LTT has created true spec cables with the actual spec mentioned on the cables but they can not keep up with demand despite being expensive get sold out as soon as new stock comes in.
Interestingly, I have found a very mixed bag of USB-C cables I've collected over the years to generally just work for all my use cases. I can charge my various USB-C laptops at 65W with all the USB-C cables I have on hand. Maybe it's just my habit of just buying cables from known brands (Belkin is normally my go to) but I also have random cables that came with various devices of varying quality and all these also work just fine. I have a 6-port charging hub so I can see the charging wattage and I can easily get 65W to various laptops and a high capacity power bank, regardless of the cable being used. All cables also work fine for data transfer, although I confess I use USB-C for data transfer rarely so it is possible there is some variability there. YMMV but I wonder how much of this issue is just crappy low-end cables?
Every not-broken USB C cable allows for 480Mbps USB 2 speeds and 60W charging. In USB C terms, it doesn't get any more basic than this; that's as low-and-slow the specification tolerates.
The issues come into play with going beyond that. USB 3 speeds? USB 4? Thunderbolt? DisplayPort (4k uncompressed video!) alt modes? 240W charging? These are all practical things that regular people use USB C cables for every day, but they require very specific support from the cables themselves, and that support is widely varied.
Your cables work fine for what you're doing with them, but you're really barely scratching the surface of the kinds of things that can be done. :)
It's surprising to me you've been that lucky with Belkin. They do not have a good reputation. Maybe cables are easy so that's an easy bar to pass.
What 6 port charging hub do you have? I have a broken UGREEN one.
As always, these testers (the affordable ones) are capable of testing continuity, and, I guess, the cable chip report.
If you want to test bandwidth, that's a five- or six-figure bit of gear.
Verge recently posted this (free) app for testing on Mac's: https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/963759/whatcable-usb-c-cabl...
This effectively only tells you what the E-Marker reports though, the actual capabilities of the cable are still unknown.
You can say the cable can do whatever you want on the E-Marker, its not the source of truth.
The problem is, to actually benchmark everything, voltage drop, resistance, actual bandwidth (especially at Thunderbolt 5 speeds) requires a lot of hardware.
Using a USB-C Test Controller ($13,000), connected to a Pro Keysight Infiniium oscilloscope ($258,809) is the proper way to test it. https://www.keysight.com/au/en/product/N7018A/type-c-test-co...
They are just catching up with ShowHN:
It's not actually free, it's $14 to unlock all the features.
Can't actually read the Verge without a subscription either.
The whole space is so scammy that I'd pay for a good USB-C cable tester
But how can we know which tester is good and which one is scammy?
With a USB-C cable tester tester, of course.
I’ll bust your trace buster buster!
The Anker Prime 160W power brick shows the maximum wattage when you plug a cable. It is also surprisingly small.
I don't think there's a USB-C charger out there that can actually pump out anything close to their rated maximum.
Started using whatcable.uk app. Been amazing at finally knowing cable speed, but also device max speeds, and everything in between, without having to carry around one of those digital dongles with more limited use.
Is there a cheap, reliable tester that someone can recommend that will test multiple USB cable types (A, micro & C)?
$45 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYJL5Z67
This is the one I use and I quite like it. I've had it for a little over a year and a half. I used it to sort (or trash) all my cables and to test new incoming cables.
I'm not so sure about cheap. All the cheap ones I've tried have been pretty flaky, and ended up in the junk bin. I picked up this guy for work: https://bit-trade-one.co.jp/en/adusbcim/ and it's been pretty good. That was a while ago though, and some of the cheaper ones might have caught up.
I'd like a HDMI cable tester as well, I can't seem to find one that works well with my high refresh monitor.
If you want a super fast cable and high power thats where they get pricey. "Charge only" cables can often be fairly cheap and perform well even for laptops and high draw devices.
Just measuring the power info is limited use. I'm sure there's value for some people, but I only need to keep track of 0-2 high power cables.
