Ask Lemmy

I like its reversibility and faster speeds compared to MicroUSB. Being in the USA where everyone has iPhones though, it was hard to bum chargers from other people (before the iPhone 15 anyway)

It's nice that my phone charges quickly, but otherwise I don't notice. It's just one more cable type I need to search for.

Game changer? Literally not at all. It's a bit better.

It was great!

I could get rid of a lot of "extra" cords. I can just keep one usb c and charge my phone, my mouse, and headphones with one cord. Shoot, I can even charge my controllers now too. I like that they're becoming like outlets. Like, this is just how you get power to the device(S). Without searching for the "right" cord all the time.

To me it mostly just meant having to buy more cables. The old ritual of trying a USB connector one way, then the other way, then retrying the first way never took all that long and was actually kind of amusing. And I still use the old cables because I haven't thrown away my old devices that still need them. I only have a few new things that need type C.

It changed my economy game.

Now I have to buy an USB-C to USB-A adaptor to plug USB-C stuff into my already standing devices. Honestly, no idea why didn't they make it connector-compatible. Wasn't that the entire point of the "U" in "USB"?

Now that I upgraded to an iPhone with USB-C, I enjoy the convenience of having one cable for everything. Charging, connecting a display temporarily, data transfer, one cable. Never had a Mac so I didn’t get in on the Lightning to Lightning shenanigans, but I do prefer Lightning over USB-C. At least a Lightning port is easy to clean.

The good things:

• It really is an advantage over normal USB, that I don't have to trun the plug three times while trying to connect it, as it can be plugged in either way.
• I find the extra protection also cool, so in case you accidentally try to plug in something you are not supposed to, it just simply won't work instead of, I don't know, supplying too high voltage or something.

So far it caused a lot of headaches though:

• Way too often I found myself in a situation, where I couldn't use some devices, because I didn't have the necessary adapter. This issue should be temporary though, so I'm not complaining.
• Some cables are not compatible with some devices, and it can be really confusing. Before I knew this, I was certain that a monitor and a laptop of mine weren't compatible for a long time, until someday I read about this and tried it again with a different cable.
• In most cases this is not an issue, but rarely I find that the USB type-c plug is not as robust as a micro USB for example. On my girlfriend's Samsung S8 it always slipped out, so the contact was terrible, while a micro USB plug does have some clamps to properly attach. Again, in most cases the type-c plug is clicking in properly, so it's not an acute problem.

Personally, I like the iPhone charging port better as there's less that can go wrong with it, but USB-C is pretty good too.

I like that I don't have to orient the cable plug-ins just right. I can flip it over and still plug it in just fine. That's why I don't like mini USB, micro USB, or USB-A

I certainly like it better, it's an improvement, but "game changer" is strong. I'm slowly replacing gadgets to USB C through attrition. The charge port has ceased to be the failure point for any of the gadgets I own. My pile of spare cables is still excessive, but moving further back in my storage closet because I need them less and less.

Not at all a game changer, for me.

I mean, it's just another and one more type of cable. Sure, in theory it's simpler than many various cables and it's even less stupid than the previous USB types, but it's still a mess.

At least, for non-geek me, those cables are a mess as I need to be able to distinguish between the exact same cable to find which one is USB-C or Thunderbolt, between the various versions of USB-C itself, and then between USB-C that comes with or without power delivery, and with what power limitation? And then, despite USB-C supposedly being a standard there are still too many cables that just won't work with certain devices because reasons.

Add to that the many USB-C docks (and dongles) that work... more or less reliably and more or less as marketed (even more so under Linux, but those issues exist under Mac and under Windows as well).

Older cables and ports were cumbersome, and thick and whatever but, as far as I'm concerned, for the most part they just worked like they were supposed to. And I never had an issue knowing which cable to plug into which port as they all looked, you know, different.

Nowadays, I have to label each one of my USB-C cable with some masking tape so I can identify it in a glimpse without wasting my time trying them all one by one.

Edit: some clarifications.

A little disappointing.

I had been pretty well consolidated to just lightning cables for everything. It did what I needed, the connector is small, reversible, easy to use, and it fit most electronics for my family of four. I had built up a nice stable of accessories like power banks and charging blocks that fit everything and hadn’t needed to buy anything new in years.

The switch to USB-C came with great fanfare and seemed like a good idea. However it really doesn’t give me any direct benefits and I have to buy all new accessories. Now I’m in a transition mode for a few years where I need usb-c, usb-a, and lightning cables and chargers. Worst of all the market that I kept being told was leaving behind still has more support for usb-a - my laptop has mostly usb-a, even new model motherboards for building my kids gaming computers are mostly usb-a, I don’t see a good selection of usb-c chargers, power banks are still mostly usb-a, keyboards and mice are usb-a, kvms are usb-a, etc

Trying to switch to usb-c has meant more cable types rather than fewer. It has meant buying duplicate chargers and it has meant less convenience where usb-c is not really mainstream yet. Hopefully the market will more fully adopt usb-c quickly but I meant to be a late adopter to this transition and feel almost like an early adopter

Total game changer. Plug all my peripherals into my monitor. USB C from my monitor to my work laptop. After work I plug it into my home desktop. Also just having one charger and one cable for my phone, steam deck and laptop is amazing especially for work trips.

Well, for me, the selling points are:

• Versus earlier versions of USB, it's reversible. This isn't a game changer, I guess, but it's definitely nice to not have to fiddle plugs around all the time.

• I don't know if it's the only form of USB that does USB PD -- I'd guess not -- but in practice, it seems to be pretty strongly associated with USB PD. Having USB PD isn't essential, but it makes charging larger devices, like laptops, a lot more practical. I can lug around a power station that doesn't need to have an embedded inverter.

I still feel that it's kind of physically small and weak compared to USB A. That's an okay tradeoff for small portable devices that don't have the space for larger connectors, but I'm kinda not enthralled about it on desktop. I worry more about bending connectors (and I have bent them before).

So for me, I'd say that it's definitely nice, but not really in a game changing sense. I could do the things it can do in somewhat-worse ways prior to USB-C.

It's pretty cool but like all connectors, it fails eventually.

Not a game changer at all. In fact most of my peripherals still use the older style usb connectors. I’m not planning to run out and buy new everything.

I would like to see appliance chargers switch to USB-C. All these stupid wall warts for electric toothbrushes and shavers are ridiculous.

Now I need to deal with USB-C to micro USB and USB-A for my old devices. Things will be better eventually, I guess, but it's just shifted the annoyance around for now.

My phone is slightly easier to plug in though.

Wasn’t a game changer but I’m finally happy to really only need one cable.

Except maybe some devices (like IoT) that are powered up by an always plugged micro-usb, my cellphone is USB-C for a long time now, and my laptop has 3 USB-C/TB (no A), so it's easier for a couple of stuff. But I have a usb-c hub with multiple USB-A outlet because I still have a couple of devices to plug like keyboard, trackball, webcam, headset, UPS, FTDI stuff, etc.

No more micro-USB plugging/unplugging for phones.

The prob with usb-c is mainly for powering hungry devices, you need 60W cable, 100W cable, 240W cable, etc.