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this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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Asklemmy
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Magnetic USB connectors are a thing and can save your cables/devices not just from wear and tear (unplugging/replugging constantly) but also from cables being tripped over or otherwise pulled. Highly recommended if you're using VR! Sadly there are no standards to these.
My dad has Parkinson's Disease, so he has poor coordination in his hands and can't plug in small cords like a charging cable.
My sister bought him magnetic USB connectors and it's changed his life! There's a small USB end that plugs into his smartphone port, and the cable connects to it via magnets. Takes my dad almost no effort; he just needs to get his phone near the end of the cable and it latches on.
There are regular charging cables and fast-charging cables. Depending on your device, make sure you know which one you're buying. The regular cables take half a day to charge my phone.
QI charging should also work well for him.
True, but magnetic cables are better. My elderly dad has terrible eyesight and low sensation in his fingers, so unless you have a magnet to properly align the phone on the pad like the iPhones do, wireless charging is unreliable for him. A magnetic connector is better because he only needs it to be near and it will just snap into place.
Are there magnetic USB-C connectors that can do USB 5Gb or even 10Gb?
There are, but are recommended against. Since they expose all the pins in a way it doesn't happen normally in the connector. If a device is not 100% perfectly protected you might send 20V in a data line that's expecting <1V, therefore frying something.
USB 5Gb/s uses voltages > 5V?
(I'm only talking about speed here, not USB-PD.)
No, but laptops often do :)
That'd be USB-PD, not USB 3.
I know.
Bonus tip: get as many as you need, and then a couple more. Sounds like I’m some kind of salesman, but trust me. I bought some to create a simple charging station for my vr controllers. Works great. Now I want some more to charge other things with the cables I already have laying around (I had some more). Didn’t have the right adapter pieced for in my devices. (Needed usb c, only had micro b and lightning). Now, a few years after I bought them to make that charging stand thingy, they don’t sell this exact one anymore. Bummer.
Which brand/type can you recommend? I want some, but I find them hard to search for.
Especially with the amazon whatever slightly matching keywords providing bogus results.