Should You Spend Extra On "Certified USB?" 

In 25 years, we'll be looking forward to the day all of the USB specifications become standard.

I’m still looking forward to a more unified experience than the current mess it currently is, like USB PD, or DP Tech, or PCIe Support, 10, 20, 40 Gbps and such, the fragmentation of the features is quite an issue and a big annoyance too, sure cables are easy to replace but it would be nicer to just have One Cable for One Port as it was promised, hopefully it will happen I mean there’s literally Thunderbolt and USB 4 so why not make it mandatory to have it all unified

Hahaha love that they showed off the BUS literally

@@OmegaAdrek what would really help if there were only 3 types of cables. one exclusively for data, one exclusively for power and one that does both. all easily recognized with a quick glance. the thing is the newest chips for the fastest data throughput ceiling will move much faster than power needs so that is a moving target. and economics because excess silicon used for the lowest stuff right.

@@OmegaAdrek then the prices of all usbs may cost more, and there will always be those willing to cut corners to save money and undercut the competition and the fragmentation issue would persist would be my guess

Right?! I can get cables that do what I want pretty easily, though they are pricey. Chargers that work well for everybody though...

On top of that, throwing in cables in the mix that doesn't have data lines. WTF

You should only need power delivery, but then companies do strange stuff! Power Delivery - Programmable Power Supply (USB PD PPS) is a nice bonus.

@@erlendse power delivery is very slow, compared to Qualcomm quick charge for example. OnePlus charging is faster than Samsung fast charging. Samsung fast charging for s22 is 45w and for s21 is 25w. The cables also some work on all devices some only some devices and list goes on and on.

@@Appl_Jax this is exactly one of the biggest problems I face!

That's what I was thinking. Copying a label and typing the word "Certified" isn't exactly hard, so who's being protected by such flimsy standards?

@@flameshana9 anime

@@flameshana9 You don't even need the word, just the logo XD, you can put "USB Compatible" but not the logo unless you get certified

@@flameshana9 "Copying a label" is called fraudulent use of a brand. That means that instead of merely frauding by claiming to be compatible, they are also now breaching another bunch of laws and USBIF can sue instead of getting told "it's an issue between us and our customer". That's also why a movie can self-rate itself as X, but other ratings requires to be approved first.And why open-source projects like Kodi had to register as a brand in order to fight against people selling malicious "loaded boxes" using their software's name. Of course, that means as a customer you shouldn't purchase from random-mashing-letters brand, who are going to be bankrupted in a few months then recreated under a different name. But that's how you avoid scammers to begin with.

The 'average' person just goes for cheap with good reviews. The person who knows better actually reads/understands the specs of the device in question.

@@pyromethious actually the best way to buy usb stuff is to read the reviews, the specs mean nothing since a lot of companies straight up lie. But if a product has thousands of good reviews then you can trust it.

lol you claim to be a nerd but I doubt you are if you can't find a simple charger, just find a charger+cable combo that supports quickcharge up to the Wattage your Phone can charge.

@@xorkatoss a nerd would never look up on Amazon and instead buys OEM charger or cable

It's pretty easy, they buy cheapest, most expensive or most appealing for them

That's not simplification IMO, that's obfuscation. I know how fast n is. Wi-Fi 4 only tells me it's two gens old.

@@samiraperi467 but wifi 4 is n

Would be nice if they just put the max speed on there - much simpler for everyone.

@@samiraperi467 you know how fast n is because you’re crazy. “n” tells you just as much information about speed as 4, while 4 at least has a generational meaning.

Where can I subscribe to that magazine?

That's what they're doing with Labs except it's a website and not a magazine and it'll be free (at least I'm pretty sure the data will be available freely)

@@davidfernelz With the sheer amount of cables that need to be tested it would be difficult to keep up with. For every specific cable that is tested, one needs to test a sample size of at least 10 of those cables to eliminate any bias in the data. Tests would also need to be done repeatedly at least 10 times per cable to get average results across the board. Statistical analysis is a labor intensive process. That is why I suggest that they do a round up every 3 months of a selection of cables and do rigorous testing on those cables. Then, they can update their database every three months with new cables that are tested. The reason I suggest they charge money for the information is to justify the cost of labor and equipment that goes into testing.

If they even list the specs

This is especially bad for cables. Takes 20 minutes to find a proper one for your spec.

@@pali1H I've found Best Buy makes it way easier to get safety certified and USB certified cables. Their Insignia chargers and cables are really good.

@@pali1H I just don't get them on Amazon tbh. That goes for anything that needs precise specs. Even if it meets the spec, was it mixed with a knockoff that doesnt?

@@adaml.5355 only problem is that unless you work at Best Buy the cables are a lot more expensive than their equivalents on Amazon most of the time

the irony, I know.

