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Ask HN: USB-C Connector Mechanical Durability?

5 points by leeoniya ↗ HN
I recently upgraded and old Lenovo laptop to a new one which uses a USB-C charging connector. The old connector was a sturdy cylindrical/barrel plug, but the USB-C feels very flimsy.

I believe the flimsiness is an intentional design choice for USB-C connectors, but it does not instill much confidence that it will last as long as the old one (many years), and that i can easily damage the female part of it (in the laptop, PITA to replace). Every time i plug my laptop into power and the power cable runs off the table, the connector is at all sorts of angles, with seemingly only 1/4" of plug body for mechanical leverage.

What is people's experience with the longevity of the USB-C power connectors vs the old barrel plugs?

thanks!

5 comments

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phendrenad2
It's probably too early to say, as most laptops only started using USB-C a few years ago. My experience has been that they are durable enough for charging, but can be very flakey for data purposes. I have to plug and unplug my USB-C dock several times to get DisplayPort passthrough to work, for instance.
detaro
FWIW, the round Lenovo plugs weren't that great either in my experience, but on a swappable module, so easy to fix once they broke. I hope they kept that, at least for the chunkier models.
Firerouge
At this point I've had 3 phones with USB-C.

My first, a Nexus 6P, eventually had it's connector fail to tightly grip any cables, resulting in an easy to disconnect connection. While this sounds like the common USB-C problem of lint/material in the phone side, no amount of cleaning ever fixed it.

The second phone, also a 6P had no issues.

My current, a Pixel 2XL has had the phone side connector metal slightly bent inwards from a bump, resulting in a quite sturdy connection.

So far I haven't had any cable connectors fail for me.

PaulHoule
I have seen some USB-C devices (laptops, tablets) where the USB-C connector doesn't seem well connected to the motherboard and for which I imagine it might fail quickly. Other devices and sometimes other connectors on the same device seem better.

I've had Lenovo and Dell windows-based desktop replacement laptops and I'd say both USB 3 and USB-C ports are iffy in various ways. My Dell at work works perfectly with a Dell dock. I've never found a USB 3 or USB-C dock that works right with my slightly older Alienware (also Dell) laptop, although I've had good luck with monitors that do both USB-C /Thunderbolt and video on the same card. I think macs do better than in that department, particularly in how fast they can inspect the USB-C bus and connector all the devices.

thorin
Certainly in phones e.g. Galaxy range, USB-C initially seemed much more positive than micro-USB which always broke/degraded after a year or 2. Now after a year or 2 again the connection is very dodgy, this is on the phone end. I'm not sure how this can be improved but at the moment it seems like a massive scam to end-life a perfectly good phone. The other issue was phone batteries whose lifetime seems way worse than laptop batteries (for instance).

Sorry I don't have any experience of usb C laptop connections.