@@JeffreyGrovesHow so? These were both problems that needed to be addressed before any legislation, and industry still has not solved it, hence why legislation is going to force industry to move in a consumer-friendly direction. It is unfortunate, because that same legislation can end up holding things back down the road, but since industry won’t play nice or take a consumer-first attitude, we’re stuck with the only remaining option.
Honestly I don't mind the fact that each cable can't charge everything, BUT I do think there should be regulation on cable labelling, so it's easy to find the one you need for each device. For example, USB-C cables should always be labelled with the USB version and charging capabilities, and also any thunderbolt compatibility (which makes things even more complicated by using the same connector). This should apply to version/capability labelling on other cables too, such as HDMI, DisplayPort, Ethernet etc. These all used to be good for actually being labelled on the cable themselves, but seems to have gotten worse since braided cables became more popular!
I don't want the USB version, I want the speed. And the wattage, and the voltage. I've watched so many videos and read websites that explain that whole USB bullshittery and still can't remember everything important. This won't help average consumers at all. Thunderbolt could eliminate those informations, cause as far as I know there are only 3 Thunderbolt versions in everyday use, soon 4, and they are very well regulated, so you can basically look up what version can do what, and its dead easy to learn. Basically what that USB-C stuff should have been like.
usb 3 are supposed to be blue (well the traditional usb 3.0) usb-c as far know is usb 3.2 only (i might be wrong) the dude on the video is right, even so, he misses the usb shielding vs unshielded usb wires
Have you ever seen the usb standard that the device supports in a manual? If you do find it, is the information accurate? Most manuals are full of legal nonsense, and zero useful information.
Oh so young, I love it. Read up on pre-USB serial, where you had to set everything from the baud to the number of bits and other details, often using physical jumpers (on at least one end). Oh and cables could be wired in multiple different ways (usually straight or crossover, but there were a few other variations) without any labeling.
What drives me crazy is that cheap USB-C devices do not charge at all with a high quality USB-C-PD charger and cable. Only with a cheap USB-A charger and A-C cable.
Yes because they are missing a single resistor that asks the charger to produce 5 volts. Such a disaster. The USB-A chargers by default produce 5 volts.
I got an "new" electronic mini screwdriver and for some reason, only charges with the included USB C cable. I got tons of cables with a good amount over 5+ years and none of them worked. I can only guess the included cable works on a very low USB standard, beyond just a missing pin.
Excellent video with lots of detail! Thank you for this wonderful video! I replace all my USB A wall chargers with USB C chargers a few months ago. My 10,000mAh power bank wouldn't charge any more and it has a USB C connector for charging and I thought it went bad. Thanks to the people in the comment section, I found out that it will only charge with a USB A wall charger and a USB A to C cable. I have it charging now.
All USB cables should be marked with a maximum current rating which keeps it within the USB voltage drop specification. Not a perfect solution, but definitely the simplest one.
You cannot rely on the "large label" wattage on those chargers. The fine print usually will specify that different ports can supply different amounts, and only if you use the correct combination of ports can you reach the full labeled wattage. USB-C is phenomenally complex trying to mix and match chargers, cables and devices.
Then comes the sockets on say a laptop, all look the same, however some do PD (power delivery) some do video etc etc, a right mess. Pair this with a non marked cable and best of luck getting everything working.
Supposedly, anyone wanting to license the use of the official USB logo on their cable needs to pass compliance testing via USB-IF. I have to admit, though, I haven't seen an official USB logo on a USB-C cable in ages. I can't recall the last time or if ever. :shrug:
Yes, cable labels would be nice, but usb C-PD is far better than the A-to-micro-B cables, which most phones and tablets used 10 years ago. Both the AC adapters and the cables were a complete crapshoot.
Depends how you look at it. They were guarntied to deliver 5V +/- 10% with 0.5 Amps guarantied with sometimes 1A or more. But within that 5V spec, everything could just charge. And then you had charging or data cables, thin means no data, mid means data and thick.... still the same in most cases when from normal brands. Others are just more rigid. If you look in the connector, most have 4 and some 2 wires. Last type means only charging, 4 can mean charge-only or maybe also data. Data-transfers working up to 7 meters almost all, better cables up to 15 meters. Now you get things that don't even charge because there is no data-wire connected so not even giving 5Volts.
It is important to remember that the "USB=C" law is not about USB-C but about inter compatibility to reduce waste. They chose USB-C as it is the de facto standard and supports multiple devices and needs but the law is flexible and will change with technologies (they are currently looking on wireless charging). The current specifications do require labeling of chargers but not cable. That said, this can be changed and even the law states that "It is also necessary to reflect future amendments to labelling requirements, such as for charging devices or cables, or other technological". The Eu enables anyone to comment and suggest amendments on existing laws so if you think it should be amended you can suggest that. Personalty I think that better labeling is important but I disagree with the claim that the lack of it will make things worst, as that was the case up until now and the law only improved things, even if not all of them, so it will be much better but it can be improved. There are cable manufacturers that add info on the cables and when you buy one make sure to look for buy one that suites your needs.
true most of the probles were already in USB-micro era. USB-C just add problems with wattage and speed. manufactures add specs on package but no cable itself so if you dont know that all your cables of brand A have those and all brand B have those you have problem ☹
Some devices can't be charged with an usb cable with 2 c type connectors. Probably those devices, usually simple devices like a light, don't send a signal to the charger to request the correct voltage. Those people need to have a simple charger with usb-a and the cable.
This is actually a really simple issue on the device, they are missing two required 5.1k pull-down resistors. USB-A to USB-C cables provide power at all times, so they work regardless
there is no need for voltage negotiation because charge expect that all is 5V device until it tells it wants more. simple devices (and pre PD devices) dont even try. you just need some current so charge know you connected something
There is another problem with USB charging. Like the vacuum cleaner you have there is no advanced charging circuit inside so no communication with the charger. There are chargers that won't even give 5v if there is no communication between the device and charger.
I have bought several usb-c cables from IKEA recently, and they have tags with the max voltage/current listed on them. They have 100W cables, which is perfect for high powered devices.
I see that tester, I instantly want to buy it, because we all own so many damn USB-C cables these days that a specialized tester is absolutely worth it 😂
So instead of different (but easily recognizable) connectors, we end up with different cables that all look the same, requiring a tester to find a suitable one. Yeah, that's progress...
I had this problem not so long ago, I went looking for a high power charging cable, but every cable I saw didn't have enough info on the packet to let me know if they were suitable. I also wonder about the longevity of USB-C, there is a lot of small pins in that connector, with a requirement to carry up to 5A. Small pins and lots of amps equals trouble.
And then you discover there are 100W-0 Data / 100W-480Mbit Data / 100W-10Gb / 100W-20Gb / 100W-40Gb. And that is ignoring the Thunderbolt standard! If you but the 100W-0 and then plug in a PD hub/dock you will be annoyed. If you buy the 100W-40Gb you will be broke. The problem is as described - cabling is a pain.
@@ptamog "just 2.0" cable is either has other connector be 2.0(e.g. type A, mini-AB) or non-compliant. Same goes to "only charging", except they are only non-compliant.
@@uis246 C to C cable can also only have the classic 2.0 data lane and not the aditional high speed lanes used in 3.0 and onwards. C is just the conector. DP runs on the high speed lanes.
