Why you probably shouldn’t buy gadgets with micro USB ports

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USB 1.0 dates back to 1996, and since then, the tech industry has made a mockery of the “universal” part of the acronym by spinning off more variants than Willy Wonka has candy bars. Even on cutting-edge PCs, you’ll likely encounter a mix of USB-A and USB-C ports, then spend a few moments trying to figure out where to plug in your USB 4 cables.

Micro USB is one of the most prolific variants, as it helped spread the data and charging benefits of USB to smaller devices. It came after other standards, like mini USB, but it had much more staying power than others. There’s a chance you still have a few micro USB products laying around. And despite the wide transition to USB-C, you might even be able to find new cables and accessories to buy today that still use the older connection standard.

When you have a choice, however, it’s best to skip micro USB. It’s smart to be picky about the charging ports on the products you buy, since micro USB can only hold back their performance and compatibility.

Broadly, the presence of micro USB signifies a product is either old or cutting corners. The format dates back to 2007 — the same year the original iPhone shipped and an eternity in technology. USB-C does presumably raise manufacturing costs, but only relatively. That standard rolled out in 2014, which was well over a decade ago. It’s become so common that even cheap USB fans have ditched the micro USB form factor.

More importantly, micro USB is limited to outdated data and power specs. Data speeds are liable to top out at USB 2.0’s 480 Mbps, whereas USB 3.0 enables 5 Gbps and USB 4 starts at 40 Gbps. Power might be the true killer, though. Micro USB wall chargers are unlikely to deliver any more than 7.5W, which is practically glacial when some laptops and Android phones use USB-C to top 100W with modern fast charging standards. At the extreme, devices that fully exploit the USB PD (Power Delivery) standard can hit 240W.

The compatibility factor we mentioned impacts convenience. Because micro USB is no longer popular, you’ll need to keep different cables around than the ones you use to charge everything else. That takes more space in your bag when packing and occupies outlet slots that could be used for additional USB-C cables. Adapters can help, but they’re clunky. There’s also the practical matter of micro USB not being reversible like USB-C, so you’ll have to fumble around to find the right orientation every so often. It’s far easier to accidentally bend the pins in the older standard.

As time goes on, it will be increasingly hard to find any new micro USB products, similarly to how you can’t waltz into a local big-box retailer and assume there will be composite cables for an old VCR. You’re certainly not going to find micro USB ports on any new smartphone or computer.

For some gadget categories, there’s nothing inherently wrong with micro USB. Wireless earbuds, for example, don’t have terribly large batteries to fill, so even 7.5W may be enough to charge them quickly. I used to own Apple’s micro USB-based Powerbeats3 buds, and you could get an hour of listening from them with five minutes of charging. As for data, 480Mbps should be plenty fast for file transfers under a gigabyte.

In most cases, it’s worth holding onto the micro USB devices you already have. There’s no sense spending money or generating e-waste if the port is the only drawback of a device. Just keep a dedicated charging cable handy for your older Kindle, flashlight, game controller or similar. But when it comes to buying new, look for USB-C. You’ll likely get superior performance, and might actually save cash in the long run if it means not having to buy another product prematurely when micro USB’s weaknesses rear their head.

USB-C has advantages even within the categories where micro USB can have value. For instance, while the Powerbeats3 offered up to 12 hours without a case, the Powerbeats Pro 2 come with a USB-C charging case that enables up to 45 hours of total playback. It’s hard to imagine that case being feasible at all with micro USB.