Comment on A 2 way micro USB connector. Never thought they existed

• jarfil@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨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.

  The 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.

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  • lemann@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨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

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    • jarfil@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨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.

      Bottom line: 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.

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    • beefcat@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      mini-usb cables are robust, but the sockets they plug into were pretty fragile, i’ve had multiple break.

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    • Admetus@sopuli.xyz ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’m sure the cables work but I can assure you the terminals on devices eventually do fail. I had to replace one on my old android phone.

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  • cecilkorik@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨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.

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    • Phroon@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨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.

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      • IndeterminateName@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!

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  • beefcat@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨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

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