Micro-USB vs. USB-B
Comparing 2 standards across 5 specifications. 4 key differences identified.
Micro-USB (Micro-B) was the dominant charging and data connector on non-Apple smartphones and small electronics from the late 2000s through the mid-2010s. Its USB 3.0 variant added a second, wider tab beside the standard 5-pin plug for extra SuperSpeed pins -- a design most phone makers skipped, keeping plain USB 2.0 Micro-B nearly universal in practice.
USB-B (Standard-B) is the squarish connector historically used on printers, scanners, and external hard drives -- the peripheral-side counterpart to USB-A. A 9-pin SuperSpeed variant with a distinctive stacked upper tab was added for USB 3.0, though USB-C has since displaced Standard-B in most new peripheral designs.
Specification Comparison Table
5 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Pin Count
|
5 (USB 2.0) or 10 (USB 3.0, wider stepped shape) | 4 (USB 1.x/2.0) or 9 (USB 3.0+, stacked SuperSpeed tab) |
|
Standard Base Dimensions
|
~6.85 x 1.8 mm | ~11.1 x 7.0 mm |
|
Reversible
|
No | No |
|
Status
|
Largely superseded by USB-C | — |
|
Typical Role
|
— | Peripheral-side port (printers, scanners, external drives) |