A few years ago, the situation with connectors for charging electronics was excellent. Almost all smartphones (except Apple) and other small gadgets used the MicroUSB connector for this. On a visit, at work, or anywhere else, you could ask someone for a charging cable and be 99% sure that it would fit. But MicroUSB has become obsolete over time, and now it is being replaced by a more versatile functional USB Type C.

USB Type C is better than MicroUSB, but while the transition period lasts, it may be difficult to find desired cable... Most effective method to avoid them - carry a suitable wire with you. And in order to speed up the transition to a new connector by all manufacturers, you can “vote with the ruble” and buy devices only with it C. And these are not necessarily powerful flagships.

In our time, there are already budget smartphones with Type C, as well as inexpensive mid-range models. The choice is not so great, but it is there, and the range is expanding. Here's a selection of 5 affordable USB Type C smartphones.

Leagoo KIICAA Mix - Not Perfect, But Interesting

Leagoo KIICAA Mix opens the selection of affordable smartphones with USB Type C connector. This is the budget "twin" of Xiaomi Mix, made in the same design, with thin bezels on the top and sides of the screen. The hardware device, of course, is weaker, but it also costs about $ 120. In terms of the ratio of design, price and characteristics, this is a good offer.

The smartphone is equipped with a 5.5 "screen with FullHD resolution. Inside there is a MT6750 chipset with 8 cores, 3 GB of RAM, a 32 GB drive. Both the front and rear cameras smartphones have a resolution of 8 megapixels. You can ignore the presence of the second module of the main camera, this is a decoration. A plus for right-handers is the fact that front-camera, located in the lower corner, is on the left, and therefore will not be covered with a palm.

Early samples of the smartphone, from the first batches, could suffer from minor bugs, but after updating the firmware, users seem to have no problems. The disadvantages of the smartphone include a 3000 mAh battery, which provides non-outstanding autonomy (6 hours active screen), and lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack. Therefore, listening to music and recharging at the same time will not work, which means Leagoo KIICAA Mix is ​​a smartphone for those who are used to charging a gadget every night.

Leagoo KIICAA Mix Smartphone

Alcatel 5 - a smartphone with an unusual design

Another affordable smartphone with a USB Type C connector is the recently presented Alcatel 5. This smartphone starts at $ 200 (11.5 thousand rubles) and stands out for its unusual design. Someone may not like the wide frame on top, with the almost complete absence of the bottom, but this solution has its own logic. After all, the lower the display is set, the easier it is to reach for its upper part when using the smartphone in one hand.

The screen of this smartphone has a diagonal of 5.7 ", a resolution of 1440x720. The base for the Alcatel 5 is the MT6750 chipset, 2 or 3 GB of RAM, and 16 or 32 GB of permanent memory. The main camera has a resolution of 12 megapixels, and a dual module on matrices is installed in front 13 and 5 megapixels.The device has flashes on both sides.

For the autonomy of the Alcatel 5, a 3000 mAh battery is responsible. Naturally, a USB Type C connector is used to charge it. The headphone jack of the device is a traditional 3.5 mm. Smartphone works under Android 7.1.

Alcatel 5 Smartphone

Sony Xperia L1 - a modest smartphone for fans of the brand

Sony clearly shouldn't count on big sales of its most budget smartphones if the price tag on them is more than $ 200. But Sony Xperia L1 has fallen in price since its release, it can be found cheaper than the indicated amount. For fans of the Japanese brand who do not want to buy a smartphone made in China, this is the best option, which is difficult to find an alternative.

Sony Xperia L1 is equipped with a 5.5-inch HD screen. It works on the basis of the most budgetary chipset, MT6737, which has 4 cores. Random access memory 2 GB, storage capacity is 16 GB. The resolution of the main camera is 13 megapixels, the front camera is 5 megapixels. In general, everything is at a minimum, no frills, there is not even a fingerprint scanner.

The battery capacity of the Sony Xperia L1 is 2620 mAh. It seems that it will not be enough, given the diagonal, but thanks to proprietary optimization, the smartphone does not suffer from weak autonomy. Here it is average and the smartphone is capable of working on a single charge no less than cheap Chinese counterparts with 3000-3500 mAh. OS on board - Android 7.

Xiaomi Mi A1 - two cameras and Android One

Introduced in the fall of 2017, the Xiaomi Mi A1 became the company's first smartphone running pure Android 7. The device is included in Android program One and does not contain third-party OS modifications or pre-installed Chinese services. The cost of this device starts from $ 200.