Feels like the videos on this channel really should be labelled as commercials / that Quiescent Current should be clear/open about any association he has with the product. (Which does seem quite nice)
surely alk usb cables and chargers should charge everything? not necessarily at the same current, but at least charge at some level? you can with standard usb psus and fully wired cables
You’re certainly right…! This seems harder than e.g. food or even pharmaceuticals (labeling and checks), because there are hardly any manufacturers of cables, chargers nor devices (caveats for the latter) within Europe (EU, EEA, UK). For electronic parts, even less so? Except high-end devices, branding and manufacturing are quite obfuscated. A brand doesn’t necessarily equal a manufacturer, as plants produce by tendering for any brand. So, will every EEA country need to check imports before they hit the common market? Meaning a revival of all the separate national «agencies» we had 40 years ago? This scaled well some decades ago, as the «early EU» had tech manufacturing inside the area (as we have for e.g. food and medicals). But now, when the supply lines are all «third country», I have no idea how this needs to be implemented. Importers «checking themselves» sounds like the proverbial Boeing-FAA dynamic. Who will watch the watchers, and what will the street price for _actually good_ USB-C equipment be…? 😅
I have had terrible results with the USB -C connectors on phones. Work fine for a while but deteriorate in regular use, as well as constantly getting dirt inside. Really hate them.
I don't expect or want all cables to need the USB IF certification, but some sort of labeling would maybe be nice, albeit difficult. Problem with USB IF is that they're more conservative about allowing devices into the standard. Some devices cannot be certified, but *are* very useful: - USB a male to USB c female? USB C female to USB micro male? Spec violation. Safe when used carefully - multi-port USB C chargers with shared capacity? Nope. Wild West on how to renegotiate new power requirements
I would point out that I'm trying to clean things up at end of year. What can I say all the USB standards have this problem. I slow charging non-usb c cables and faster ones from the same dumb charging point. Most of the USB-C cabling I have is A to C and I'm just starting the C-C to journey and ran head long into this mess. Nothing has changed except instead of having a device + cable + brick that are certified we are now requiring the user to guess the fuel and by the wheels+tires for their car with no guidance. Also not things like laptop power bricks come with attached cord - annoying when breaks but no data requirement and hence way cheaper.
So if EU mandates USB-C standard, does it also say what the standard actually mean? Or do I / we / manufacturers need to go to USB-IF and pay for the actual standard? If government/EU mandates something, that something should be freely accessible in my opinion. Recently, there was similar problem/discussion in my country (EU member) about ISO standards. The law mandates something, but does not say exactly what, it is referring to some ISO standard number instead. And those standards cost about 200 CHF/EUR/USD per piece.
A solution might be to have devices that all know how to read the emarker chip and otherwise identify cables actually, you know, tell the user. At least for smartphones, tell me what the device is capable of, the cable, and the charger, and what was ultimately negotiated.
@@liquidsonly are talking about that box in this video or in general? Because if you plug cable to phone you see only "charging" or "fast charging" but you know nothing about cable+charger and what V+A are used
The information to consumers about charging has always been poor and I don't really understand why. Consumers simply haven't been exposed to this information outside of marketing claims that are often misleading like "120 W ultra fast charging*" and several pages down in tiny 10 point font will be the useless phrase "*with a compatible charger" . Manufacturers have a bad habit of not advertising the power specifications of USB C devices, when you have bought the product and have it in hand often it will have that output voltage list as required on chargers but it's often difficult to find that out before buying and many downstream devices will have absolutely no information anywhere on what standard, voltage or current it uses. And also almost no phone or laptops will report to you the watts, amps or volts unless you install third party software. Even when using first party chargers and cables it's difficult to know what will work and if it does, how much power will be transferred. Another issue I've seen is when you have a charger that's 90 W and a device that requires 30 W, consumers will think they're compatible, after all that's how the standard was first envisioned to work. But when they try to use it, it won't work because the device requires 30 W at *12 V* which is often an excluded output voltage as it's not required, USB PD 2.0 only requires 5, 9, 15 and 20 V above 45 W. 12 V is an optional voltage but is actually very common on devices, particularly those that transitioned their design from a 12 V barrel jack to a USB C connector. Designers have to be aware 15 V is the new common voltage and support for 12 V is poor. Considering how regularly I see designers screwing up and combining the two 5.1 k resistors on the CC1/CC2 pins I have no hope designers will know to design for 15 V, not 12 V. Furthermore I will be interested to see what sort of laptops or phones will make use of the USB PD PPS standard, it's been around for a while now on upstream devices but downstream devices that take advantage of it don't really get any advantages unless they support ONLY PPS which would allow them to greatly simplify charging circuity, but then won't be compatible with any charger that doesn't have PPS. Don't think I've ever seen a consumer device that actually uses PPS to remove the on-board charger to date.
The EU is like old people who don’t understand technology. The port was never a problem. All USB chargers were the same with a type A port. It was the cable that was different. And I still have four different types of cables at home, plus USB C to Lightning for my iPhone. We will ways need different cables for the foreseeable future.
@ they initially said there were too many chargers ending up as electronic waste. Earlier cell phones had proprietary chargers and connectors. Apple always used USB chargers. You could use any USB charger as long as you had the correct cable. And that’s true of many USB devices. My laser printer has a USB B connector. My Bluetooth headphones have a mini USB. I have more USB A and mini devices than C. Do we throw all these devices out? No. Just buy a matching cable. None of this stopped chargers from ending up as e waste. Now you need extra cables. My iPhone 14 came with a USB-C to Lightning cable. I don’t own a single charger with USB-C, so I had to buy an adapter. I have 5 USB-A chargers. So what do you do with those? Throw them out? See what I’m saying? This solves nothing. And Apple holds the patent on the USB-C connector. 😁
To be fair, look at the bigger picture: At least finally every device (the expensive part of the game) has an USB-C Port, even the manager toys from cupertino despite all lobbying. A Cable (100W-10Gbit as standard for my laptop and mobile phone, A->C with 15W for phone+tablet charging over night) is easy to buy. Chargers support 120W with several C and A Ports, only to be bought once or reused/inheritet if you have some chargers already coming with your phone. My Lenovo even charges with my phone charger, not that fast of course, but it works. So the goal of one standardized Port is achieved, not a beautiful solution, but works fine for technically impaired people like Gen Z and Boomers. If someone had standardized the barrel plugs (3mm= 5V 4,5mm=9V 6mm=12V 8mm=20V 11mm=48V) with positive center 40 years ago, all these problems wouldn't be there or the standardization by the EU would have been easier, but here we go, USB-C is the lowest commen denominator.
…meanwhile, the search for consumers who’ve discarded a piece of electronics because it had a different charge port to all their other devices continues…
That already happened with previous standard cables. It's sad that there's many "experts" working on these standards and regulations, yet they're not interested enough to create standards for something this basic. I can't avoid feeling it's intentional. It's nice to be able to purchase cheap cables but it's sad that we can't be sure we're getting what's advertised without a piece of equipment like yours, to test them.
i have a barrel plug on the pinebook pro and it's way more comfortable to plug in and out. barrel plugs with 3 different sizes for 5v, 9v and 20v, combined with some very fast wireless data transfer is all we ever needed, instead we have this convoluted standard.
In retail you can just decide what junk you keep having or become a bit European again (near the chargers specs.) People can give it back and so on, if it was sold for something and it doesn't work. We buy Chinese products regardless and some of my best USB-A to USB-C data cables are Chinese. Maybe an all-out EU setup doesn't work for my adventure. It was terrible to power up my Raspberry Pi 3's - I ended up buying chargers and did DIY (Micro-USB) to get 3A/5V so it's not easy to have full control or something like that. Maybe it will come. Power banks also come into this. Many just can't do what we hope.
If EU (or other government entities) cracks down those "unauthorized" USB-C cables, people may start complaining they are giving USB-IF free money for that.
