Rated Transfer Bandwidth

A large backup takes minutes or hours depending on what the cable is rated for.

Shielding Against Noise

Interference near power bricks and hubs is what causes dropouts mid transfer.

Short Runs Hold Signal

High speed standards get fragile with length, so a shorter cord is the safer pick.

Backward Compatible Ports

Older drives and laptops still need to negotiate down without a separate cable.

Powers While It Transfers

A bus powered drive has to charge and copy at the same time to finish the job.