Have you ever noticed the colours on the connector of your USB stick or external hard drive? Yes, we’re not referring to the design or appearance, but rather that colour coding on the connector itself. It’s actually a way of telling whether your USB is 3.0, 2.0 or any of its various versions.
It’s worth noting that this is not a 100% reliable method, as some manufacturers do not follow it, but most do. It can sometimes be difficult to remember the technical specifications of all the gadgets we have at home or in the office, so any help is more than welcome. Therefore, you should take note of the following USB colour guide:
- If the connector is black, it will be a USB 2.0.
- If the connector is blue, it will be a USB 3.0.
- USB 3.1 devices have other colours, depending on the manufacturer.
It’s also worth briefly reviewing the formats. USB 2.0 allows data transfer speeds of up to 480 MB/s. It is suitable for most file types, but is not recommended for high-definition images or videos.
USB 3.0 offers speeds of up to 4.8 Gb/s – yes, that’s ten times faster than what we mentioned in the previous paragraph. So, if you work with very large files, this will be your preferred option.
Meanwhile, USB 3.1 and its different generations take data transfer speed a step further. However, some of the more advanced options (such as 3.2) are not compatible with many devices currently on the market.
In addition to colours, there are other “tricks” to distinguish whether a port is ready to support gadgets with different USB connection standards. For example, if you look at the port in question and it has the letters SS next to it, this stands for SuperSpeed, meaning it is compatible with USB 3.0. If you see SS+, this means it is designed for the speeds of USB 3.1.
How to recognise Gift Campaign USBs
USB drives and other gadgets with USB connections in Gift Campaign’s catalogue can be easily distinguished as either 2.0 or 3.0. They are specified in each model’s corresponding product sheet.
For example, if you are looking for a USB 3.0 flash drive to work with high-definition files, the Techmate model is an excellent option. It allows you to choose different capacities – from 4 to 128 GB.
Beyond flash drives, we also offer hubs, which are increasingly in demand given that the number of devices we use in our day-to-day lives is growing, especially now with remote working: mice, printers, external memory, mobile phones…
Remember also that all these gadgets can be customised. Since we are talking about colours, you can choose one that fits well with your corporate identity. In addition, they usually have surfaces that allow you to add logos or slogans that reinforce the message you want to convey in your promotional gift campaign.
Linking this with everything we’ve explained in this post, you can include in your campaign information about what each colour in a USB connector means. Bear in mind that this is the sort of detail usually known only to people with a strong understanding of hardware, and it often goes unnoticed by the average user. So they will certainly appreciate learning these aspects, which can be useful both in working life and in leisure time.
Now we’ll hand over to you. Were you already aware of this information? Does it help you choose a better promotional gift for your advertising campaign? If you have any questions or anything remains unclear, we can advise you at Gift Campaign. So go ahead—the comments section is all yours. We’re listening.