USB 4 vs USB C: What’s the Difference

Introduction to USB 4 and USB C

What Is USB 4

USB 4 has only been around since 2019 and is the latest iteration of USB connector technology. It is an upgrade over previous technology, offering better port usage, faster transfers, and tunneling of DisplayPort and PCle to external devices. It also uses a Type-C connector and offers up to 40 Gbps of data transfer and 100 watts of power.

What Is USB C

USB C refers primarily to the physical design of the connector. The original USB connectors were USB Type-A and Type-B, but USB Type-C is better and faster than its predecessors. Plus, it offers more power than both Type-A and Type-B. The best thing about the USB-C connector is that it is reversible, which means it can be connected upside down, unlike other counter types like Type-A.

Thunderbolt 4 vs Thunderbolt 3 vs USB4: What’s the Difference?

USB 4 vs USB C

Is USB 4 the same as USB C? the USB 4 and USB C look similar, but the names refer to completely different technologies. To make you understand USB 4 vs USB C better, I will explain their difference from the following 5 aspects:

1. Cable type and specific version

The main and most obvious difference between USB 4 and USB C is that USB C is a type of USB cable, while USB 4 is a specific version of USB cable technology that deals with the capabilities and speed of USB cables.

Simply put, USB 4 0 is the latest version of USB in USB C cables.

2. Compatibility

USB 4 offers better compatibility than USB C because it supports backward compatibility with almost all USB technologies, including USB 2, USB 3, Thunderbolt 4, and more. And USB C is only compatible with USB 3 and USB 4.

3. Speed

USB C has a data transfer speed of up to 10Gbps. And USB4 has almost doubled, the data transmission speed of USB4 is 20-40Gbps, and the latest version of USB 4 2.0 is 80Gbps. So, we can say that USB 4 is better than USB C in terms of speed.

4. Power Supply

USB 4 charging power is better than USB C because of better cable technology. The power provided by USB 4 is 240W. On the other hand, USB C provides 100W of power, however, this can be increased to about 100W.

5. Versatility

The USB C connector is reversible, users don’t have to worry about the orientation of the connector. USB 4 only uses Type C connectors, it is not compatible with older connectors such as Type-A and Type-B.

Benchmark USB 4 and USB C Drives

After buying the USB 4 or USB C drives, I recommend you benchmark them on your computer to see whether they can run as fast as expected. To benchmark them, you can try MiniTool Partition Wizard. Its Benchmark feature enables you to obtain the USB speed information in a few clicks.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1: After downloading MiniTool Partition Wizard, launch this software and go to its main interface.

Step 2: Click on Disk Benchmark on the toolbar.

Step 3: Select the USB 4 or USB C drive and set parameters to test the drive performance.

Step 4: Click Start after the parameters are set. Then, wait for the finish of the testing process. When it ends, you will get the result. All the drive speeds including sequential reading/ writing and random reading/writing speed will be shown in a table format.

Thunderbolt 3 vs USB C: Look the Same But Differ Greatly

This post introduces USB C and Thunderbolt 3 interfaces in detail. After reading this post, you can know the difference between them.

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Bottom Line

Does this post help you learn about USB 4 and USB C better? Do you have a different idea about this topic? If yes, you can give us feedback in the following comment zone.