The problem is a bit worse. EU communicates how this will make chargers and cables universal. Plenty of people celebrate this, mostly based on this promise. I doubt that a 15W charger would be effective for a laptop that needs 150W power. We don't have universal chargers now. Stanrdised connector doesn't mean universal charging. It is the smaller problem. The even worse problem with the illusion of compatibility are far worse. Previously, under anothter of your videos, I have commented how otherwise unsupported adapters can be made as USB Hubs with only 2 exposed ports, otherwise unsupported extension cables can be seen as a cable and an USB HUB combined. Yet we almost never see those safe designs, but we see plenty of hazardous non-compliant cables. We seen how some non-compliant designs can pose a safety risk. Non-compliant devices are common. When people believe in "universal" nature of USB-C charging, they might just connect their devices to these non-compliant cables in an unsafe configuration. It is a potential fire hazard. How EU made a connector mandatory but neglected to make some regulations to keep it safe is a problem from this side only. A charging only cable is unsupported, and not compliant with all the standards, but it is a safe deviation. USB even if it comes with Power Delivery option, it is designed as a "serial bus" to attach peripherials. An USB cable or the charger itself might have "hidden surprises". We have seen cables that might emulate keyboards. A charging head with an USB hub and many devices inside can be even worse. Cybersecurity wise USB wasn't designed for "sharing your chargers and cables" as it can pose a security risk. If you want a shared connector standard, it should be possible to work with the industry and design it from ground up with this purpose in mind. But it would be better if we could see a difference between a charging only cable, and a potentially dangerous one by looking at the connector. Designing an improved standard that would be safe and secure can be better than adapting an existing one. Also if you see transit on many vehicles there are USB A ports for charging. You might need both A to C and C to C cables now.
I had to buy a usb 2/3/C tester so now I know which are purely 5v power, which are usb 2.0 only, which are usb3 only and which have full pin connectivity. I'd been buying USB C connector cables and getting only usb2.0 connectivity.
My mother bought a cheap smartphone that can only be charged with the USB-C cable that came with the phone as they have switched pins on that cable or something like this. Tried out all different cables including my good 240W Thunderbolt cables. Nothing works except their own branded USB-C charger cable. While not including any cable parameters into the law was a clear failure, do you think they could have done it in a way that would have worked out for everyone? I mean, even the USB Implementers Forum is confused by their speed/feature naming which is the reason why USB 3.0 now is USB 3.1 Gen 1. Plus they basically advise manufacturers not to use these names at all and instead use the actual max speed to avoid confusion (and this still does not include PD levels and connected pins).
With all this mess, more waste will be generated. We still use usb-a charges along with usb-c, also we still use non usb-c(on end, like lightning, microusb, mini usb, usb type b devices other end might or might not be usb-c). Why you need over complicated circuits on a cheap low power device? Some even dont use 5w to work. Now when I am sending some electronic device to some of my friends I am sending usb-c to usb-c and usb-a to usb-c cables, just to be sure they have the right psu…Until every device moves to usb-c there will be a new standard and all this e-waste will be thrown away again…
A premium USB C cable will work for all devices, I bought a 100W USB C cable and it works for my Galaxy phone, my powerstation, and PCs This is perceived problem pales against the many benefits of standardizing USB C.
no, there are many devices with USB-C charging port that require a USB-A to C cable to charge and won't work with a C to C cable. That's because they cheaped out on two 5k1 resistors that are needed to signal a USB-C Host port to apply 5V.
But what is the solution? There isn't much room for a label. It would need to be something like resistor code stripes - Then a complex table to decode the meaning of the stripes. As with resistors, many people would simply opt to measure the value instead. Perhaps a tiny QR code or RFID but that requires a device to decode; might as well use said device to read the cable directly.
I don’t think it has hurt in a meaningful way. A few extra cables are being tossed earlier than necessary, sure, but with new devices typically coming with a new cable anyway, just as often either that new cable went unused or an old one got tossed. But going forward, it should help. My laptop bag is down to one USB C battery, a pair of USB C cables, a USB C PD power supply, and the Lenovo “square” power brick/connector. That’s a step forward from having to carry USB C, USB micro, USB mini, Lightning, some duplicates for USB A and USB C on the other end. Even with the USB C variations, possible pins, and voltage/wattage limits, the reality is most of the time most consumers can just grab the right length of cable and get something that works. Maybe not to the fullest capability, but that’s better than simply not fitting at all. Short term, there are some cables getting tossed, sure. I’m ready to dump all but one Lightning, although I haven’t yet. But I’ll get them into the hands of someone that can use them.
Hi, I have a question. I have a USB 3 portable HDD and a USB C OTG compatible phone. With this limited information, are you able to give me any advice on whether the cable listed on Amazon as USB C Cable 3.3ft, USB A to USB C Cable USB 3.1 USB 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps Data Charger Cord for Samsung Galaxy S24 S23 S22 S21 S20 S10 S9 S8, Note 20, A80 A70 A50 and iPhone 15/15 Pro, Nylon Braided, 2 Pack will suit my needs? I've watched your other videos about the various unsupported types of cables and adapters out there, so I wonder if this type of cable is supported or not. Also, I would love a USB OTG explainervideo from you. Your videos are so informative and easy to learn from. Thank you!
You can still buy one cable that do everything. You know have that option, thanks to this new regulation. And, of course, being new, isn’t perfect. It will evolve, and become even better. But right now, it’s just WOUNDERFULL to get one cable to do everything. Even if you have more than one cable (like one for PC and another for phone and gadgets) that FAR BETTER than the alternative just 3 years ago. So… saying this law is useless is, by itself, useless…
People are so difficult to satisfy these days. All you people are so lucky that atleast your government made a conector a standard conector . Here in India every thing has its own proprietory conector. The amount of cables and and charger we are dealing with, you have no idea... Standardizing a conector is a step. Now Standardizing cable should be the next logical step. But ya'll could do your part and read the damn manual. Up until that time.
USB has become a horrible mess. High-speed, high-power devices should have their own separate standard that has 24V/5A and symmetrical 80+Gbps as baseline.
>I buy cheap stuff from china that isnt officially certified and wonder why its not what its advertised. You cant be expected to hold everyones hand and stop them from being stupid and using cheap non certified cables. I just throw the cables that come with cheap devices away and use Fuj:tech USB4 240W. Little expensive but can use it to charge anything or transfare video or files on max speeds.
To solve the cables being shit you would have to ban people from buying cheap stuff from China and other 3rd world countries. Its not just USB-C cables that suffer from these issues. China sells people cables made from aluminium, those are sketchy as can be.
@@deperditus Making such cables simply not work is actually great way to get them from market in the first place. No-one will bother making them if they can't sell them
@@Gastell0 people are stupid. Its so easy to scam people by making false promises and because human nature is to be greedy, people will buy the cheapest option with false promises over the known brand thats more expensive.
@@Gastell0 nah people arent the smartest and will fall for the false promises of cheap cables. Human greed is such that they will keep buying these cheap cables as long as their sale is allowed, they just see oh this 5€ cable claims to do 500W with 100Gb/s file transfare speeds and buy it, because in their minds its great deal compared to the known brand that costs 30€ for 240W 40Gb/s cable
Unfortunately, this video is misleading and confusing. It does not address the real technical issues. It assumes, erroniously, that chargers are old-world power supplies, and ghe cables are just wires with no electronics. Truly no value at all to be found here.
Standardising on a physical connector is a great idea. Unfortunately, USB-C was chosen. Having said that, what other choice is there that's really much good without inventing a new connector? Maybe that's what should have happened?
