Cable Purchasing Guide
We live in an age where there are countless USB Type-C cables.
Some people buy at the store in front of their house, while others buy popular products online.
However, not all cables available on the market are made to the USB standard.
Using A to C cables that are not compliant with the standard, especially like the Nintendo Switch type-C incident, can lead to device malfunctions.
Moreover, a higher price doesn’t necessarily guarantee better quality, and being made with aluminum and fabric for the exterior materials doesn’t automatically make it good.
Today, I would like to point out what to consider when purchasing a USB Type-C charging cable.
Among these are some related to safety, so please take a look at them at least once.
The Seam on the Connector
The seam on the USB connector affects durability.
The UGREEN product on the left has a smooth connector without seams, while the genuine Samsung product on the right has a seam in the middle of the connector.
It cannot be said that ‘all connectors with seams are not durable’, but it is true that connectors without seams are at least more advantageous in terms of physical durability.
I also once accidentally stepped on a cable connector, causing the seam to collapse and become damaged.
Cable Materials
In general, cable materials are divided into fabric (braided nylon, fabric, rope type) types and general PVC (round type, most common material) types.
The most commonly used PVC type has the advantage of being flexible but has the disadvantage of being prone to twisting and cracking as it ages over time.
The fabric type has the advantage of being resistant to twisting and cracking but has the disadvantage of being a bit stiffer and more expensive than PVC.
I recommend the fabric type.
This is because there is less twisting and overall durability compared to PVC, and the price difference is not that much.
Maximum Current
If you look at the cable product description, some products support 100W or 60W.
When looking at a cable, look at the maximum allowable current.
100W means supporting 5A at 20V, so it actually supports 5A.
60W means supporting 3A at 20V, so it actually supports 3A.
Most fast-charging cables are of these two types.
If you look just for a cheap one, you will find that only supports 1A (actually 5W)…
A 3A cable is sufficient for general fast charging (Samsung Super Fast Charging, Xiaomi 33W Charging, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, Apple 30W Charging, etc.), but fast charging that needs to support more output than this (Samsung Super Fast Charging 2.0, Xiaomi 67W Charging, laptop PD charging, etc.), a cable of 5A or higher must be used.
You can choose one according to your purpose, but I recommend 5A because if you buy a 5A cable, you can do all the charging that requires 3A.
56KΩ Resistor
The Nintendo Switch type-C incident mentioned above occurred because of the charging cable that did not adhere to the 56KΩ standard resistance.
This information is not very relevant for C to C, but it is important for A to C (a cable with type-A on one end and type-C on the other end).
If a cable that does not comply with this standard is connected to a charger that supports less than 3A, the cable will pull more current than the charger allows, causing the charger to catch fire or malfunction.
If you are planning to purchase an A to C cable, you need to check if there is any mention of this 56KΩ standard resistance.
E-Marker
Type C cables have a CC pin, and the E-Marker chip allows high-output charging depending on their performance.
Not only this, but it also has a built-in temperature sensor, making it safer to use.
Cables exceeding 60W, that is, supporting 5A, must be equipped with an E-Marker chip.
When purchasing a 100W cable (supporting 5A), you must check whether the above chip is installed.
Cable Length
As the length of the cable increases, the voltage drop occurs.
Simply put, the longer the length, the lower the transmitted voltage is due to energy loss.
This is an experience, when I connected the 2m cable to the Xiaomi 33W charging device, only fast charging, not Mi Turbo Charge, appeared, but when I connected the 1.5m cable of the same product, Mi Turbo Charge appeared right away.
This seems to be due to a voltage drop as the cable length increases, but unless a long length is necessary, choosing a length of less than 2m seems to be better for charging speed.
Data Transfer
Not all Type-C cables provide display mirroring, and not all A-to-C cables can be used with a computer and transfer data.
The charging cable that comes with a Bluetooth speaker or headphones is most likely a charging-only cable that does not have a data transmission function.
Unless there is a crappy cable like the one above, a typical USB charging cable includes a data transmission function.
It is usually one of three: 480Mbps, 5Gbps, and 10Gbps.
480Mbps is USB 2.0 speed, which can theoretically achieve 60MB/s.
Usually, 40MB/s is considered the actual limit.
This is sufficient for simple data transfer between a mobile phone and a PC or for connecting to a USB DAC.
Most charging cables with data transfer capabilities support this speed.
5Gbps is the speed of USB 3.0 (= USB 3.1 Gen 1 = USB 3.2 Gen 1), which can theoretically achieve 625MB/s.
It is used when transferring large files or data is required, such as connecting an external hard drive or SSD.
10Gbps is the speed of USB 3.1 (= USB 3.1 Gen 2 = USB 3.2 Gen 1×2 = USB 3.2 Gen 2×1), which can theoretically achieve 1.25GB/s.
Use this if the above 5Gbps speed is not enough.
Additionally, if you want to use the display transmission function (the connection between monitor and mobile phone, Samsung Dex, etc.), you must check whether the cable supports the DP-Alt function separately from the data transmission function.
Manufacturer
In fact, among the brands that come up when you search for type-C cables on Amazon or Aliexpress, some brands design and produce their products, but many products are simply imported from China and sold with their logo printed.
USB is an international standard, so buying a brand from a member company of the USB Association will be better than buying a brand that just sells Chinese products.
Just because a product is not from a USB association company does not mean that it is a crappy product, but at least the probability that a company that is a member of the USB association sells a crappy product is much lower.
You can search for registered member companies on the USB Association official website below.
https://www.usb.org/members
When I searched, the registered companies that are popular in South Korea were Apple, Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, UGREEN, Artmu, and Spigen.
I searched for brands I knew, and the above were all that came up.
Cable Recommendation
UGREEN 100W 5A C to C
I personally like UGREEN.
As mentioned above, it is a brand registered with the USB-IF Association, most cables comply with the standards, the quality is good and the price is reasonable.
I usually buy this on Aliexpress.
Among the UGREEN cables, the one I use is the 100W 5A C to C metal product.
The finish of the metal housing is excellent, and the quality of the connector appears to be quite good.
The seamless connector mentioned above is adopted, and the E-Marker chipset is included.
I have been using the A to C 3A cable with the same finish as this one for over 4 years, and it is still working well without any problems.
I am also really satisfied with the finish of the fabric cable.
Cheap fabric cables tend to fray easily, but this product maintains good quality even after being used for more than 4 years.
Charging performance was also tested using this cable in the ASOMETECH 140W GaN charger review, and it worked well with Samsung Super Fast Charging 2.0, 65W PD charging, and Xiaomi Mi Turbo Charge (33W).
https://aliexpress.com/item/32864276247.html
Link to purchase the product. I get nothing.