Do I really need... USB 3.1?

What does it do?

It connects peripherals such as storage drives to PCS, carrying data and electrical power. USB 3.1 – officially known as USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) or ‘SS 10’ – is the latest incarnation of the USB interface standard, allowing datatransfer speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.

Why would I want it?

USB 3.1’s maximum speed is twice as fast as USB 3.0. That’s important for tasks like video editing that require huge amounts of data to be transferred in real time. In the past, hard drives couldn’t go any faster than USB 3.0, but today’s SSDS can. Plugging in a drive is also an easy way to upgrade a PC, and if you install Windows 10 on an external SSD (such as Samsung’s model pictured here) it’ll speed up just about ev everything – if the inte interface can do it jusjustice. There’s no advantage for other USB pe peripherals, such as printers.

What’s the catch?

None – it’s not even expensive – yet a lot of PCS still lack USB 3.1. Note that USB 3.1 is a standard for how the interface works, not which plugs it uses: some PCS have full-size USB Type-a sockets that offer USB 3.1 (a blue strip tells you it’s either 3.0 or 3.1, but doesn’t distinguish between the two), while others have the smaller Type-c socket. Some Type-c sockets also support even faster Thunderbolt standards, but you can’t tell without checking the specifications. Thunderbolt peripherals are more expensive, making USB 3.1 a better option for most users.

So can I do without it?

Yes, if you’re not planning any ambitious speed-critical work. But it may cause frustration when you want to add faster external storage later, and your PC can’t connect to it at full speed.