It seems like OEMs are becoming brave enough to stop bundling a USB charging cable in their phone’s packaging.
all thebcables are so fuckin shit. spend an extra cent and make it last, make it braided, make it thick.
But will in no way lower the price accordingly for offering less in the package.
A thing you buy should always include all the things you need to use it. Not just a charger and cable, that includes batteries where relevant.
I disagree. Standards exist so you don’t waste money on things you already own. As long as the package is clear about what it contains.
I kinda think a phone is the one thing that should come with cables. For most people, it is their only device. Nothing else should come with cables.
Hot take, I don’t mind it - my drawer of questionably compliant OEM cables is overflowing. Less plastic waste is a win, as long as everyone sticks to USB-C.
Yeah. But they should literally charge less then. Even if only 5 buckaroos.
The issue is there’s a dozen different types of usb-c and not all cords are compatible with each type.
Not true. There are a dozen different types of knockoff USB-C. If you buy one that meets spec (basically just not the no-name bottom-of-the-barrel e-waste on Amazon) you’re going to get essentially full functionality (meaning high speed data transfer, power delivery, HDMI over USB, etc); and if you need something more, you’re probably going to know what to look for.
and 99% of the use of the cable for most phones is charging… which pretty much any crap cable will do just fine, and fast
and the remaining cables… who is really using weird special modes on cables for their phone?
Using any old cable my phone takes approximately 4 to 5 hours to charge. Using the cable that came with it the phone takes approximately 25 minutes to charge. Literally everyone with fast charging needs the specified cable to get those speeds. Most phones these days support fast charging. So most people use special cables. Now, a lot probably aren’t aware that there’s a difference, hence all these comments, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a difference.
Fast charging modes need fat copper wires.
The cable you get with a phone is going to be the most basic of basic charging cables there is.
Wasnt the case, at least for me. My phone supports up to 30W charging, and the only cable i have that supports that is the one that came with the phone
Literally any USB-C cable supports charging with 60W.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#Power_delivery
Note however that this is not the case for those USB-A to USB-C cables.
Yeah it is nice it can support it, that does however not mean they actually do. There’s so many articles and videos out there around the topic of badly made usb c cables, this is a real issue.
E.g. here since you are probably going to ask for a source https://www.pcworld.com/article/2530811/buying-a-usb-c-cable-watch-out-for-these-6-crucial-gotchas.html
Really your linked article is not very good in my opinion. It just recounts some common ‘wisdom’ without providing any actual data.
Sure, if you got scammed and your cable is not actually a functioning cable, then anything can happen.
However that does not change the fact that any USB-C cable has to support 60W charging.
The cable that comes with my phone is the only way to get full speed charging so that’s false outfight.
So they’ve made a proprietary cable?
Whoopdy-fuck. Most of the bundled cables are absolute shitstring to begin with
With so many non-standard cables and chargers, it’s crazy to me that this is what manufacturers want their customer experience to be. My mom had no idea she was trickle charging for over a year until I visited. Neither the brick or the cable was capable of fast charging. She said it took all night to charge, like that’s a normal thing. She’s not into electronic tech and I’d imagine she’s not the only one in the world.
Non standard cables and chargers either wouldn’t connect, wouldn’t charge, or would burn something up if you used the wrong one.
Non-standard as in there’s no standard in cables. Some support fast charging some don’t. Some support hdmi, some don’t support data at all. They won’t catch fire to anything. If the bricks are under powered because they were meant for a kids toy it won’t catch fire, it just won’t charge as fast.
If a manufacturer suddenly decides to support 500W charging, none of us will have the gear to support that and companies like Anker or UGREEN will be more than willing to price gouge the cables and bricks we would need. It’s already happening at 65W.
There are lots of standards for charging over USB such as PD. Many of those standards have multiple versions since newer devices keep needing more power. That’s to be expected of an interface that’s been around for almost 30 years. If every device came with a 240W USB PD charger, the price would increase by over USD $100, not to mention the only model I’ve seen is the size of a brick.
