The Universal Serial Bus that helps to enable communication between the devices has quickly become an unexpected technology in any new tech hardware. Not only it connects peripheral devices such as digital camera, mouse, keyboards, printers, scanners, and external hard drives but it has other wide variety of uses as well. But with it, it is also important to know the difference in the two most common USB versions that are USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0.
New computers are now coming with USB 3.0 ports instead of a 2.0 port. Superior speed, enhanced performance, and higher efficiency management are the only reason why people are recklessly choosing USB 3.0 over the old ones. But when it comes to the price there is a lot of difference, the USB 2.0 device is much cheaper than the USB 3.0. But just how much faster is USB 3.0? Should we upgrade to 3.0 and does it matter? Before we go into the depths of which one is better and their differences, it is important to know the basics and breakdown of what exactly a USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 are.
What is USB 2.0 and USB 3.0?
The universal serial bus or USB was developed in 1990 to define better communication protocols, including cables and connectors, or between devices, computers can be connected to electronic devices like printers and scanners. Moreover, as USB was adopted as the basic connection portal other devices like smartphones, tablets, and game consoles can be connected to computers and PCs with the help of USB ports that allows communication as well as recharging thereby replacing the requirement for adapters.
USB 2.0 is referred to as Hi-Speed USB which was released in the year 2000. It is the standard version of USB we use every day which offers a theoretical maximum signaling rate of 480 Megabits per second. Though now USB 2.0 is being replaced by USB 3.0, which provides better functionalities and better speed.
On the other hand USB 3.0 was released in 2008, approximately eight years after the USB 2.0. After that there is no going back, it has become a new standard of USB as it provides a lot of improvement over USB2.0.
How to identify USB 2.0? Or how is it’s appearance different from USB 3.0?
You may wonder that USB 2.0 and 3.0 might look the same. But there is actually a difference in appearance. So if you want to find out whether you are using USB 2.0 or 3.0, these pointers can help you distinguish:
● Difference in color:
The difference can be easily made by the color alone. Sometimes you might find the size and the shape identical but USB 2.0 comes generally in black and USB 3.0 is blue.
● Difference in cable length:
For a USB 2.0, the length can be maximum up to 16’5” but when it comes to the length of USB 3.0 it can reach the maximum of 9’10”. Though these can be easily extended with the help of a hub or other connections.
● Wiring is also different:
The 3.0 contains 9 copper wires while the USB 2.0 generation has only 4 copper wires.
USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0- The main differences
1. The major difference- Speed
The transfer rate of USB 3.0 is up to 5 gigabytes which are approximately 10 times faster than USB 2.0. When compared with USB 2.0 the speed is extremely slow but when it comes to connecting peripherals like keyboards, mouse, or headset the speed of 480 megabits/s can be sufficient. The read and write speed of 2.0 is 480 Mbps but it can be as low as 60 Mbps.
2. Bandwidth:
Instead of one-way communication, USB 3.0 has two independent unidirectional data paths whereas USB 2.0 has unidirectional data paths that can only handle one direction of data at any time. That means in USB 2.0 the data is sent and received separately over the same path.
