EU wants every smartphone and tablet to charge by micro-USB

[as_good_as_dead]

Oh, god you're bunch of crybabies! Never had any problems with it personally, and I am not gonna change my attitude, just because Linus, the God, said the micro usb is terrible. You know what is/was terrible? THE CHARGER OF DUMB PHONE, CALLED SONY ERICSSON! Oh, I hate that thing.

[Simon]

"The newer Micro-USB receptacles are designed for up to 10,000 cycles of insertion and removal between the receptacle and plug, compared to 1,500 for the standard USB and 5,000 for the Mini-USB receptacle." -Wikipedia

 

GG Linus

 

Does anyone know if this is true? :huh: Micro-USB looks much more fragile than Mini-USB in my opinion.

[lutzee]

Okay,

 

Someone find me a phone released in the last 2 years excluding apple products that uses something other than microUSB

 

Currently I can list phones from:

Samsung

HTC

BlackBerry

Nokia

LG

Google

Motorola

Sony

ZTE

Huawei

Lenovo

TCL

 

All these manufacturers use microUSB in all their new devices, and the only company that hasn't is apple.

If these companies thought that MicroUSB was really that bad they would have objected rather than happily adopting the standard. 

 

Also my personal experience is mixed, ~4 years ago I owned an LG Cookie that had microUSB and it was terrible from the start, but things have been getting better, my HTC One S was a lot better, and I recently picked up a Nexus 7 and its way way better than the HTC too.

I feel where microUSB does have some problems a lot of worries have been addressed by actually just producing them to a higher standard.

At this point I don't have any problems with using MicroUSB.

 

Of course! 

Manufacturers need to start including Qi Charging compatibility into devices! 

[Timmyfox]

Honestly.. I like the idea of having a universal connector. It's good thinking to use connector that fits all devices (would like to see this as well on laptops and other such devices).

 

However I really don't think that Micro USB is the best connector to use. I, myself, have not had any real issues with it, but I know others that do and we all know Linus and many others hate it for a good reason. I do honestly like Apples Lightning connector, it's simple, robust, small and all that. If we could get a standard that could be something like that but non-propietary, it would probably be the greatest thing ever.

[MeltyMoon]

I've never had any problems with the micro usb connector. You sure some of you guys just hate it because Linus does too?  :unsure:

[Hara-K1ri]

I guess this is meant as micro USB port being the standard on your phone/tablet, while adding a micro USB to USB cable for charging/hooking up to your computer, etc?

 

In all honesty, everyone here at home has a smartphone (4 people), all with micro USB ports, for years now. We never had ANY port or plug damaged, every cable we have here still works perfectly, our smartphones/dad's tablet charges just like it did when we bought it. I really don't see the big problem.

 

Either that, or as others mentioned, any port-to-USB would be fine, if the cable is provided with the product you purchase. Even though I'd have to say I wouldn't mind only needing 1 cable for both my smartphone and my Samsung tablet.

[tomekh]

Why does everyone hate micro usb? I have never had any problems with it.

The ports are so weak, both the Female (inside) and Male ends break easily .-.

[1randomkiwi]

Well I have no objection to micro-USB.

I've never had a problem, nor have I heard of someone having a problem with them.
On the other hand the new Apple Lightning cables are quite fragile and I've heard of many breaking.

Sure mini-USB is probably a more durable connector due to it's larger profile but micro-USB is so much slimmer and with proper cables that actually lock into the devices ports it can be very secure.

I really don't see why everyone is bagging micro-USB. People need to remember that, as with most technology, it's not indestructible.
Look after micro-USB and it will look after you 

[LinusTech]

My problem with micro usb has less to do with how many connections it's rated for and more to do with how fragile it is.

Maybe it would survive a million times being *carefully* inserted and pulled out but that's not the real world.

In the real world we grab a portable battery bank and our phone, plug em together, and Chuck them in our backpacks, or we put our phones on our nightstands to charge where they're safe.. until our cats knock them down.

That's my problem. Whatever theory exists about that connector it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fact that in the real world accidents happen.

[TyagoDani]

i don't hate micro usb but that conector is the worst thing to charge tablets!!!