General UBC C is just a pure mess Without reading specs, you wont be able to figure out what your device supports It’s even bigger mess when you want to connect cable headset
I sincerely don’t get it. You knew the mess about USB-C cables and didn’t approach people to inform about this. You only wanted to plug anything with everything and missed important details that the EU (an entity that does not comprehend technology for human but for money purposes) and now all I just hear since then is people complaining about how a mess USB-C cables are. The people who wanted USB-C in everything in the first place are not happy with anything even when objective is achieved, what makes them think government should make this straight if people are not happy with the new and recent development in electronic devices? They are not going to be taken seriously by the government, it’s a fact.
It's always the same, our beloved EU (-Comission) makes laws, without „thinking“ about it (of course, since there are „Professionals“ there…) and here is the result 😆
Most people will use it 10 to 20watt power, more power only damages the battery, for phone. everyone is using wireless to send and receive data, only old school like me will use cable. for laptops I prefer barrel jacks, they are more rugged and reliable than USB C cable.
WTF is wrong with people? Why do people need or want some government to decidee the cables, ports, and chargers they use? That is so damned absurd. "really big step forward" What, how? Bureacrats in the EU get to dictate what ports we get? That doesn't even make sense. What happens in a few years when tach changes and some potential new port could be beneficial? I know what happens, nothing. We are stuck with the USB-C port that some stupiud damn laws mandates everytyhing has. And not just you all that live in the EU, I get to put up with the nonsense too because the copanies are going to comply witht he EU by making all their products the same crap. FFS people are stupid and lazy.
@@shamim64 I never said standards were bad. But an electrical outlet for an appliance is a totally different thing than a USB port on a handheld device. One is in the wall and one is on the freaking device. Also, standards are a big thing already we have the USB standard, 801.11 WiFi, Bluetooth, 802.3 ethernet, etc etc. which are all voluntary and decided through collaboration and cooperation in the industries. Having the government come along and mandate the port on all devices isn't a standard, it's MF bullshit. It's stupid, counterproductive, anti-consumer, anti-business, and anti-innovation.
@Malagent Well, that's just how they want to do it, it already an industry standard anyway. I just think it's cool that it forces Apple to release newer iPhone with USB c. Apple can totally make USB c iPhone an EU only if they want, but they don't. Like, why did it take Apple so long? They already using USB C for their laptops and some iPad.
You're completely missing the point. Until now you could have small devices powered/charged by basically whatever, be in some form of USB, or a barrel jack. Granted, the level of uniformity in this has raised significantly in the last 25 years, but you still end up with a dozen different chargers and plugs for no good reason other than the manufacturer fancying that solution. So yeah, someone had to step in and dictate that you use USB-C or you can go bust. It makes perfect sense. Starting tomorrow devices that can be powered/charged by USB (Power Delivery) will have to have USB-C (and if they need more then 5V or 1.5A current they'll have to support the USB Power Delivery standard on top, which, at least on paper, goes up to 240W). New wireless mouse? USB-C. New iPhone? USB-C. New whatever electronic gadget? USB-C. Granted, exceptions will exist - high wattage-requiring laptops will still have barrel jack chargers, for when USB-C charging just isn't enough. Smartwatch might not need to have USB-C, it might have wireless, or pogo pin magnetic charger, but that will still plug into a USB charger. At the end of the day you just need like 2-3 good high wattage chargers and a couple quality cables and you're good for years to come. Nothing to complain and make excuses about. You most likely already have them anyway... And if you're worried about the USB-C port staying for the next, say, 20 years... so what if it does as long as it's still enough? Eventually a better connector and standard will take its place and the law will be updated to reflect that. For now believe that USB-C is sufficiently future-proof, and that no, there won't suddenly next year magically appear a new much better and much more advanced connector. Innovation won't be stifled easy. *Besides, nobody says it has to be "only" USB-C* - meaning you can have USB-C AND the new magical super-connector both and the EU won't say a thing. *Whatever is extra on top of USB-C is fair game.* Stop being a dummy ahh anti-regulation doomer. Or maybe come up with a better solution? I'm very curious what that would be...
@@shamim64 I and many others do not want USB-C on iPhones. Why did it take Apple so long? Because Apple listens to their damn customers sometimes. So yeah, MF'n cool that some dumb law forces Apple to change what I want to buy. It would be absurd to make an entirely different line of all the models with hardware changes. Currently, there are regional variants but the differences are in firmware. It is not practical to make different hardware for every market. That would just further cak the cost up for no damn reason.
eu should not get involved in such things, because this is all just greenwashing, like forcing LED lamps and condensing boilers, etc. Rather, he deals with peoples legal matters, which are very different in the member states in a negative direction.
Don’t be ridiculous, which would you prefer… a universal standard we all recognise or as many sets of regulations for each individual component as there are countries - or as many as there are device & cable manufacturers & distributors? The EU messed this up by doing it badly, not by choosing to do it in the first place.
i hate usb c i only have 1 device with c and the most are mini usb or micro and my phone and ipad are all lighthing what is stronger it is so shit i need to buy all new cables of the hold on usb c also its a verry fragile connector hi voltage over small pins near data is not a good idea i see so mani cases where it fails cause high voltage short over the data line and blow up a lot of laptops or other devices
EU should mandate also cable labeling
The side of the plug where the active electronics are should be engraved with the cable capabilities.
Yes, that would definitely be a plausible solution
Amazing how nanny-state actions beget the need for more nanny-state actions.
The only winning move is not to play.
no, the EU should keep out of things
@@JeffreyGrovesHow so? These were both problems that needed to be addressed before any legislation, and industry still has not solved it, hence why legislation is going to force industry to move in a consumer-friendly direction.
It is unfortunate, because that same legislation can end up holding things back down the road, but since industry won’t play nice or take a consumer-first attitude, we’re stuck with the only remaining option.
Honestly I don't mind the fact that each cable can't charge everything, BUT I do think there should be regulation on cable labelling, so it's easy to find the one you need for each device. For example, USB-C cables should always be labelled with the USB version and charging capabilities, and also any thunderbolt compatibility (which makes things even more complicated by using the same connector).
This should apply to version/capability labelling on other cables too, such as HDMI, DisplayPort, Ethernet etc. These all used to be good for actually being labelled on the cable themselves, but seems to have gotten worse since braided cables became more popular!
I don't want the USB version, I want the speed. And the wattage, and the voltage. I've watched so many videos and read websites that explain that whole USB bullshittery and still can't remember everything important. This won't help average consumers at all. Thunderbolt could eliminate those informations, cause as far as I know there are only 3 Thunderbolt versions in everyday use, soon 4, and they are very well regulated, so you can basically look up what version can do what, and its dead easy to learn. Basically what that USB-C stuff should have been like.
usb 3 are supposed to be blue (well the traditional usb 3.0) usb-c as far know is usb 3.2 only (i might be wrong)
the dude on the video is right, even so, he misses the usb shielding vs unshielded usb wires
@@DonnieLuve Please don't tell me there exists unshielded USB cables. My life was miserable before already.
@-sturmfalke- shielding in usb
@@DonnieLuve there are tons of USB2 USB-C cables 😀
color is usefull for A-C cables but C-C don't have that plastic thingy
USB C is probably the first port standard that requires a user to read the user manual, for every product.
probably a good thing arguably
Reading manual is not enough. Many products do not have a manual or information in the manual about the standards they use
Have you ever seen the usb standard that the device supports in a manual? If you do find it, is the information accurate? Most manuals are full of legal nonsense, and zero useful information.
Oh so young, I love it.
Read up on pre-USB serial, where you had to set everything from the baud to the number of bits and other details, often using physical jumpers (on at least one end). Oh and cables could be wired in multiple different ways (usually straight or crossover, but there were a few other variations) without any labeling.
@thedave1771 Probably I forgot to add consumer oriented port.
What drives me crazy is that cheap USB-C devices do not charge at all with a high quality USB-C-PD charger and cable. Only with a cheap USB-A charger and A-C cable.
