Micro-USB
USB · 4 specs
Direct Answer
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.
Source: USB-IF · Last reviewed Aug 28, 2026
Specs
| Pin Count | 5 (USB 2.0) or 10 (USB 3.0, wider stepped shape) |
| Standard Base Dimensions | ~6.85 x 1.8 mm |
| Reversible | No |
| Status | Largely superseded by USB-C |
Nearly Universal, Then Nearly Gone
Micro-USB became the de facto standard charging connector across Android phones, cameras, and countless small electronics through the early-to-mid 2010s, well before any legal mandate required it -- an early voluntary industry memorandum among most phone makers (notably excluding Apple) had already pushed the market toward a single common connector years before USB-C's later, legally-binding mandate replaced it.
The USB 3.0 Micro-B connector, with its extra wide tab of SuperSpeed pins, was mechanically awkward and rarely adopted outside a handful of external hard drives -- most devices needing Micro-USB simply stayed on the plain 5-pin USB 2.0 shape for the connector's entire lifespan.