To date, almost all computers, smartphones and other types of electronic devices have some form of USB connection, which is the most widely used cable standard today. For those who have always wondered, USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s to standardize the connection of computer peripherals.
The USB cable was successful and was chosen as standard because in addition to being able to pass data and transfer it from one device to another or from one computer to another, it is also able to supply electricity.
For this reason almost every mobile phone and smartphone charger today works via USB cable.
In this article, without going to the theoretical technician, we see what are the various types of USB cables available on the market, those for sale, which differ from each other by type of connector, by data transmission speed and above all by the function they can have
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1) USB Type-A : Most normal USB cables have the Type-A connector on one end and are also used by most PC peripherals (such as keyboard and mouse).
Personal computers usually have multiple type A ports, as do modern TVs, battery chargers including car chargers.
This type of USB cable, which is what we know well with a wide opening, can be used for data transfer and / or for charging.
2) USB Type-B : The USB type B connector is the one with an almost square shape that we certainly used when we connect printers and other devices with autonomous power supply to the computer.
When a device does not power via USB but has its own separate power supply to attach to the power outlet, it almost certainly has a USB Type-A port.
3) Mini-USB : This was the standard type of connector to connect cell phones to the PC, before the arrival of the most modern micro-USB.
The mini-USB port is smaller than the normal USB port and is still used by some cameras or cameras that have non-standard connectors and some external hard drives.
4) Micro-USB : The Micro-USB socket is the one present in almost every smartphone to connect the charger to it.
The USB cable of the charger can also be connected to a PC to transfer data between computer and smartphone.
Virtually all cellphone and smartphone manufacturers have adopted the Micro-USB socket except Apple.
You can buy Aukey Micro USB cables which are the best on Amazon.
For those who want special Micro-USB cables to use to recharge the phone on Amazon you can also find_
- Specialized USB PortPow cable for fast charging, which does not work for data transfer.
- The reversible USB cable is instead the one that solves the big problem of finding the right direction of insertion of the cable into the smartphone port.
This type of cable has such a shape that any side you insert it is fine.
5) USB Type-C : This type of cable is the most modern one, which allows higher transfer rates and more energy than previous types of USB cables.
It is used as a standard by new laptops and also by some cell phones and tablets.
USB-C is an emerging standard that promises to be universal, reversible, fast and that can receive and provide much more energy than previous versions of USB.
Apple certainly surprised everyone when it presented a new MacBook last year that had a single USB-C port and nothing else.
Amazon offers adapters, cables and USB-C hubs of all types at affordable prices.
6) Lightning : This is not a USB standard, but an Apple proprietary connector used only on iPad and iPhone.
It is a format similar to micro-USB, compatible with all Apple devices sold after September 2012.
Previously, Apple used another, much larger, proprietary connector type.
However, nothing prevents you from buying Lightning cables on Amazon, even non-Apple brands (much cheaper)
7) USB 3 is the latest standard that allows the highest transfer speed and is also backwards compatible with previous versions of USB Type A.
In practice it is possible to use any cable on a USB 3 socket without problems.
USB 3 sockets are distinguished on computers because they are blue in color.
In another article, we explained how the USB 3.0 port works.
USB 3 Standard-B and micro versions have additional pins to allow for an even higher transfer speed (but are not compatible with normal sockets).
Type B USB cables can be used safely on USB 3 ports, but without any benefit in terms of speed.
Various types of Micro-USB cables
If you are using an Android smartphone or a tablet, they certainly use a micro-USB cable and not even the most diehard fans of Apple can avoid having to deal with micro-USB cables and ports since it is the most common type of connector for power supplies. external, speakers, etc.
When buying a micro-USB cable, you may be tempted to choose only the cheapest one but, as often happens, this is not a good idea.
The cables with poor quality can in fact break very easily and no longer work to recharge the mobile phone or to connect something to the PC.
Since the cables are cheap, it is worth buying it brand (for example these on Amazon are perfect and cost 3 Euros)
Another thing to check is the cable length.
Short cables are perfect for portability, but uncomfortable when used on a desktop PC or for charging the phone.
A long cable can instead be uncomfortable to carry around also because it can be braided often, but it is excellent for connecting peripherals keeping them further away from the computer.
In general, a one meter cable is fine as a charger cable, even for using your mobile phone while it is charging.
A special and relatively new type of USB cable is USB On-The-Go or OTG .
As already explained, with a USB-OTG cable you can use a USB pen as extra OTG memory on smartphones and tablets, which also allows you to connect an external hard disk to your mobile phone avoiding the effort of transferring data between computer and phone with direct connection.