Yes because they are missing a single resistor that asks the charger to produce 5 volts. Such a disaster.
The USB-A chargers by default produce 5 volts.
I got an "new" electronic mini screwdriver and for some reason, only charges with the included USB C cable.
I got tons of cables with a good amount over 5+ years and none of them worked. I can only guess the included cable works on a very low USB standard, beyond just a missing pin.
Cheap? I have a 300 € dashcam that only charges with its USB-A to USB-C cable. 😒
Most likely those devices only need 5 volt for charging. Any higher voltage forcefully applied to them might destroy them.
@@thomask4978 - Considered and used older cables with only 5 volts (I measured). It was just queer is all I can say.
Excellent video with lots of detail! Thank you for this wonderful video! I replace all my USB A wall chargers with USB C chargers a few months ago. My 10,000mAh power bank wouldn't charge any more and it has a USB C connector for charging and I thought it went bad. Thanks to the people in the comment section, I found out that it will only charge with a USB A wall charger and a USB A to C cable. I have it charging now.
All USB cables should be marked with a maximum current rating which keeps it within the USB voltage drop specification. Not a perfect solution, but definitely the simplest one.
You cannot rely on the "large label" wattage on those chargers. The fine print usually will specify that different ports can supply different amounts, and only if you use the correct combination of ports can you reach the full labeled wattage.
USB-C is phenomenally complex trying to mix and match chargers, cables and devices.
Then comes the sockets on say a laptop, all look the same, however some do PD (power delivery) some do video etc etc, a right mess. Pair this with a non marked cable and best of luck getting everything working.
Supposedly, anyone wanting to license the use of the official USB logo on their cable needs to pass compliance testing via USB-IF. I have to admit, though, I haven't seen an official USB logo on a USB-C cable in ages. I can't recall the last time or if ever. :shrug:
Compliance testing should be a requirement to sell the damn thing!
Blaming the EU for a mistake of the USB-IF is a bit silly IMHO
No its not silly. They should not have standardized a Standard that is nowhere near a Standard we are used to.
Blaming the EU is never wrong.
@@wolfgangpreier9160 PD is problem ☹ but for 5V devices it is good have only 1 connector
@@wolfgangpreier9160 the EU didn't write the standard. The USB-IF wrote it
@@c0mpu73rguy in this case you're blaming the eu for something they didn't have a hand in
Yes, cable labels would be nice, but usb C-PD is far better than the A-to-micro-B cables, which most phones and tablets used 10 years ago. Both the AC adapters and the cables were a complete crapshoot.
Depends how you look at it. They were guarntied to deliver 5V +/- 10% with 0.5 Amps guarantied with sometimes 1A or more. But within that 5V spec, everything could just charge.
And then you had charging or data cables, thin means no data, mid means data and thick.... still the same in most cases when from normal brands. Others are just more rigid.
If you look in the connector, most have 4 and some 2 wires. Last type means only charging, 4 can mean charge-only or maybe also data. Data-transfers working up to 7 meters almost all, better cables up to 15 meters.
Now you get things that don't even charge because there is no data-wire connected so not even giving 5Volts.
It is important to remember that the "USB=C" law is not about USB-C but about inter compatibility to reduce waste. They chose USB-C as it is the de facto standard and supports multiple devices and needs but the law is flexible and will change with technologies (they are currently looking on wireless charging). The current specifications do require labeling of chargers but not cable. That said, this can be changed and even the law states that "It is also necessary to reflect future amendments to labelling requirements, such as for charging devices or cables, or other technological". The Eu enables anyone to comment and suggest amendments on existing laws so if you think it should be amended you can suggest that. Personalty I think that better labeling is important but I disagree with the claim that the lack of it will make things worst, as that was the case up until now and the law only improved things, even if not all of them, so it will be much better but it can be improved.
There are cable manufacturers that add info on the cables and when you buy one make sure to look for buy one that suites your needs.
true most of the probles were already in USB-micro era. USB-C just add problems with wattage and speed.
manufactures add specs on package but no cable itself so if you dont know that all your cables of brand A have those and all brand B have those you have problem ☹
Some devices can't be charged with an usb cable with 2 c type connectors. Probably those devices, usually simple devices like a light, don't send a signal to the charger to request the correct voltage. Those people need to have a simple charger with usb-a and the cable.
This is actually a really simple issue on the device, they are missing two required 5.1k pull-down resistors. USB-A to USB-C cables provide power at all times, so they work regardless
there is no need for voltage negotiation because charge expect that all is 5V device until it tells it wants more. simple devices (and pre PD devices) dont even try.
you just need some current so charge know you connected something
The BLE caberQU testes is only for male-male cables? What if you have female-female or mixed?
There is another problem with USB charging. Like the vacuum cleaner you have there is no advanced charging circuit inside so no communication with the charger. There are chargers that won't even give 5v if there is no communication between the device and charger.
I have bought several usb-c cables from IKEA recently, and they have tags with the max voltage/current listed on them. They have 100W cables, which is perfect for high powered devices.
BLE can not deliver before June 2025. And i did not find another manufacturer of USB Cable Testers.
I see that tester, I instantly want to buy it, because we all own so many damn USB-C cables these days that a specialized tester is absolutely worth it 😂
Haha, unfortunately it's a prototype with future shipment dates..
@quiescentcurrent It looks really cool, I would be interested in a good tester as well, instead of a random AliExpress buy
Really excited to get this one too, Im doing USB-C hw designs and it would help me verify cabling. Happy to beta test or pre-order!
So instead of different (but easily recognizable) connectors, we end up with different cables that all look the same, requiring a tester to find a suitable one. Yeah, that's progress...
@@kaasmeester5903 micro has same problem. USB-C only add voltage (and wattage for 5A devices)
I had this problem not so long ago, I went looking for a high power charging cable, but every cable I saw didn't have enough info on the packet to let me know if they were suitable.
I also wonder about the longevity of USB-C, there is a lot of small pins in that connector, with a requirement to carry up to 5A. Small pins and lots of amps equals trouble.
This is reason I only buy cables rated for 100W. [just to make sure my laptop supports it]
And then you discover there are 100W-0 Data / 100W-480Mbit Data / 100W-10Gb / 100W-20Gb / 100W-40Gb.
And that is ignoring the Thunderbolt standard!
If you but the 100W-0 and then plug in a PD hub/dock you will be annoyed.
If you buy the 100W-40Gb you will be broke.
The problem is as described - cabling is a pain.
At the time of writing of law, USB C cables did not need labeling.
USB-C has always been a confusing 'standard'. For example, does the cable support Thunderbolt or not? Or DP-Alt mode? Because most cables do not.
@@SanderEvers DP alt mode is supported by any compliant C-to-C cable. Thunderbolt is not USB standard, so USB-IF has no power over it.
@@uis246compliant USBC cables can also be just 2.0. Also DP has some high datarates not suported by all 3.x
@@ptamog "just 2.0" cable is either has other connector be 2.0(e.g. type A, mini-AB) or non-compliant. Same goes to "only charging", except they are only non-compliant.
@@uis246 C to C cable can also only have the classic 2.0 data lane and not the aditional high speed lanes used in 3.0 and onwards. C is just the conector. DP runs on the high speed lanes.
Feels like the videos on this channel really should be labelled as commercials / that Quiescent Current should be clear/open about any association he has with the product.
(Which does seem quite nice)
surely alk usb cables and chargers should charge everything? not necessarily at the same current, but at least charge at some level? you can with standard usb psus and fully wired cables
You’re certainly right…! This seems harder than e.g. food or even pharmaceuticals (labeling and checks), because there are hardly any manufacturers of cables, chargers nor devices (caveats for the latter) within Europe (EU, EEA, UK). For electronic parts, even less so?
