• jarfil@beehaw.org
          0·
          6 months ago

          So like mini-USB?

          Still, is it the plug, or the socket that breaks? I’ve been holding for a long time that using sockets with tiny plastic tongues to hold the conductors, is a bat shit crazy move in consumer electronics, where a cable is prone to getting a lateral tug that rips the whole thing apart.

          This includes some old Samsung connectors, all of modern Nokias, mini-USB, micro-USB, and even USB-C.

          Old Nokias and Ericssons had the right idea: pogo/flex pins on the connector, and just a bunch of plates on the socket, so the cable would break but the socket was rock solid.

          • 𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            0·
            6 months ago

            Mini USB has to be one of the most robust connectors I’ve used tbh. All my original cables from over a decade ago still work flawlessly, as well as the ports on the devices housing them.

            As for Micro USB… not great. I hope USB-C is more durable, so far I haven’t had any issues with ports going bad that wasn’t down to some ultra cheap adapter or cable

            • jarfil@beehaw.org
              0·
              6 months ago

              I’ve had plenty of Mini-USB failures, all of them in the socket. There’s a reason why when Micro-USB was designed, they bumped the required mating cycle rating to twice that of Mini-USB.

              The biggest problem with Micro-USB, is that it got adopted as the standard charging port for smartphones, which proved even the doubled mating cycle rating way insufficient.

              For reference:

              • USB-A, USB-B: 1500 cycles (but they tend to stay put)
              • Mini-USB: 5000 cycles (good for sporadic data transfers, and once or twice a day charging)
              • Micro-USB, USB-C: 10000 cycles (better for daily charging, not so much for many times a day)
              • Magnetic adapter, Wireless: until it burns out, but not so standard.

              If you had problems with Micro-USB, expect about the same to happen with USB-C. Plugging it once a day to charge, should last 30 years; plugging it 10 times a day to “top it up”, will break it after 3 years on average.

              Personally, I’ve put some magnetic adapters in all Micro-USB stuff like 5-6 years ago, and so far only one of the adapters has broken, all sockets are like new.

          • beefcat@beehaw.org
            0·
            6 months ago

            the socket. sadly this is a design flaw with every usb connector, even type-c.

            amusingly, Apple’s lightning is the only connector i’ve seen that seems truly designed for the cable to break before the socket

          • cecilkorik@lemmy.caEnglish
            0·
            6 months ago

            Magsafe is a really great idea, it’s just a shame Apple came up with it first and I can’t wait for it to be the universal standard for all types of external connectors forevermore. It’s as close as we can get to wireless without being wireless.

            • Phroon@beehaw.orgEnglish
              0·
              6 months ago

              Interestingly, Apple has donated the phone version of MagSafe to the Qi open wireless charging standard. Soon we’ll see a magnetically aligning wireless charging Qi2 devices from other manufacturers.

  • aperson@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    Just wait until you see the connectors that are dual lightning and micro USB.

    • sarmale@lemmy.zipOP
      0·
      6 months ago

      Theres a bendy thing in middle with contacts on both sides so they can fit in any normal microusb port