
Ask HN: USB-C Connector Mechanical Durability? - leeoniya
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&#x2F;barrel plug, but the USB-C feels very flimsy.<p>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&#x2F;4&quot; of  plug body for mechanical leverage.<p>What is people&#x27;s experience with the longevity of the USB-C power connectors vs the old barrel plugs?<p>thanks!
======
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.

------
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.

------
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.

------
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.

------
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.