Thats a good marker for a guaranteed good cable though if you ever need a cable longer than 6 ft, you'll have to start reconsidering your options. Then again, if you need a longer cable, its usually just for charging, so a 10ft 240w cable will cover that case - just need to make sure its labeled. a maximum of 2 different considerations for all devices? thats pretty awesome! hell, even if the cables are expensive, you wont need to buy them often, considering very few of these cables will ever get outdated for the vast majority of your devices. spend a bunch now, and never need to buy a cable again! even beefy gaming laptops wont need more than 240w (desktop-in-laptop style ones that do take more dont really count i think)

And this is why I avoid Amazon and have chosen to shop locally.

@@trparky actually, i would argue that amazon is the perfect option. local places *dont* get pulled down, and can more easily scam you. with amazon, at least you know you can just return it

@@TekExplorer When I say locally I mean places like Best Buy or Microcenter.

But who's gonna certify you? 🤔

@@bwabbel And who is gonna certify the guy who is certifying him?

Who certifies the certifiers?

Yeah but then you need to go see what was added that year. The current way is really good. Its usb type - speed - wattage , is missing protocols and emarkers, chip support, etc but it’s a step

gbps? Gb/s or GB/s?

Terrible idea. Who would want to stamp on their product "USB-A 2000"?! (that's USB 2.0 typically used on mice/keyboards)

@@Szklana147 It's usually gigabits per second in usb/networking standards

Standards that are easily understood by consumers are not allowed. The standards must be as incomprehensible as possible and require hours of research to understand.

I mean, some are interchangable. A friend of mine (lenovo laptop, I also have a lenovo laptop) ran out of battery, so I offered my charger, we don't have the same model, maybe not even the same model series/lineup/naming scheme. My charger worked for them, beforehand I didn't know if it would work, but it seemed to work.

USB C with PD is quite nice indeed. The laptop knows the maximum power of the charger and will limit itself to that power-level. The other strange "not quite USB" on the other hand is less optimal.

If they have the same plug, they are interchangeable, no matter if yours is 150w and your friends let you his 90w one. The only thing can happen is a slower charge.

The type B connector side of the cable has always been a random hodgepoge of different connectors. The reason it's universal is because on the other side, the type A connector would always be the same. This wasn't ever really a problem, because devices would ship with a cable that has their particular type B version, but be able to plug into whatever female type A port that they want. Type C, however, is an attempt to partially replace type A and completely replace type B, so the standard is more "universal" than it's ever been.

@@erlendse But then you've got devices that won't charge with certain chargers because their "universal bus" isn't the "correct" one. Completely defeating the concept of universality.

i mean, to be fair anker-branded chargers are usually solid - even if the other thing is... not great

amazon is also good for this, since you can usually just return it if its not satisfactory

He sure did

✔Certifiedly certified.

Hello

i wish the standard would consolidate more and have each version of usb BE the lesser version. USB 4 == ALL USB features, at 40gbps 240w Thunderbolt 4 == ALL of USB 4, plus ALL of Thunderbolt 4 and each newer version is strictly the max of its spec. if you dont need such wild specs, just get a different version. unfortunately, they muddled the spec far too early. they should have kept it strict from the very beginning of type c

Which OG USB form factor? USB-A?

@@moonrazk probably. he might also be referring to the type a blue ports that indicate 3.0

@@TekExplorer I just can't see how anyone can claim USB-A is better than USB-C.

na amazon and aliexpress don't suck its the buyers that are to guilable for everything their third party store platforms if you fall for a scam often its on your ass if you purchase a futuristic flying car from aliexpress and receive a tiny car then do the math there are no real flying cars there is a hovering car but that's as best it gets and it wont be like 30 euro aliexpress : i have yet to be scammed i purchased a lot of stuff on there over the years what i do notice is with electronics that while the internals work to spec the materials are crappy but i don't throw my stuff against the wall so i can fully accept this as a compensation for being cheap just don't think your getting a gaming pc or monitor or any large electronic device from there (if your searching a cheap set of headphones you cant go bad with the bluedio t2 their bass boosted but from every dirt-cheap headphones i found them still the best) amazon : i have yet to receive a bad product in fact i got the samsung c49rg90 monitor from there second hand for 720 euro while it normally costs over a 1000 monitor was flickering but firmware update fixed it no scratches no nothing 100% working monitor but this is just the case of someone purchasing the monitor not knowing that there is a firmware update out to fix the flickering issue purchased replacement pistons and vesa wall brackets, microphone, studio headphones, pc case and tools from them aswel all of them were 100% working as they should so i'm sorry for your experience but often there may be more factors in play then the seller it might be also due to regional differences as i life in netherland and it may be that your postal services are just a bunch of aholes that just throw your products into the fan even if it says fragile

I've literally never had a problem with Amazon. It doesn't exactly take a professional detective to tell what stuff is garbage and what stuff comes from reputable brands. Do your research and due diligence on anything you buy, rather than just tell people that there isn't any worth in trying to vett anything for sale online.

@@nef36 this

@@ordinary_windy-chan That

I've seen plenty if example of the Amazon verified official store of a trusted company selling either exact same product cheaper on amazon than on their own website. Samsung is the main example, a USB C drive from samsung's official verified amazon store is £2 cheaper than buying through the Samsung website