N/A: Thinking about USB cables

FORANE

FORANE

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In the tradition of thinking about threads...
USB cables are evolving. USB A, B, C, mini, micro, lightning, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4.0, passive, active, USB-IF certification... Who can make sense of all this? I'm feeling like the old man who needs a get off my lawn emoji.

It seems USB C is going to be the new standard and the USB A to USB other connector is going away. To add to this I read some USB cables are just charging cables and some are data transfer cables.

I started looking for a USB A to USB C cable for charging my Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 with a spare car charger in my old plane. The new one is down for maintenance so I'm riding in the old one for a bit. So, I started researching what cable to buy after discovering all I cave in the closet stash are old obsolete USB A to mini, micro, etc.

Should I just get all new USB C chargers and USB C to USB C cables and transition today?
I know USB chargers can be a source of radio noise, but has anyone ever had radio noise from a USB cable?
Should I just get one USB A to USB C cable and call it good because it wont be long before they have USB D?
 
More important than the plug type is the charging standard, e.g Qualcomm 3.0, Power Delivery, etc. All chargers will charge all devices slowly, but for fast charging (or even to keep up with the drain) it needs to be compatible. Most newer devices use PD. IIRC Qualcomm works on USB-A but PD needs USB-C at both ends. A lot of chargers now have one USB-A socket supporting QC and one USB-C for PD. I think USB-C will be with us for a long time as it's now mandated for new devices in Europe.

For the plane and the car I buy cables that are exactly long enough, with angled ends of needed to keep them out of the way, those in the plane or car.
 
FORANE said:
USB A, B, C, mini, micro, lightning,
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All those are coalescing into C. Apple hasn't made any new Lightning devices in a while.
FORANE said:
2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4.0
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Backwards compatible with each other for the most part.
FORANE said:
passive, active
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Mainly a factor for distance. Some cables are electronically marked, but some may not consider an e-mark to be active. (cables not e-marked are limited to 3A/65W).
FORANE said:
To add to this I read some USB cables are just charging cables and some are data transfer cables.
Click to expand...
Mainly differentiated by how many wires they cut for costs.
FORANE said:
Should I just get all new USB C chargers and USB C to USB C cables and transition today?
Click to expand...
Sure, if you're feeling spendy.
FORANE said:
Should I just get one USB A to USB C cable and call it good because it wont be long before they have USB D?
Click to expand...
I think C is going to be with us for quite a while.
 
I purchased from Amazon a female lightning ((Apple) connector to a male USB-C adapter for use in our car, for when my wife and I are traveling together in the car. My iPhone is older, requires the lightning plug. Hers is au courant, requires the USB-C.

It is a good work-around until my phone needs to be renewed.

-Skip
 
Thunderbolt cables solve the data transfer and fast charge capacity problems.
 
Stewartb said:
Thunderbolt cables solve the data transfer and fast charge capacity problems.
Click to expand...
The downside to that is that those are 5A cables: thicker, less bendy and the e-marker is another potential failure point. Not what you want for everyday carry.
 
I carry my Surface Pro, 140w charge cube, and a Sidetrac monitor every day and they require good cables. No problem. For a phone? I have MagSafe chargers in my vehicles and around the house. No cables required.
 
To cover all my bases, my suitcase has been stocked with a USB C charger, USB A to C and C to C cables, and little adapters for C to micro and C to Lightning. That covers everything I have, whether there's AC available or just a USB-A charging socket. I very rarely need the adapters and A to C cable any more.
 
I've taken tested all my cords to determine what standard they support. And on USB A to USB C, I tested to ensure they'd not allow a newer device to draw too much current (fire hazard). I then labeled the cords with the proper USB standard it supports.

Also, some cables, regardless of what connectors they have, are for powering up non-smart devices (lights, fans and such). It can be frustrating to grab the wrong cable when you're trying to connect your SSD or crypto wallet to your laptop only to learn the cable doesn't support data transfer.

Treedix USB Cable Tester with 2.4" Color Screen for eMarker Reading, PD 3.0/3.1 Detection, Resistor and Continuity Check, Compatible with Lightning, Type-C, Micro-B 2.0/3.0, and Mini-B Cables: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Treedix USB Cable Tester with 2.4" Color Screen for eMarker Reading, PD 3.0/3.1 Detection, Resistor and Continuity Check, Compatible with Lightning, Type-C, Micro-B 2.0/3.0, and Mini-B Cables: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
a.co
 
That’s the challenge of devising one cable standard to rule them all. Either every single cable has to be able to handle every protocol and power level, which would make each cable $50, or you have cables with different capabilities that look identical and utter confusion as to what cable can do what and why is this thing not working?!

The USB consortium has some of the worst naming track history in a crowded field. They are the only tech group I can think of that literally ret-conned their naming standards. Take a look if you want to see a history of moronic naming decisions.

www.sameskydevices.com

The History of USB Standards from 1.0 to USB4 | Same Sky

The term USB is short for Universal Serial Bus. A “bus” is a circuit connection used to transfer data or power between components in an electronic system. A “serial” bus transmits data one bit at a time over a single wire. USB is an engineering standard that establishes...
www.sameskydevices.com www.sameskydevices.com
 
I'm getting tired of misplacing both of my LIghtspeed Delta Zulu cables. It has a weird proprietary cable. It came with one but I knew I'd lose it or it would fail so I bought a spare. I can't find the original and it just took me about 30 minutes to find the spare. Why couldn't they just use a standard usb-c cable? I guess I'll buy a couple more spares.
 
blame steve jobs for multiple chargers. idiotic
 
It's gotten to the point where if a device I'm looking at has an oddball proprietary connector, I look for something else. It's not a total show-stopper, but if it's not USB-C there's a really, really good chance I'm simply not buying it. And that coming from a guy with a shelf full of USB A to bloody near everything cables.
 
Any new charger I buy going forward will probably be USB-C but I'm not going to throw away perfectly good USB-A chargers- especially the expensive certified one in my plane's panel just to have the latest thing. USB-A to C cables are perfectly fine for typical phone/tablet charging.

One really cool thing about the USB-C standard is it allows for higher powered devices like laptops. The smaller chargers intended for phones/tablets won't charge a laptop but you can use the laptop chargers on your phone/tablet. I have a big charger by our bed that has the higher output port and I use it for my laptop or phone or whatever interchangeably. I've also gone on a few trips where I've only used my laptop charger for everything. It's a really handy feature built into the type C spec. Basically it defaults to 5v like regular USB but a higher demand device can communicate to a compatible charger that it wants more voltage and it will be stepped up.

My cable/charger strategy for years now is just to have a charger and cable everywhere I might need one- by my bed, by my computer, in every vehicle, and a charger in my travel bag. I don't move them around or hunt for anything- they're just wherever I need them.
 
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