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Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Has Anyone Besides Me Found USB-C Connectors Do Not Stay Plugged In?

USB-C is apparently the coming thing.  My ASUS phone uses one.  The charging cord comes out so easily that it nearly impossible to recharge the phone except on a flat table.  I know that being symmetrical is a good thing: you can't try to plug it in upside down (which often damages the micro USB plugs or sockets).  But is there some wauy to improve retention?  If I was 5mm tall, I would go in there with the world's tiniest jack.  Of course, my BMI would be frightening.

Commenters have pointed out that I am not the only complainer about the ASUS.  It seems to be cable specific.

This video suggested cleaning out socket and plug with something very fine.  A commenter suggested the plastic end of one of those flossers.  Prooblem solved!

10 comments:

  1. That's not normal, no. USB C connectors should fit snugly in the socket and stay there by pressure. Is this a third-party cable or the one that came with the phone?

    I have a couple of phones and two computers with USB C, and a bunch of cables, and I've never run into a situation where the cable falls out.

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  2. Is this an Asus ZenFone V Live? I did find a review on Amazon of that phone where someone reported the same problem, that the cable would just fall out.

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  3. I've had a USB-C phone (Windows Lumia 950) for a few years, never had a problem with any of my connectors.

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  4. I have found that they do far better than other USB styles in remaining solid, after multiple uses...

    Perhaps you need better cables? The AMazon Basics line seems quite good, both in technical terms and value.

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  5. Dell's latest docking station uses USB-C to connect to the laptop. Power and data in one connection without actually having to dock. Good thing, right?

    They cord ends are VERY delicate and the socket in the laptop isn't too great either. So I vote NO...not a good thing.

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  6. If your phone is new enough to use USB-C, it may be compatible with wireless charging. I never gave that much thought until my wife's Note 4's USB connector failed from years of plugging and unplugging it to charge it. Now, neither of our phones run that risk with wireless charging pads (only $10 each). Nice to just place the phone on the nightstand when going to sleep and pick it up in the morning. Or doing so in the nightstand drawer so the cat's don't knock it off the wireless pad...

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  7. My MacBook Pro and my Google Pixel II use this exclusively. I have had no problem with cords falling out.

    On my MacBook the only interface (other than RF) for anything, even power, is through USB-C. Normally, that computer sits on a shelf near my monitor. Plugged into it is a USB-C multiadapter and a USB-C cord for the phone, since I do development on the phone. Plugged into the multiadapter is, among other things, a USB-C cable from the power supply.

    No problem, ever, with this.

    In my car, I put the phone on a little holder/amplifier on a dash vent. It is plugged in via USB-C to a charger. Again, no problem with it coming off.

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  8. Get a thin piece of plastic and see if you can pull any lint out of the USB-C port. My phone wouldn't stay plugged in when in the car in a phone mount (with a vertical orientation) and I discovered the port had enough lint in it the cable wasn't seating deeply...

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  9. I suspect that some manufacturer's aren't using good USB-C connectors. As I mentioned above, I have no problem, either with my Apple product (MacBook Pro 2017) or my Google Pixel 2.

    One advantage of these connectors is that you don't have to worry about where the top is. Both orientations work.

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  10. The USB C connector on my Pixel 2 XL is incredibly tight after a year and a half where it is generally plugged and unplugged multiple times per day. Had to jack on my brakes in the car just yesterday and hauled my phone out of the passenger side footwell with the cable, the entire phone's weight can still be lifted without the connector coming loose.

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