Let us help you sort out this little confusion while trying to explain all the types of USBs and focusing on the difference between USB 3.0 and type C. Keep in mind that the connection will be possible only if the connector and the port are of the same type.If you are wondering about the difference between the USB 3.1, 3.0, 2.0 or even USB type C, type A etc, as some of them are used interchangeably and frequently. Read also: What is Micro USB Pinout and Types (FAQs) The performance will be limited to that of USB 2.0. The data will be transferred with the speed of the device or port (whichever version is lower).įor example, if we connect the USB 3.1 hard drive to the USB 2.0 port, it cannot give the performance of USB 3.1. It is due to the backward compatibility feature. Yes, we can plug a USB 3.1 device into a USB 2.0 port, but the data transfer speed will be reduced. Can you plug a USB 3.1 device into a USB 2.0 port? That is why we can see from the table that USB 3x has 5 additional wires inside its cable than USB 2.

Whereas USB 3x has separate wires for transmission and reception so that both actions can happen simultaneously. USB 2.0 works on one-way communication wherein either transmission or reception happen at a time. USB 3.0 was renamed as 3.1 Gen 1 and USB 3.1 was renamed as 3.1 Gen 2 by the launch of USB 3.2 in 2017.Ī major reason behind this drastic improvement in the bandwidth of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 is the communication path. USB 2.0 vs USB 3x because USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 are almost similar (except in the case of data speed).

The three versions, i.e., USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1, can be grouped into two classes. Read also: 10 USB Pinout Explained- USB A, B, C(Male and Female) This helps to make a quick comparison between them. The table below gives an overall comparison of USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1. The biggest difference between all three versions of USB lies within its speed of data transfer: USB 2.0 offers speeds up to 480 Mbps, while USB 3.0 offers speeds up to 5 Gbps – that’s 10 times faster than the former! And then there’s USB 3.1, featuring an incredible 10 Gbps speed which is twice of USB 3.0.

Usb 2 vs usb 3 volt