Difference Between USB 2.0 & 3.0 Device

What type of USB hub are you currently using now, USB 2.0 or USB 3.0? In the digital market, we can find a lot of USB 3.0 devices and the popularity of USB 3.0 derives from its advantages over USB 2.0 in various aspects, such as very high data transfer rate, higher power availability, better power management, etc. Besides, the USB 3.0 devices can still work compatibly with USB 2.0 devices, hubs or other ports. When the PC users need more USB 3.0 ports than their PC or docking station provides, there is external USB 3.0 hub available. 

We know the updating of USB 3.0 from USB 2.0 is partly for the speed. Then how much faster is USB 3.0? Can it realize a great improvement if we upgrade our old USB 2.0 flash drives? Let’s have a further look at the difference between the two different USB hubs. 

In aspect of theoretical maximum signaling rate, USB 2.0 can provide a rate of 480 megabits per second, while USB 3.0 5 gigabits per second. In this way, USB 3.0 is theoretically faster than USB 2.0. But in reality, this standard just specifies the maximum data transfer rate via a USB port. USB drives will be obstructed by the speed of their flash memory. In the real world, the worst USB 3.0 drive was faster than the USB 2.0 drives, but only by a tiny bit. Or even some of the USB 3.0 drives are known to perform at similar speeds to USB 2.0 devices.

Then let's come to their price difference. Price is a huge factor that differentiates the USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. We can find a lot of USB 2.0 flash drives offered at very cheap price in the market, and maybe $10 is enough for getting a decent 2.0 flash drive of 8 GB USB. But for a USB 3.0 drive, we need to spend around $40. If you just need a small and cheap drive, USB 2.0 is enough. If you want a hard drive that is used frequently, and transfer speed is what you care much, choose a USB 3.0 drive. In general, the faster the USB device is, the more expensive their price will be. 

As a fantastic upgrade of USB 2.0, some types of USB devices are not that fast, such as USB mouse or USB 3.0 keyboard, with no improvement in input speed. Nevertheless, USB 3.0 will take place of USB 2.0 devices. Given the backwards compatibility, we can switch to USB 3.0 devices. But also, we can save dollars by just plugging USB 2.0 devices into USB 3.0 ports.