Except high-end devices, branding and manufacturing are quite obfuscated. A brand doesn’t necessarily equal a manufacturer, as plants produce by tendering for any brand.
So, will every EEA country need to check imports before they hit the common market? Meaning a revival of all the separate national «agencies» we had 40 years ago?
This scaled well some decades ago, as the «early EU» had tech manufacturing inside the area (as we have for e.g. food and medicals). But now, when the supply lines are all «third country», I have no idea how this needs to be implemented.
Importers «checking themselves» sounds like the proverbial Boeing-FAA dynamic. Who will watch the watchers, and what will the street price for _actually good_ USB-C equipment be…? 😅
I have had terrible results with the USB -C connectors on phones. Work fine for a while but deteriorate in regular use, as well as constantly getting dirt inside. Really hate them.
Unfortunately the link you provided to the tester is out of stock for the next six months !
I don't expect or want all cables to need the USB IF certification, but some sort of labeling would maybe be nice, albeit difficult.
Problem with USB IF is that they're more conservative about allowing devices into the standard. Some devices cannot be certified, but *are* very useful:
- USB a male to USB c female? USB C female to USB micro male? Spec violation. Safe when used carefully
- multi-port USB C chargers with shared capacity? Nope. Wild West on how to renegotiate new power requirements
What if we used different physical ports... For different use cases
I would point out that I'm trying to clean things up at end of year. What can I say all the USB standards have this problem. I slow charging non-usb c cables and faster ones from the same dumb charging point. Most of the USB-C cabling I have is A to C and I'm just starting the C-C to journey and ran head long into this mess. Nothing has changed except instead of having a device + cable + brick that are certified we are now requiring the user to guess the fuel and by the wheels+tires for their car with no guidance. Also not things like laptop power bricks come with attached cord - annoying when breaks but no data requirement and hence way cheaper.
He just tosses off “because there’s no no-USB option in the spec” and I’m like wtf
yes, this is crazy. The USB standard might have a "no-USB" entry.
It's like car that says it cannot drive.
Who would think a manufacture was so lazy not to add 2 wires for slow data transfer
So if EU mandates USB-C standard, does it also say what the standard actually mean? Or do I / we / manufacturers need to go to USB-IF and pay for the actual standard? If government/EU mandates something, that something should be freely accessible in my opinion. Recently, there was similar problem/discussion in my country (EU member) about ISO standards. The law mandates something, but does not say exactly what, it is referring to some ISO standard number instead. And those standards cost about 200 CHF/EUR/USD per piece.
A solution might be to have devices that all know how to read the emarker chip and otherwise identify cables actually, you know, tell the user. At least for smartphones, tell me what the device is capable of, the cable, and the charger, and what was ultimately negotiated.
Isn't that how it it works?
@@liquidsonly it is but you don't see result.
You have to have some special device and most of them told you just some of those info
@@martinnovak679 Well the other "special device" is what the cable is plugged into and hopefully open souce and you can read the logs.
@@liquidsonly are talking about that box in this video or in general?
Because if you plug cable to phone you see only "charging" or "fast charging" but you know nothing about cable+charger and what V+A are used
The information to consumers about charging has always been poor and I don't really understand why. Consumers simply haven't been exposed to this information outside of marketing claims that are often misleading like "120 W ultra fast charging*" and several pages down in tiny 10 point font will be the useless phrase "*with a compatible charger" . Manufacturers have a bad habit of not advertising the power specifications of USB C devices, when you have bought the product and have it in hand often it will have that output voltage list as required on chargers but it's often difficult to find that out before buying and many downstream devices will have absolutely no information anywhere on what standard, voltage or current it uses. And also almost no phone or laptops will report to you the watts, amps or volts unless you install third party software. Even when using first party chargers and cables it's difficult to know what will work and if it does, how much power will be transferred.
Another issue I've seen is when you have a charger that's 90 W and a device that requires 30 W, consumers will think they're compatible, after all that's how the standard was first envisioned to work. But when they try to use it, it won't work because the device requires 30 W at *12 V* which is often an excluded output voltage as it's not required, USB PD 2.0 only requires 5, 9, 15 and 20 V above 45 W. 12 V is an optional voltage but is actually very common on devices, particularly those that transitioned their design from a 12 V barrel jack to a USB C connector. Designers have to be aware 15 V is the new common voltage and support for 12 V is poor. Considering how regularly I see designers screwing up and combining the two 5.1 k resistors on the CC1/CC2 pins I have no hope designers will know to design for 15 V, not 12 V.
Furthermore I will be interested to see what sort of laptops or phones will make use of the USB PD PPS standard, it's been around for a while now on upstream devices but downstream devices that take advantage of it don't really get any advantages unless they support ONLY PPS which would allow them to greatly simplify charging circuity, but then won't be compatible with any charger that doesn't have PPS. Don't think I've ever seen a consumer device that actually uses PPS to remove the on-board charger to date.
The EU is like old people who don’t understand technology. The port was never a problem. All USB chargers were the same with a type A port. It was the cable that was different. And I still have four different types of cables at home, plus USB C to Lightning for my iPhone. We will ways need different cables for the foreseeable future.
law isn't for chargers but for devices. some were micro some were C so they unified it.
@ they initially said there were too many chargers ending up as electronic waste. Earlier cell phones had proprietary chargers and connectors. Apple always used USB chargers. You could use any USB charger as long as you had the correct cable. And that’s true of many USB devices.
My laser printer has a USB B connector. My Bluetooth headphones have a mini USB. I have more USB A and mini devices than C. Do we throw all these devices out? No. Just buy a matching cable.
None of this stopped chargers from ending up as e waste. Now you need extra cables. My iPhone 14 came with a USB-C to Lightning cable. I don’t own a single charger with USB-C, so I had to buy an adapter. I have 5 USB-A chargers. So what do you do with those? Throw them out?
See what I’m saying? This solves nothing.
And Apple holds the patent on the USB-C connector. 😁
To be fair, look at the bigger picture: At least finally every device (the expensive part of the game) has an USB-C Port, even the manager toys from cupertino despite all lobbying.
A Cable (100W-10Gbit as standard for my laptop and mobile phone, A->C with 15W for phone+tablet charging over night) is easy to buy. Chargers support 120W with several C and A Ports, only to be bought once or reused/inheritet if you have some chargers already coming with your phone. My Lenovo even charges with my phone charger, not that fast of course, but it works.
So the goal of one standardized Port is achieved, not a beautiful solution, but works fine for technically impaired people like Gen Z and Boomers.
If someone had standardized the barrel plugs (3mm= 5V 4,5mm=9V 6mm=12V 8mm=20V 11mm=48V) with positive center 40 years ago, all these problems wouldn't be there or the standardization by the EU would have been easier, but here we go, USB-C is the lowest commen denominator.
lucky for me, the only long usb c to usb c cable i have is conveniently labelled "5A", so i know it is good for charging
and what about data transfer?
@martinnovak679 idk lol I don't use it for that
Nice with standard, everyone has their own!
…meanwhile, the search for consumers who’ve discarded a piece of electronics because it had a different charge port to all their other devices continues…
That already happened with previous standard cables. It's sad that there's many "experts" working on these standards and regulations, yet they're not interested enough to create standards for something this basic. I can't avoid feeling it's intentional. It's nice to be able to purchase cheap cables but it's sad that we can't be sure we're getting what's advertised without a piece of equipment like yours, to test them.
Do you know which pin is used for e-marker transmission / handshake?
