Summary
- Not all HDMI cables are equal – use HDMI 2.0+ (preferably 2.1) for modern devices.
- Look for ‘Ultra High Speed’ or 48Gbps/4K@120 on cable/packaging, or test with your device’s 4K120 setting.
- Use HDMI 2.1 to future-proof and enable eARC/4K120; keep older cables for legacy or recycle them.
Over the years, there’s a good chance you’ve amassed more HDMI cables than you know what to do with. If you’re like me, you have a box full of them, and you have no idea what to do with all of them. While you figure that out, it’s worth knowing what each cable can do. While it might not look like it, not every HDMI cable is created equally.
If you’re an early adopter of the format, then you more than likely have all sorts of cables that are mixed and matched. While you could dig out an old cable and plug it into your TV, you’re better off not doing that if you can avoid it. HDMI 1.4, 2.0, and 2.1 are all different versions of the same cable, and if you’re using something modern, you really want to be using something 2.0 or newer. The only problem is that it’s hard to tell exactly what you have. If you know what to look for, then it’s easy, but it’s not always that simple.
How to tell what HDMI cable you have
It’s not easy to tell sometimes
With many HDMI cables, you can tell what they are by reading what’s printed on them. For example, if you find the words HDMI Ultra High Speed printed on the cable, that means it’s an HDMI 2.1 cable. These are good to go with anything modern, as they are the cream of the crop until HDMI 2.2 becomes mainstream.
If your cable isn’t labeled like that, you’re not completely out of luck, but it does get a bit harder. A tried and true method I’ve found to work is just testing the cable. My Xbox Series X has a screen in the settings that tells me if I can get 4K 120 FPS, and if I can’t, I know the cable I have isn’t an HDMI 2.1 cable.
Buying an HDMI 2.1 cable is a lot easier as much of the branding will simply be on the packaging. The packaging will likely mention something like 48 GBps bandwidth or support for 4K at 120Hz. If it has wording like that, then you know what you’re looking at is an HDMI 2.1 cable. The issue mainly rears its ugly head when you have to look through a box of cables that all look the same. Fortunately, none of the cables are junk, but using a 2.0 with your PS5 or Xbox Series X won’t let you unlock either of the consoles’ full potential.
Why your HDMI cable matters
You need to know the difference
Although you can use an old cable with your modern TV, you should avoid that when you can. With the advent of ARC and eARC ports, you want the most bandwidth possible flowing through your cables, and that means you want to use new cables over the old.
An HDMI 2.1 cable ensures the best performance possible from all your devices, and even if your device doesn’t support the gains, you can still future-proof yourself by using the newest cables. The nature of the HDMI format is that all the cables are backwards-compatible, so there’s no harm in using a 2.1 cable with your Xbox 360, for example.
Just because you have a bunch of old cables doesn’t mean you should toss them away, as they’ll always have some use. You can keep using them with older devices, and they’ll keep on working for a long time as long as you keep them in good shape. If it were me, I would try to recycle my 1.4 cables as there’s not much of a reason to hang onto those these days. You should be able to recycle them if you have a Best Buy or Staples store nearby.
