequently Asked Questions about USB Types and USB Versions

1. What are the different types of USB ports?

Types of USB Ports and Connectors
USB-A
USB-B
USB-B Mini
USB-B Micro
USB-C
Lightning

 

2. How can I tell the difference between USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports?

You can generally tell the difference between USB 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 by color alone. While the size and shape may be identical, the key is to look at the color of the plastic inside the device. The USB 1.0 features a white plastic color, while USB 2.0 is black, and the USB 3.0 is blue.

 

3. What is the difference between USB Type A and C?

The USB-A has a much larger physical connector than the Type C, Type C is around the same size as a micro-USB connector. ... The beauty of Type C is that it can be inserted any way up as the connector pins are the same on either side.

 

4. Are USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports the same?

The A connectors still work properly so any 2.0 device with a 2.0 cable can be used with 3.0 ports or hubs. To sum up: USB 3.0 devices require 3.0 cables. ... USB 2.0 cables can be used with 3.0 ports but the transfer rate will fall back to 2.0.

 

5. Why is my USB 3.0 port not working?

Update to the Latest BIOS, or Check USB 3.0 is Enabled in BIOS. In many cases, your motherboard will be responsible for software issues related to your USB 3.0 ports or any other ports on the motherboard. For this reason, updating to the latest BIOS may fix things.

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pinglun 2 comments

    • pingluntus
    • Peyton on 2021/6/18 11:46:14

    I see quite a few motherboard reviews online these days where the reviewer criticises the lack of USB ports on boards that have 4 to 6! I find this quite bizarre as I use a maximum of 4 USB devices and even if there were only 4 ports on my board and I got another USB device I could just use a hub. So, how many USB ports do you want?

      • pingluntu
      • author on 2021/6/19 16:09:00
        author

      Re:

      I use 8 + 2 on the case from my motherboard, but I do have 3 extra controllers, a USB WiFi adapter, and USB3 multi card reader plugged in all the time. I could manage with less.
      Even though I have USB-C gadgets (phone etc), I don't see a need for it on my PC. USB-A to C works fine.

    • pingluntus
    • Madison on 2021/7/3 14:58:32

    Hi, buddy! Have you noticed the front USB port is one when the car is shut off? Any issue with it if an iPod of other device is left connected?

      • pingluntu
      • author on 2021/7/6 10:10:45
        author

      Re:

      Yes it seems to be on all the time. I have noticed that when I plug in my phone first thing in the morning it will start charging it even before I start the car. 😐

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