EU should mandate proof of cable tester BLE caberQU ownership as a requirement for purchasing anything with USB-C in the EU.
i have a barrel plug on the pinebook pro and it's way more comfortable to plug in and out. barrel plugs with 3 different sizes for 5v, 9v and 20v, combined with some very fast wireless data transfer is all we ever needed, instead we have this convoluted standard.
In retail you can just decide what junk you keep having or become a bit European again (near the chargers specs.) People can give it back and so on, if it was sold for something and it doesn't work. We buy Chinese products regardless and some of my best USB-A to USB-C data cables are Chinese. Maybe an all-out EU setup doesn't work for my adventure. It was terrible to power up my Raspberry Pi 3's - I ended up buying chargers and did DIY (Micro-USB) to get 3A/5V so it's not easy to have full control or something like that. Maybe it will come. Power banks also come into this. Many just can't do what we hope.
Good video. I just buy good/expansive usb-c cable now to cut down the numbers off my cables.
If EU (or other government entities) cracks down those "unauthorized" USB-C cables, people may start complaining they are giving USB-IF free money for that.
Nokia had USB-c for a very long time and over time many manufacturers realised it's worth
The problem is a bit worse. EU communicates how this will make chargers and cables universal. Plenty of people celebrate this, mostly based on this promise.
I doubt that a 15W charger would be effective for a laptop that needs 150W power. We don't have universal chargers now. Stanrdised connector doesn't mean universal charging. It is the smaller problem.
The even worse problem with the illusion of compatibility are far worse.
Previously, under anothter of your videos, I have commented how otherwise unsupported adapters can be made as USB Hubs with only 2 exposed ports, otherwise unsupported extension cables can be seen as a cable and an USB HUB combined. Yet we almost never see those safe designs, but we see plenty of hazardous non-compliant cables. We seen how some non-compliant designs can pose a safety risk. Non-compliant devices are common. When people believe in "universal" nature of USB-C charging, they might just connect their devices to these non-compliant cables in an unsafe configuration. It is a potential fire hazard. How EU made a connector mandatory but neglected to make some regulations to keep it safe is a problem from this side only.
A charging only cable is unsupported, and not compliant with all the standards, but it is a safe deviation. USB even if it comes with Power Delivery option, it is designed as a "serial bus" to attach peripherials. An USB cable or the charger itself might have "hidden surprises". We have seen cables that might emulate keyboards. A charging head with an USB hub and many devices inside can be even worse. Cybersecurity wise USB wasn't designed for "sharing your chargers and cables" as it can pose a security risk. If you want a shared connector standard, it should be possible to work with the industry and design it from ground up with this purpose in mind. But it would be better if we could see a difference between a charging only cable, and a potentially dangerous one by looking at the connector. Designing an improved standard that would be safe and secure can be better than adapting an existing one.
Also if you see transit on many vehicles there are USB A ports for charging. You might need both A to C and C to C cables now.
I had to buy a usb 2/3/C tester so now I know which are purely 5v power, which are usb 2.0 only, which are usb3 only and which have full pin connectivity. I'd been buying USB C connector cables and getting only usb2.0 connectivity.
After micro, USB means:
U
Suck
Bus
-
Consistently
My mother bought a cheap smartphone that can only be charged with the USB-C cable that came with the phone as they have switched pins on that cable or something like this. Tried out all different cables including my good 240W Thunderbolt cables. Nothing works except their own branded USB-C charger cable.
While not including any cable parameters into the law was a clear failure, do you think they could have done it in a way that would have worked out for everyone?
I mean, even the USB Implementers Forum is confused by their speed/feature naming which is the reason why USB 3.0 now is USB 3.1 Gen 1. Plus they basically advise manufacturers not to use these names at all and instead use the actual max speed to avoid confusion (and this still does not include PD levels and connected pins).
With all this mess, more waste will be generated. We still use usb-a charges along with usb-c, also we still use non usb-c(on end, like lightning, microusb, mini usb, usb type b devices other end might or might not be usb-c). Why you need over complicated circuits on a cheap low power device? Some even dont use 5w to work. Now when I am sending some electronic device to some of my friends I am sending usb-c to usb-c and usb-a to usb-c cables, just to be sure they have the right psu…Until every device moves to usb-c there will be a new standard and all this e-waste will be thrown away again…
Imagine trying to find the right charging cable if you're blind! Clearly the EU's legislators don't have imagination!
A premium USB C cable will work for all devices, I bought a 100W USB C cable and it works for my Galaxy phone, my powerstation, and PCs
This is perceived problem pales against the many benefits of standardizing USB C.
no, there are many devices with USB-C charging port that require a USB-A to C cable to charge and won't work with a C to C cable. That's because they cheaped out on two 5k1 resistors that are needed to signal a USB-C Host port to apply 5V.
But what is the solution? There isn't much room for a label. It would need to be something like resistor code stripes - Then a complex table to decode the meaning of the stripes. As with resistors, many people would simply opt to measure the value instead.
Perhaps a tiny QR code or RFID but that requires a device to decode; might as well use said device to read the cable directly.
Watt-Data would appear to be the best answer
240-4.0 would be the latest.
20-0.0 would be an old dumb cable
USB-C was supposed to help slow e-waste. But I seriously can't imagine it's helped.
I don’t think it has hurt in a meaningful way. A few extra cables are being tossed earlier than necessary, sure, but with new devices typically coming with a new cable anyway, just as often either that new cable went unused or an old one got tossed.
But going forward, it should help. My laptop bag is down to one USB C battery, a pair of USB C cables, a USB C PD power supply, and the Lenovo “square” power brick/connector. That’s a step forward from having to carry USB C, USB micro, USB mini, Lightning, some duplicates for USB A and USB C on the other end.
Even with the USB C variations, possible pins, and voltage/wattage limits, the reality is most of the time most consumers can just grab the right length of cable and get something that works. Maybe not to the fullest capability, but that’s better than simply not fitting at all.
Short term, there are some cables getting tossed, sure. I’m ready to dump all but one Lightning, although I haven’t yet. But I’ll get them into the hands of someone that can use them.
Since it's "just" become law there is no data yet so we cn't know the result yet.
@@liquidsonly correct. But we can observe what has happened so far, based on the fact that a significant percentage of devices are already on USB C.
USB C is a connector standard. It is not a cable standard.
And with that, enforcing the connector on every device is entirely pointless. Thank you EU!
Hi, I have a question. I have a USB 3 portable HDD and a USB C OTG compatible phone. With this limited information, are you able to give me any advice on whether the cable listed on Amazon as
USB C Cable 3.3ft, USB A to USB C Cable USB 3.1 USB 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps Data Charger Cord for Samsung Galaxy S24 S23 S22 S21 S20 S10 S9 S8, Note 20, A80 A70 A50 and iPhone 15/15 Pro, Nylon Braided, 2 Pack
will suit my needs? I've watched your other videos about the various unsupported types of cables and adapters out there, so I wonder if this type of cable is supported or not.
Also, I would love a USB OTG explainervideo from you. Your videos are so informative and easy to learn from. Thank you!
You can still buy one cable that do everything. You know have that option, thanks to this new regulation. And, of course, being new, isn’t perfect. It will evolve, and become even better. But right now, it’s just WOUNDERFULL to get one cable to do everything. Even if you have more than one cable (like one for PC and another for phone and gadgets) that FAR BETTER than the alternative just 3 years ago.
So… saying this law is useless is, by itself, useless…
Nice video
i cant believe theres a whole nerd channel just about usb C and im an avid subscriber 🤓
😘
People are so difficult to satisfy these days. All you people are so lucky that atleast your government made a conector a standard conector . Here in India every thing has its own proprietory conector. The amount of cables and and charger we are dealing with, you have no idea...
