Micro USB vs. Mini USB

Main Difference

Transferring of data from one place to another has become an integral action of our lives with the advancements in the world of cell phones and computers. The best way of moving your pictures, videos and other documents from one place to another is through the USB, which is known as Universal Serial Bus. It is a device which allows the communication between two different devices one of which is a computer. It also can be attached to different other hardware such as a mouse, keyboard, printer and media devices. Over the years, USBs have developed in a big way and from a small space of 128 MB, not they are available in the memory of 64 GB in some cases. The initial sizes were bigger too but over time, they have decreased as well and therefore two types of them are available which are known as Mini USB and Micro USB. They have some differences between each other which will be discussed here. Usually, when we have a cell phone data cable we notice there are two ends of the wire one with a smaller face and one with a larger face, these are actually the micro and mini USB respectively. Both of these have five different pins which help in connection, but the ID pin which is available in the micro USB does not exist in the mini USB. The Mini USB can work up to 5000 cycles while a micro USB has double the capacity and has 10 thousand life cycles. In the future though micro USB will take precedence over the mini USB because of the changing sizes of the cell phones and the requirement of more space. Most of the companies have decided that they will abolish the use of mini USB in the future.

Difference Between Micro USB and Mini USB

Comparison Chart

Definition of Mini USB

It is the newer version of the USB which was introduced in the market with high expectations since it had a broad range of features and could be connected to different devices including phones, tablets and computers. It was introduced in 2007 while taking into consideration the modern needs. But the thing which went against it was the life cycle of 5000 and therefore it was not able to gain the applaud it was destined to. Mini USB has one slight drawback that it can only perform one function at a time, either charging or data transfer this is due to the lack of the ID pin. Its use has been decreasing day by day, and it is expected that sooner it will be abolished.

Definition of Micro USB

It was the improvement in the second generation of USB design and had a high life cycle of 10000 because of which it was able to work more efficiently. One advantage it has is the ID pin because of which it can perform multiple tasks at one time instead of just doing one activity. It came on the market as early as 2000 but did not gain instant success. Slowly it made its mark and now is considered the standard of data transferring in different appliances. Most of the companies have moved towards this design for their data cables and soon they will be the only one left in the market.

Conclusion

Taking data from one place to another can be a lot of trouble, how to do that depends on the type of USB device you have. This article looks at the different types of these devices and how they are used. All in all, the article covers all the information and related details that will help to develop a clear understanding of the differences between the two.