If you are about to buy a USB device then our advice is to buy a 3.0 (later we will explain why), while if you already have a device but do not know what kind of USB it is, do not worry! In this guide we will find out how to understand if a device is USB 3.0 or 2.0. You will simply need a PC and the completely free USB Device Tree Viewer software.
USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, what changes?
The main difference between USB 3.0 and 2.0 is certainly the speed; in fact, devices with USB 3.0 are 10 times faster than USB 2.0. A USB 3.0 device, in addition to a higher speed, ensures performance always at the top, provided that they are used on ports that can support this technology.
USB 3.0 device or USB 2.0
First download and start your USB Device Tree Viewer on your PC. Then connect the device to be examined to the PC through a USB 3.0 port; to identify a USB 3.0 port, simply look for the port marked with the following symbol:
In some cases, where the manufacturer may not have entered the appropriate symbology, you can instead find a blue USB port like this.
Once the device is connected to the appropriate port, the application will detect the entry and automatically select it.
Once the panel is open, you can scroll with the mouse until you reach the “Connection information V2” section. Just look at the appropriate sections USB 2.0 and USB 3.0: the word “yes” will appear corresponding to the type of your device, as in the example below where the type of device connected is USB 2.0.
The app, in addition to providing information on the type of USB, also offers other information about the device, such as the name of the manufacturer. Please note that sometimes the application may be wrong and report a different type from the real one, so it is useful to try more than once taking care to use the original data cable that accompanies the device. If you are connecting a USB drive do not use an extension cable even if it is USB 3.0, in fact, these could alter the result given by the software.