Micro usb is shite.

Full shite.

Anything is better than micro usb.

100% this.
One of my main criteria in looking for a new phone this year was the it had USB-C instead of micro. My last phone went through 4 sockets in 3 years and many more cables on top of that.

Shit the bed!

You are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and I claim my £5.

I never realised that connectors & fluff were such a big deal!

How much fluff are you people generating? And what type of clothes are you wearing to generate this much fluff?! 🙂

I have never once cleaned out a charging port, and have never had a charging port fail across a load of devices. The only one that is a bit glitchy is the Exposure Tracer rear light charging port but that’s because the inherent design of the light in that area isn’t great, not as a weakness of the connection itself.

I find USB C to be the best yet..
No issues with lack of friction here 😉
Using countless C devices with no problems (yet), my Macbook charges from it while also displaying on 3 screens via a DELL docking station thing and a conferance speaker, all from a single cable..
I was p1ssed when Apple removed the Magsafe. but now after using USB C and the possibilities it offers through a single interface, i’m not bothered anymore.

Nice to see the usual STW ‘I don’t have a problem therefore it doesn’t exist’ responses!

One thing that twists my melon is my Nintendo Swtich USB-C charger won’t charge my laptop. My laptop USB-C charger won’t charge the Switch. Now I need to take both with me (so I can game on business trips obvs) this stuff is supposed to be getting simpler not more complicated!

Yeah the pocket fluff thing is a pretty common problem with all small USB ports. I had it on my previous phone and I’m pretty careful with it.

I’ve got a little silicone stopper for my S10, I couldn’t afford to replace that if it goes wrong.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silicone-Cover-USB-Type-C-Port-Anti-Dust-Plug-Protector-For-Macbook-Smartphone-/282900447884

Magsafe was superb, wish that was still available. I’ve tried the USB magnet cables and they’re pretty good, but I’ve never found one that reliably did data and power.

fooman

Member
Nice to see the usual STW ‘I don’t have a problem therefore it doesn’t exist’ responses!

I don’t think anyone has said that. People have said they haven’t experienced a problem; it’s not the same thing as the problem not existing.

I agree that the port design on USB3 is better than the micro, dirt’s gonna dirt

however the differing standard for wattage etc is annoying – I have a Samsung work phone and my nokia personal phone doesn’t charge through the nokia charger, but the other way round is ok !! not great for reducing the impact on the environment

I have a Samsung work phone and my nokia personal phone doesn’t charge through the nokia charger, but the other way round is ok !! not great for reducing the impact on the environment

You are always going to get a new charging cable with a new phone, whatever cable it uses, so not sure where the environmental impact is ?

And for convenience, just use the Samsung charger for both.

Maybe the environmental impact would be less if you didn’t have a separate phone for work/personal ?

Micro USB does seem to have some fundamental flaws. Particularly with connections on older devices, which is a bit worrying since it’s routinely used to charge everything these days.

I’ve tried all the fluff-removal, googling other solutions, etc, but my phone will now only charge on a limited number of good quality cables, and often stops randomly. Bike light might be ready for the bin soon, as that’s down to one cable and only when balanced in a specific way.

Not personally had any issues with USB-C yet, but only been using it a couple of years.

One thing that twists my melon is my Nintendo Swtich USB-C charger won’t charge my laptop. My laptop USB-C charger won’t charge the Switch.

Although obviously this has nothing to do with USB-C and everything to do with the actual charging [power] requirements of your laptop and the Switch.

Although obviously this has nothing to do with USB-C and everything to do with the actual charging [power] requirements of your laptop and the Switch.

But it was somehow better and more convenient before USB C when they would still have had two different chargers. 🤔

sharkbait

Although obviously this has nothing to do with USB-C and everything to do with the actual charging [power] requirements of your laptop and the Switch.

Seems unlikely a laptop would need less power than a Switch to charge.

The laptop charger probably supplies more amps than the switch can/will handle… So the switch doesn’t charge.
Similarly the switch charger probably doesn’t have thought per to charge the laptop…. It out does just quite slowly.
I can slowly charge my Pixelbook with my OnePlus dash charger but the Pixelbook charger does not charge my phone at full speed.

Back in the day laptop chargers would have had a different (dedicated) port but now many of them use usb-c and people think that just because the port is the same then the cheers are interchangeable when they’re not.

sharkbait

Member
The laptop charger probably supplies more amps than the switch can/will handle… So the switch doesn’t charge.

The power is negotiated by the devices on either end, it will never deliver more than the device connected can handle. Assuming the both ends implement the same parts of the spec, anyway. E.g. not all devices understand the new USBPD spec.

The Switch doesn’t implement usb power delivery standards, so isn’t really usb despite using the connector.

Micro USB was the agreed standard. Well, until Apple decided it didn’t like the agreement. Then a new standard was made. Which they didn’t like either.

It’s all Apples fault.

Apple had nothing to do with Micro USB standards, but was involved with the development of USB-C; however, USB-C is an open protocol which manufacturers are able to implement in whichever way suits them, hence the lack of compatibility between cables and devices.
Part of the problem with USB-C is that the plugs are hollow, so vulnerable to lint and fluff being packed inside the plug.
Apple’s own Lightning plug, being a flat spade with contacts on either external side is similarly vulnerable, but only in the socket, which is relatively easy to clean out with a toothpick.
Certainly Lightning is pretty robust, my iP6+ only suffered from connecting issues a couple of times over five years, and my iPad Pro none at all in the two years I’ve had it.

USB C ports on phones are dirt traps.

Mines working OK now after digging out some compressed muck, but it’s not immediately visible, it’s only when you get brutal with a safety pin that you can gouge it out. An then you obviously risk damage to the contacts.

A magnetic contact without socket /plug would be better! But I guess apple will sue the crap out of anyone that tired that.

sharkbait

Member

The laptop charger probably supplies more amps than the switch can/will handle… So the switch doesn’t charge.

That’s not how it works, a good way to think of it is that a power source basically pushes/dictates the voltage, but the device pulls/dictates the current. So stick a 12V charger into a 6V device and it’s trouble, stick a 6V charger into a 12V device and it likely won’t charge… But the only thing a power supply can do, is fail to provide the demanded amps, it can’t send too many.

Welllll. There is one exception… Badly designed circuits might have the capacity to draw more current than they can handle, but “protect” against this by making sure the power supply tops out first. But that’s pretty unlikely in small electronics

My USBC is a real dirt trap. Charging is a 50/50 affair at best. To be faircI do worknin a dusty environment and oftern get sawdust in my pockets!

Anyway, this thread has encouraged me to buy a silicone dust plug

I’ve had 2 phones with USB-C now. The first one did sometimes get pocket fluff compressed to stop charging sometimes, but this happened with micro USB sometimes, too.

If the plug isn’t staying in the socket, it is probably because of fluff. I’ve used a sharp needle to get it out, not sure a paperclip would work too well.

My current phone is waterproof, the grommet keeps fluff as well as water out. Job jobbed.

A magnetic contact without socket /plug would be better! But I guess apple will sue the crap out of anyone that tired that.

Dunno about that – MS have magnetic power/dock connectors on their Surface Pro, although quite different to the Apple one.

a silicone dust plug

Damn you, autocorrect.

Are USB-C holes harder to clean than Apple lightning devices? I just pulled enough fluff to make a duvet from my iPhone and it was very satisfying.