> Your no-brand 480Mbps USB 2.0 cable is indistinguishable from the super-fast USB 4 cable that can move 40 gigabits (around 5 gigabytes) of data every single second.
One of those is way thicker than the other, at least.
I would love for something to force a speed and power rating on USB-C plugs.
> I would love for something to force a speed and power rating on USB-C plugs.
This already exists. Cable makers can certify their cables and mark them with their data speed and wattage.
I buy only certified, marked cables. If I see an unmarked cable, I assume it’s slow and low-powered…which is good enough for some things.
> One of those is way thicker than the other, at least.
I bet there's at least one brand with extra–thick plastic insulation.
Isnt this what "USB-IF certified" is supposed to guarantee?
USB-IF certified is a certification that the cable follows the spec, but that spans usb 2.0-only cables up to USB4v2 cables. The tester shows you what the capabilities are.
Yes, there's even a spec here: https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/usb_type-c_cable_log...
The cables are supposed to be labelled with their maximum speed (5, 10, 20, 40, or 80 Gbps or nothing if no data) and maximum wattage (60W or 240W).
HOWEVER, I don't remember ever seeing a cable with such a label. I'm sure they exist, but I don't see them. Requiring products to be labelled, and treating mislabelling as fraud, could mostly solve this. It's definitely a real problem.
> Requiring products to be labelled, and treating mislabelling as fraud, could mostly solve this.
There are too many manufacturers to hunt. Basically USB-IF needs to stop almost all shipments in the world. That's not going to happen.
USB spec is completely open and free to obtain. While it allows people to develop and DIY many things, it also attracts bad manufacturers like flies.
Good certified cables with correct markings exist. There are companies like Cable Matters or Startech who bother to actually certify their cables and get USB-IF TIDs. They do cost you quite a bit money though. Here are some:
https://www.cablematters.com/pc-1532-123-usb-c-20-charging-c...
https://www.cablematters.com/pc-858-123-usb-if-certified-usb...
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Instead of using a dedicated device, on Macs you can also use the WhatCable app:
hmm, how about just being able to infer the features of a cable by it's physical form factor? oh wait...
then you have a bunch of cables and wires that with all different types of connector that you can 'easily' identify which one is for which device. sounds familiar hah
They are not TB5 compatible though, and if you are going to drive monitors through it, or connect external GPU, 120Gbit (TB5) is much better than 40Gbit TB4 gives you. If you are willing to pay a bit more, consider TB5 cables from CalDigit, StarTech, CableMatters, or Apple.
By chance, has anyone tested Cable Matters' cables?
I just bought a couple of their Thunderbolt™ 5 cables. They seem like a reputable company that would make their cables true-to-spec. Thanks in advance!
We had good results testing Cable Matters stuff here at work, but that was for non-critical use so I didn't go too hard on the tests. (Actually, I didn't go too hard on any of it since it was mostly make-work from a manager trying to cause trouble, but still....)
I was quite impressed by GlobTek (available at Digi-Key) and have been buying those when I need something nice. Their USB-C line are some of the best I've seen, not that I'm a connoisseur.
I bought a 3-meter long USB C cable from them for data and display transfer, which turned out to be the only USB C cable of that length capable of driving my display at its full resolution and framerate. However, after a year of use, it stopped transferring any sort of data. So while they're probably up to spec, the quality isn't necessarily what their pricing may suggest.
Support allowed me to send it back for replacement as a "one-time exception", though I was well within the common 2-year warranty period in the EU.
I've not spec tested them, but astronomy gear is notoriously picky about USB cables and since I switched all of my cables to cable matters a lot of weird behaviors just stopped happening
They are excellent.
They also crackle out of the package, or at least the 5 I got did. Kind of sound like the thin glow sticks a bit.
I have a few of these cables, pretty decent although I think the USB-C ports are a bit too thin? They feel lose in multiple of my devices
I managed to get a few and so far am impressed. They are definitely on the chunky side but that probably comes with the durability