Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET
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Have a USB device near you? Look closely at the port -- do you see a color? It turns out that it actually means something. There's a standardized color scheme that communicates information about that device's capabilities.
Mind blown? If you never noticed this, you're not alone. Most USB devices work fine on any compatible port, but they may not be optimized for optimal performance. For example, if you've noticed a mouse seems to work better in one port over another, it's not in your head. One probably supports USB 3.0, and the other doesn't.
Also: Drawer full of USB cables? This tiny tester tells you which ones actually work as advertised
Despite the fact that they share a universal port shape, all USB-A and USB-C devices are not created equal, with potentially very different transfer speeds, power transfer, and generations on similar devices. Even two USB-C ports right next to each other on the same laptop could have very different capabilities when it comes to data transfer speed and power delivery.
Let's take a look at what they mean.
There are seven major color that indicate a device's generation and what kind of data transfer speeds you can expect. If you have a rare device with a color not listed here, let me know in the comments.
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