[Dravic]

My problem with micro usb has less to do with how many connections it's rated for and more to do with how fragile it is.

Maybe it would survive a million times being *carefully* inserted and pulled out but that's not the real world.

In the real world we grab a portable battery bank and our phone, plug em together, and Chuck them in our backpacks, or we put our phones on our nightstands to charge where they're safe.. until our cats knock them down.

That's my problem. Whatever theory exists about that connector it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fact that in the real world accidents happen.

 

So true.

 

But... Linus, you've just made 666th post.

 

You're one hell of a poster, if you know what I mean

[GrievingJosh]

Micro USB is the cheapest, flimsiest, most awful connector ever and I swear to god if the EU implements this I am leaving to move to Canada or something. AT LEAST PUT A BLOODY LOCKING CLIP ON THE CONNECTOR FOR GODS SAKE.

[Salmiakbal]

This is pretty old news, I can remember this being in the news about a year ago or so

I don't see why so many people hate micro usb. Probably because Linus hates it?

I think it's a good move to be honest. Apple is alright because they carry micro-usb/lightning port dongles

[Mac]

Isn't it just Apple who aren't doing this already?

 

The answer:

[xBlizzDevious]

A single, universal connector. Yes, please. But not micro-USB!!!!!!!!

[lutzee]

My problem with micro usb has less to do with how many connections it's rated for and more to do with how fragile it is.

Maybe it would survive a million times being *carefully* inserted and pulled out but that's not the real world.

In the real world we grab a portable battery bank and our phone, plug em together, and Chuck them in our backpacks, or we put our phones on our nightstands to charge where they're safe.. until our cats knock them down.

That's my problem. Whatever theory exists about that connector it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fact that in the real world accidents happen.

 

Okay to further my point about my previous post,

I've never been really gentle with the connector, I often grab the cable and pull my phone around by the connector, pick it up by the cable, yet I haven't really seen much problems, sure maybe my phones connector is loose but also its 2 years old and probably well into the 10,000 rated connects/disconnects.

The only thing one may accidentally do is break the connector across the flat edge. Yet, I've not had that ever, and my phone sits on the bed beside me at night where I could potentially role on it and bend it, but alas I've not had that.

 

Out of curiosity how many connectors have you broken Linus? 

[it24]

I have never had a problem with micro usb connectors, never had a single one break.

[Salmiakbal]

Okay to further my point about my previous post,

I've never been really gentle with the connector, I often grab the cable and pull my phone around by the connector, pick it up by the cable, yet I haven't really seen much problems, sure maybe my phones connector is loose but also its 2 years old and probably well into the 10,000 rated connects/disconnects.

The only thing one may accidentally do is break the connector across the flat edge. Yet, I've not had that ever, and my phone sits on the bed beside me at night where I could potentially role on it and bend it, but alas I've not had that.

 

Out of curiosity how many connectors have you broken Linus? 

Same with me. Have been using micro usb for three years now and not a single time has it crapped out on me, even if I try to forcefully plug it in the wrong way around (which I do quite often)

Mini usb is large, bulky and it limits phone thinness

[MikeD]

My problem with micro usb has less to do with how many connections it's rated for and more to do with how fragile it is.

Maybe it would survive a million times being *carefully* inserted and pulled out but that's not the real world.

In the real world we grab a portable battery bank and our phone, plug em together, and Chuck them in our backpacks, or we put our phones on our nightstands to charge where they're safe.. until our cats knock them down.

That's my problem. Whatever theory exists about that connector it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fact that in the real world accidents happen.

 

Accidents do happen, I'll give you that. The connector should be robust.

But there is no excuse to shove our electronics around and then complain that things are broken.

 

I have been using my phone for more than 2 years and the connector is just as good as it was when I bought it.

But I think that this also depends on the quality of the components used (cables).

 

As for it being a standard, it's already one. I don't mind this as long as it evolves as the technology evolves. I just don't want to be stuck with a standard when there is something better out there (and by that I mean some sort of supercharger that is better than any kind of charger nowadays).

