Let’s tell you what are the colors of USB connectors that you can find both in the memories and in the cables that use this technology. These are the colors that you find on the tab, on the piece of plastic that goes inside the connector itself.
Because it is not the same whether the color of this tongue is white or black or it is blue, the three most common colors, since each one points to different characteristics. Therefore, we are going to explain everything to you in a way that you can understand.
What are USB colors
USB is a plug & play connection interface, a term that means that when you plug it in it starts working. However, there are different types of USB, either because they have a connector with a different form factor or because the chips inside are different.
Since its creation, USB has been evolving, and the different types have different powers and speeds. But since on the outside all connectors of the same form factor are the same, The colors added to the tab indicate the USB version that is, and each version has different features.
Come on, this way you can know that a USB with a black tab is a USB 2.0 with a fairly limited data transmission speed, or that a turquoise one is a second generation USB 3.1 with a much higher speed.
What does the color of the USB mean?
Next, we are going to tell you which version of the USB standard each color corresponds toand what is the maximum connection speed that each of them supports. These colors are especially important in USB type A, the usual large ones, because that is where it is best seen.
- White tongue: It is associated with USB 1.0 and 1.1, the most basic and oldest created for simple peripherals such as mouse and keyboard. Its transmission speed is 12 Mbps.
- Black tongue: It is associated with USB 2.0, also old. These already allow other devices to be powered with powers of 2.5W. Its transmission speed is 480 Mbps.
- Dark blue tongue: It is associated with USB 3.0 or 3.1 Gen 1, and is used for external drives and fast memories, in addition to supplying power at 4.5W. Its transmission speed is 5 Gbps.
- Turquoise tongue: It is associated with USB 3.1 Gen 2, which greatly improves the performance of the previous generation. Its transmission speed is 10 Gbps.
- Red/orange tongue: It is usually used for fast or special ports, and is also associated with USB 3.2, whose transmission is 5 Gbps. It is also present in ports that allow charging even with the device at rest.
- Yellow tongue: This color usually means “always on,” and is for ports that continue to manage power even if the device is suspended or turned off. It is used as a permanent charging port, and usually uses USB 2.0 or USB 3.X speeds depending on each device.
In WorldOfSoftware Basics | Types of USB cables: which ones exist and how to identify them