Good, everyone has enough USB cables by now, and they’re not expensive if you don’t.
And the ones that come with the phone are ahort and shitty.
That said, one thing that OEMs never say out publicly is that they are also saving a ton of money by retaining their device’s price tag and still ditching accessories in the process.
I guessed so.
But wouldn’t it be equally valid to frame it the other way around that so far we have paid for them to be included, whether we like it or not?
I mean the price to manufacture them doesn’t change and companies werent charities before either.
Feels like in a functioning market this should just sort itself out. At least if it is transparent whether the phone includes accessories or not. People could factor this into their pricing decision.
The more interesting argument imo is the one another comment in this thread made, that this way miss match between phone and charger/cable capabilities might happen. Which seems like a double edged sword. One the one hand manufacturers can advertise great charging speeds and people might not realize that only expensive chargers might be able to achieve those. On the other hand as the comment points out customers might not get the expected performance leading to frustration and negative associations with the particular brand.
But wouldn’t it be equally valid to frame it the other way around that so far we have paid for them to be included, whether we like it or not?
But then you have it. Sell it, put it in another room, give it away. They should lower the phone price by the amount of whatever they charge for the charger. They should also give buyers the option to have it included or not, especially in this economy.
My main point was that you pay for it regardless. All the things you list i can also do with a cable i simply purchase seperately. But the difference here is that i can either choose not to buy one, if i don’t need it. Or purchase a specific one e.g. a very long one, if i prefer that over the standard short one.
I doubt most manufacturers would lower the price when stopping to include them, but they might delay raising it for a while. In any case i think the economic mechanism (at least in an idealistic setting) is logical.
I don’t think it would logistically make sense to have versions with and without accessories included, since that instantly doubles the version count. But most if not all places that sell phones also sell cables/chargers. So in that way the choice already exists.
That said i think this line of thinking mostly works because we have standardized on USB-C for quite a while now, so the assumption that most people already have access to a cable is valid. This would be different if they’d require specific cables like e.g. my garmin watch does, which you wouldn’t normally have and that you’d likely purchase from the same manufacturer. In that case seperating them might have the opposite effect in making the price to consumers less transparent.
Also i could get behind the idea that not including something like a cable would require a prominent warning lable that “a cable or wireless charger (if applicable)” is required for longterm use.
BTW you can get Garmin to USB-C little adapters, they come in quite handy.
Because Walmart and dollar store cords are of equal quality?
I’m honestly not sure (given the price the cable likely adds to the price of the device vs the quality/longevity of the cable) that I want it. Apple has been notorious for selling their charging cables at a premium while making them basically as cheaply as possibly. Other companies have literally made their brand on being better than the OEM cables and chargers you get with devices.
Other phone manufacturers aren’t exempt from the phone cable failure thing either. It’s crazy to me that they were allowed to sell such shoddy accessories in the first place.
When you add in the ways that countries are trying to cut down on e-waste I can’t say I’m surprised.
Phones may come without a Phone in the future, if OEMs have their way
Clearly their ultimate goal
Weren’t we already pissed and over it like 5-10 years ago? Why is this coming up again?
This is one of those “issues” I feel like only people with way too much time on their hands care about, and that’s coming from someone with way too much time on their hands.
Also ignorant people care about it. Somehow thinking that cable is meant for that phone specifically or something like that. Source: Worked in retail
Had a guy on eBay wanting me to overnight a long outdated Fast Ethernet (10/100) switch because theirs had died. I was too late to get the message and lost the sale. Wrote him back saying any switch would work. NOPE. Had to be replaced with the exact model.
That’s okay. I can use one of the 20 cables I have already laying around.
Sony already does this. (Xperia 1 VI)
Their phone box looks like I got it off temu.
My wife will be happy the box of random cables will start growing at a lesser pace
You pay more for less so the numbers go up.
Its just not your numbers.
Ditch your friends and play incremental games instead, i guess.
They will then pocket the savings and remove the unlocked bootloader next.
Most already have.