Then again, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a standard if we keep changing it. But if what is meant is to be able to go to a hotel and have a charging station for our phones wherever we go then sure, whatever!

Actually, I wish something like that was done for power plugs and sockets. Why so many different shapes/voltages/frequencies?

[Wulfgar]

My problem with micro usb has less to do with how many connections it's rated for and more to do with how fragile it is.

Maybe it would survive a million times being *carefully* inserted and pulled out but that's not the real world.

In the real world we grab a portable battery bank and our phone, plug em together, and Chuck them in our backpacks, or we put our phones on our nightstands to charge where they're safe.. until our cats knock them down.

That's my problem. Whatever theory exists about that connector it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fact that in the real world accidents happen.

 

666 posts, this goes well with the steve jobs-esque profile picture . I think micro USB is too fragile as well. Thankfully, I personally haven't managed to break one yet, but I know many parents with children who demolish the ports on a regular basis. What do you think would be a great port instead of micro-usb?

[dklhs90]

I have never has a problem with micro USB so I cannot complain. Besides with my new Note 3 I use USB 3.0 now...

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 4

[Tomislav Matic]

My problem with micro usb has less to do with how many connections it's rated for and more to do with how fragile it is.

Maybe it would survive a million times being *carefully* inserted and pulled out but that's not the real world.

In the real world we grab a portable battery bank and our phone, plug em together, and Chuck them in our backpacks, or we put our phones on our nightstands to charge where they're safe.. until our cats knock them down.

That's my problem. Whatever theory exists about that connector it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fact that in the real world accidents happen.

Mighty Linus ! I've been watching your videos since 2010 or something  and you have never been a careful person, you tend to throw, and drop things around, so I'm not surprised that you are breaking all those micro usbs. Wile you are right and it's not a rugged plug, let me tell you this : standard usb-I don't know many times I tried to plug in an usb cable/drive in the back of my case in the dark and missed it, I even broken a few USB ports like that...even shortened   a motherboard like that. My point was it was my fault not the plug.   As for the topic, in my family we all use android smartphones from different manufactures and yes they all come with the same microUSB and it is awesome to have the same charger. Back in the days when we had oldschool NOKIA's and Sony cell phones if you have lost or misplaced your charger you were in trouble. SO yeah this is a good idea...why not? should it be microusb? probably not... but micro usb is probably cheaper to implement into a device because a company has to pay royalties for different plugs they use in their devices...so unless someone comes out with a cheap replacement for them to implement we are stuck to microusb... 

[s0nrise]

Not microUSB please, its quite a crappy and fragile connector.

[dklhs90]

Accidents do happen, I'll give you that. The connector should be robust.

But there is no excuse to shove our electronics around and then complain that things are broken.

 

I have been using my phone for more than 2 years and the connector is just as good as it was when I bought it.

But I think that this also depends on the quality of the components used (cables).

 

As for it being a standard, it's already one. I don't mind this as long as it evolves as the technology evolves. I just don't want to be stuck with a standard when there is something better out there (and by that I mean some sort of supercharger that is better than any kind of charger nowadays).

Then again, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a standard if we keep changing it. But if what is meant is to be able to go to a hotel and have a charging station for our phones wherever we go then sure, whatever!

Actually, I wish something like that was done for power plugs and sockets. Why so many different shapes/voltages/frequencies?

I agree. Accidents happen and no one can do anything about it. But taking bad care of your cables and electronics is avoidable. I still have my micro USB cable from my Galaxy S and I am still using it all good. There is no visible defect on in of all the years of use.

[twod]

My problem with micro usb has less to do with how many connections it's rated for and more to do with how fragile it is.

Maybe it would survive a million times being *carefully* inserted and pulled out but that's not the real world.

In the real world we grab a portable battery bank and our phone, plug em together, and Chuck them in our backpacks, or we put our phones on our nightstands to charge where they're safe.. until our cats knock them down.

That's my problem. Whatever theory exists about that connector it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the fact that in the real world accidents happen.

hmm , I have a bunch of devices that use micro-usb has a port. I've never had issues with the port malfunctioning. *knock on wood* though nvr i might now lol.