The sole USB Type-C cable I brought on a recent overseas trip performed erratically, and it wouldn’t work at all on one night. After that, I decided I should look at getting better cables. For charging notebook computers, longer ones would be nice too. That’s when I got this USB Type-C cable from JSAUX.
This cable from JSAUX is a Type-C to Type-C cable that is 2 metres long and supports Power Delivery up to 60 Watts (3 A at 20 V). It is nylon braided, and even though it makes no claims about strength, it says it can do 10000+ bends. The cable does look well-made and durable. The cable is thicker, and the connector is also slightly larger, than the Mazer USB-C Cable I also recently got.
Does the cable work? The short answer is, yes. My notebook and phone charges fine with this cable.
A longer answer exists because USB Implementers Forum has made the ubiquitous USB cable/connector exceedingly complicated. First of all, this is a just USB 2.0 standard, even though it has the new Type-C connector. It won’t transfer data at USB 3.0 (or rightfully now called USB 3.1) speeds. The theoretical maximum transfer rate of USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps.
This cable also won’t carry video. USB Type-C Alternate Mode display won’t work with this cable. To be clear, this is also not a Thunderbolt 3 cable.
If all you mainly need is a cable for charging, this JSAUX USB Type-C to Type-C cable works well. It comes with a nice velcro cable tie to help you keep it tidy in storage.
This JSAUX USB Type-C to Type-C cable is also relatively cheap. It comes in a pack of two, and sells on Amazon for S$12.97, plus S$7.23 for shipping (affiliate link). Yes, that’s the price for two cables.
After my horror overseas with just one cable that suddenly wouldn’t work one night, and just that one night only, I think it pays to be careful about the cables we get. I had been buying very cheap USB cables, but now make sure that quality is also an important consideration in my purchasing choices.