Physically Lightning is better - way more robust and resistant to potential damage. There's literally no way you damage connector on normal daily usage.
I do know that I can’t really use headphones with my iPhone because the experience blows because they disconnect. I do know that often my phone isn’t charged because the connection from the charger wasn’t good. C type is a better experience and the only time I’ve had a defective or damaged C port was on a sub $100 BLU phone
Lightning is designed to wear out the contact, USB-C is designed to wear out the cable.