Hacker News Reader

Comment by brookst | Hacker News Reader

I recently threw out all of my USB-C cables that are longer than a foot but can’t charge at 100w, because I decided USB-C is a primarily a charging protocol, and I’ll use wireless, short cables, or Ethernet for data transfer and HDMI for display.

The matrix of charging + data speeds in USB-C is a nightmare and always resulted in having the wrong cable for the desired devices and usage.

View on HN

/Off topic

I was going to ask how to test these things as I need to do some housekeeping too. I just found out about (and bought) a digital USB volt/amp meters. Here's an example. [0]

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Eversame-Multimeter-Voltmeter-Indicat...

edit:

I just read this write-up [1], which clearly explained why the 65W USB C charging hub I bought doesn't necessarily enable "super fast charging" on my Samsung phone. Chargers and cables need to meet PD3.0 standard with PPS support to dynamically negotiate the volts and amps to maximize power throughput safely. Otherwise, you get auto-downgraded due to sticky default voltages.

[1] https://www.gsmarena.com/dont_just_buy_any_45w_pd_charger_fo...

Curious if this device you linked would also work to test things like the power bricks themselves and not just the cables? Would love to get rid of some low performing cables as well as the older power bricks.

Edit: Based on the description it does sound possible.

I use a FNIRSI-FNB58 tester for this. It can read and display e-markers.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004665244812.html

I've been thinking I should have something like this. Is this "the best there is" in this price category, or is there an even better product that someone here wants to recommend?

> Is this "the best there is" in this price category

That was my conclusion when I looked into this about a month ago, especially if USB-C is the main focus. I remember a reviewer pointing out some deficiencies on the USB-A front (compared to other, simpler, meters) but unfortunately I don't remember what they were.

I was thinking of getting something like this, but wouldn't it get outdated as soon as there's a new standard, i.e. very fast?

That's definitely a risk.

The firmware on the unit is upgradable. While there's no guarantee that the manufacturer will (or can) add support for any given future standard, looking at the firmware changelog suggests they have at least some track record of doing this:

V0.65 2022-10-27 Add automatic detection QC4/QC4+/QC5

V0.63 2022-10-16 Compatible with other Xiaomi charging heads

V0.60 2022-10-07 Added support for PD3.1 triggering

V0.60 2022-10-07 Added support for Xiaomi A port PD charging head triggering

Sounds good. Thanks for the update.

You could also just buy higher quality cables, right? The problem is usually that most consumers see two USB-C cables and one is $10 and the other is $50 so they buy the $10 one, only later realizing (if at all) that the $10 only does data, or only does 50W, or w/e.

But if you actually pay attention it seems like cables work as advertised with reasonable consistency, at least for me.

They may work as advertised, but the problem is that the cables themselves have no indication of what was advertised in the first place.

The ability to know what the cable you’re holding can do is just not there. Unless you have some way of ensuring that all your cables are the same, you need to:

- discard/donate every cable that you can’t identify (as @brookst did) by its eMarker (though they’re required by spec) unless you own a specialized USB-C voltmeter or multimeter

- manually label every cable with all its unique specifications, either after running it through an eMarker reader or immediately after taking it out of the box

> the problem is that the cables themselves have no indication of what was advertised in the first place

Fortunately, this is changing, though it's shameful it took this long to get standardized, straightforward labeling: https://tidbits.com/2022/09/29/usb-simplifies-branding/

Just plug it in. If you can't judge the the speed by "feel", then run measure how long it takes to charge / transfer a file.

Not sure why you're being downvoted. Lots of phones show how fast they are charging (charging slowly, fast etc)

It's an expensive solution, but most Thunderbolt 4 cables have markings and they support pretty much everything (Thunderbolt, USB, Alt modes, high-wattage charging, etc.).

Because Intel has a certification program for Thunderbolt that makes many things mandatory that are optional (for no good reason) in the USB-C spec: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28744448

> optional (for no good reason)

The reason is that the USB-IF is owned/ run by the manufacturers and many of them want to be able to make cheaper gear (TBF mandatory high tolerances was part of the “problem” with the original Thunderbolt too, lo those many years ago).

This is also why USB-A is not symmetrical as was originally designed: to save money in the connector.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com