Standardizing a conector is a step. Now Standardizing cable should be the next logical step. But ya'll could do your part and read the damn manual. Up until that time.
USB has become a horrible mess. High-speed, high-power devices should have their own separate standard that has 24V/5A and symmetrical 80+Gbps as baseline.
Out of topic: why the gloves?
ESD gloves so you don't have to look at my fingers
>I buy cheap stuff from china that isnt officially certified and wonder why its not what its advertised.
You cant be expected to hold everyones hand and stop them from being stupid and using cheap non certified cables.
I just throw the cables that come with cheap devices away and use Fuj:tech USB4 240W. Little expensive but can use it to charge anything or transfare video or files on max speeds.
To solve the cables being shit you would have to ban people from buying cheap stuff from China and other 3rd world countries.
Its not just USB-C cables that suffer from these issues. China sells people cables made from aluminium, those are sketchy as can be.
@@deperditusworse still, try putting a magnet next to your cables. Yup, some use steel. Almost all my breadboard jumper wires are magnetic!
@@deperditus Making such cables simply not work is actually great way to get them from market in the first place. No-one will bother making them if they can't sell them
@@Gastell0 people are stupid. Its so easy to scam people by making false promises and because human nature is to be greedy, people will buy the cheapest option with false promises over the known brand thats more expensive.
@@Gastell0 nah people arent the smartest and will fall for the false promises of cheap cables. Human greed is such that they will keep buying these cheap cables as long as their sale is allowed, they just see oh this 5€ cable claims to do 500W with 100Gb/s file transfare speeds and buy it, because in their minds its great deal compared to the known brand that costs 30€ for 240W 40Gb/s cable
Unfortunately, this video is misleading and confusing. It does not address the real technical issues. It assumes, erroniously, that chargers are old-world power supplies, and ghe cables are just wires with no electronics.
Truly no value at all to be found here.
Peel the plastic film off the front of your cable tester 😫!
Has the EU ever contributed anything useful to the world or is it exactly the same as the UN?
Standardising on a physical connector is a great idea. Unfortunately, USB-C was chosen. Having said that, what other choice is there that's really much good without inventing a new connector? Maybe that's what should have happened?
General UBC C is just a pure mess
Without reading specs, you wont be able to figure out what your device supports
It’s even bigger mess when you want to connect cable headset
I sincerely don’t get it.
You knew the mess about USB-C cables and didn’t approach people to inform about this. You only wanted to plug anything with everything and missed important details that the EU (an entity that does not comprehend technology for human but for money purposes) and now all I just hear since then is people complaining about how a mess USB-C cables are.
The people who wanted USB-C in everything in the first place are not happy with anything even when objective is achieved, what makes them think government should make this straight if people are not happy with the new and recent development in electronic devices? They are not going to be taken seriously by the government, it’s a fact.
Usb c is crap. Port wears out with use.Mag save was a better idea.
It's always the same, our beloved EU (-Comission) makes laws, without „thinking“ about it (of course, since there are „Professionals“ there…) and here is the result 😆
Most people will use it 10 to 20watt power, more power only damages the battery, for phone. everyone is using wireless to send and receive data, only old school like me will use cable. for laptops I prefer barrel jacks, they are more rugged and reliable than USB C cable.
The EU did half a job? Surely not...
WTF is wrong with people? Why do people need or want some government to decidee the cables, ports, and chargers they use? That is so damned absurd.
"really big step forward" What, how? Bureacrats in the EU get to dictate what ports we get? That doesn't even make sense. What happens in a few years when tach changes and some potential new port could be beneficial? I know what happens, nothing. We are stuck with the USB-C port that some stupiud damn laws mandates everytyhing has. And not just you all that live in the EU, I get to put up with the nonsense too because the copanies are going to comply witht he EU by making all their products the same crap.
FFS people are stupid and lazy.
Standards are good. Like each country has its own plug standard. It keeps things compatible with others.
@@shamim64 I never said standards were bad. But an electrical outlet for an appliance is a totally different thing than a USB port on a handheld device. One is in the wall and one is on the freaking device.
Also, standards are a big thing already we have the USB standard, 801.11 WiFi, Bluetooth, 802.3 ethernet, etc etc. which are all voluntary and decided through collaboration and cooperation in the industries. Having the government come along and mandate the port on all devices isn't a standard, it's MF bullshit. It's stupid, counterproductive, anti-consumer, anti-business, and anti-innovation.
@Malagent Well, that's just how they want to do it, it already an industry standard anyway. I just think it's cool that it forces Apple to release newer iPhone with USB c. Apple can totally make USB c iPhone an EU only if they want, but they don't. Like, why did it take Apple so long? They already using USB C for their laptops and some iPad.
You're completely missing the point.
Until now you could have small devices powered/charged by basically whatever, be in some form of USB, or a barrel jack. Granted, the level of uniformity in this has raised significantly in the last 25 years, but you still end up with a dozen different chargers and plugs for no good reason other than the manufacturer fancying that solution. So yeah, someone had to step in and dictate that you use USB-C or you can go bust. It makes perfect sense.
Starting tomorrow devices that can be powered/charged by USB (Power Delivery) will have to have USB-C (and if they need more then 5V or 1.5A current they'll have to support the USB Power Delivery standard on top, which, at least on paper, goes up to 240W). New wireless mouse? USB-C. New iPhone? USB-C. New whatever electronic gadget? USB-C.
Granted, exceptions will exist - high wattage-requiring laptops will still have barrel jack chargers, for when USB-C charging just isn't enough. Smartwatch might not need to have USB-C, it might have wireless, or pogo pin magnetic charger, but that will still plug into a USB charger.
At the end of the day you just need like 2-3 good high wattage chargers and a couple quality cables and you're good for years to come. Nothing to complain and make excuses about. You most likely already have them anyway...
And if you're worried about the USB-C port staying for the next, say, 20 years... so what if it does as long as it's still enough? Eventually a better connector and standard will take its place and the law will be updated to reflect that. For now believe that USB-C is sufficiently future-proof, and that no, there won't suddenly next year magically appear a new much better and much more advanced connector. Innovation won't be stifled easy.
*Besides, nobody says it has to be "only" USB-C* - meaning you can have USB-C AND the new magical super-connector both and the EU won't say a thing. *Whatever is extra on top of USB-C is fair game.*
Stop being a dummy ahh anti-regulation doomer. Or maybe come up with a better solution? I'm very curious what that would be...
@@shamim64 I and many others do not want USB-C on iPhones. Why did it take Apple so long? Because Apple listens to their damn customers sometimes.
So yeah, MF'n cool that some dumb law forces Apple to change what I want to buy.
It would be absurd to make an entirely different line of all the models with hardware changes. Currently, there are regional variants but the differences are in firmware. It is not practical to make different hardware for every market. That would just further cak the cost up for no damn reason.
USB is the worst standard.
Speeds are not really clear, and the form factor can
get really wild depending on what a manufacturer wants.
eu should not get involved in such things, because this is all just greenwashing, like forcing LED lamps and condensing boilers, etc. Rather, he deals with peoples legal matters, which are very different in the member states in a negative direction.
Don’t be ridiculous, which would you prefer… a universal standard we all recognise or as many sets of regulations for each individual component as there are countries - or as many as there are device & cable manufacturers & distributors?
The EU messed this up by doing it badly, not by choosing to do it in the first place.
i hate usb c i only have 1 device with c and the most are mini usb or micro and my phone and ipad are all lighthing what is stronger it is so shit i need to buy all new cables of the hold on usb c also its a verry fragile connector hi voltage over small pins near data is not a good idea i see so mani cases where it fails cause high voltage short over the data line and blow up a lot of laptops or other devices
It's just an amendment to the rule , it's better than needing a totally new rule