The screen of Xiaomi Mi A1 has a diagonal of 5.5 "and a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels. The basis of the smartphone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 4 GB of RAM, and a storage capacity of 32 GB. The 64 GB model will cost a little more. The main camera is double, on 12 MP matrices. , it supports 2x zoom and a modest 5MP sensor is installed on the front.

Capacity battery xiaomi Mi A1 is 3080 mAh. After updating to Android 8, the smartphone began to support fast charging, carried out via USB Type C. For sound output, in contrast to Xiaomi flagships, a 3.5 mm jack is used, which they decided not to remove.

Xiaomi smartphone Mi A1

Blackview P2 lite - a modest long-liver

Closes the selection of budget smartphones with USB Type C Blackview P2 lite. This Chinese device costs about $ 150, which is quite affordable. For this money, he is able to please with a capacious battery, with support for fast charging and PowerBank mode for other smartphones.

The device is equipped with a 5.5-inch FullHD screen, which is very similar in properties to those used by Xiaomi in the series Redmi note... Although the MT6753 chipset cannot be called fresh in any way, it is clearly more powerful than the MT6737. RAM in the smartphone is 3 GB, permanent memory - 32 GB. The resolution of the main camera is 13 megapixels, the front one is 8 megapixels.

The main feature of the Blackview P2 lite is a battery with a capacity of as much as 6000 mAh. Nowadays it is no longer a curiosity, but a plus for those who do not like to frequently recharge the device. The complete charger supports PumpExpress and delivers up to 9 V / 2 A. The smartphone is powered by Android 7 without third-party modifications.

Blackview P2 lite smartphone

Smartphones with USB Type C are good primarily because they allow you to use one cable for everything in the future. After all, this connector is capable of carrying much higher currents than MicroUSB, and therefore is already being implemented in mobile devices, small wearable electronics, laptops and computer peripherals. The massive transition to it is much more a plus than a minus.

The only case when buying a smartphone with Type C charging should be abandoned for the sake of MicroUSB is a situation when you have a lot of different small electronics and the old type of connector is installed everywhere.

Have you ever met a person who enthusiastically said: "My smartphone has Type-C"?

The debate about the modernity and the usefulness of the new interface has been going on for a long time. Some consider it the future, others - a utopia. The trouble is that both sides have strong evidence that they are right. To understand the situation, it is necessary to comprehensively study the issue.

Development

Not everyone remembers the first USB Type-A connector, which is still used in the latest computers, laptops and tablets. In the distant 90s, it had the same physical form, but a different standard - USB 1.1. In more detail, there were restrictions on the data transfer rate.

In 2001, the 2.0 standard was developed, which is the most widely used today. It provided data transfer rates up to 480 Mbps. At this moment, the era of creating a universal and high-speed connector for connection began.

The first generally accepted connector, which gained great popularity and distribution, was the Type-B Mini. It is successfully used in phones, cameras, camcorders and allows you to connect devices to a computer. However, this should not be considered a big breakthrough, only the form has changed, the standard has remained the same - USB 2.0. In other words, the transfer rate has not increased.

The desire to minimize the size of gadgets has led to the creation of a new Type-B Micro... He continues to be the main character of the overwhelming number modern technology but cannot offer users great benefits.

The real breakthrough was the USB 3.0 specification, which radically changed the way we look at many things. New interface allowed to increase the data transfer rate up to 5 Gbps. The changes also affected the internal structure. In the new 3.0, a 9-pin group is presented (in 2.0 there were only 4 contacts).

The final step towards the emergence of Type-C was the adoption of the 3.1 standard, which remains the fastest and most efficient today. Users were able to transfer data at speeds up to 10 Gbps. The new standard also allows a 100W charge to be transmitted.

The standard consists of 24 pins: two rows of 12 each. 8 pins USB interface 3.1 are used to exchange data at high speed. Pins B8 and A8 (SUB1 and 2) are used to transmit analog signals into headphones (right and left), A5 and B5 (CC1 and 2) are required to select the power mode. There are also ground (GND) and power (V +) pins.

Benefits of Type-C

It is not really necessary, but just another physical modification that has received support for USB 3.1. But don't jump to conclusions, as there are a number of advantages that the new connector offers:

• Security... The connector is reversible, i.e. you can connect the cable in any position. This ensures complete safety and the safety of the gadget from breakdowns, which are accompanied by bent or broken contacts.
• Versatility... Fully compatible with all legacy standards starting with USB 1.1.
• Independence... Type-C supporting USB 3.1 can supply up to 100W of power to connected devices. Simply put, when connecting, there is not only a full-fledged power supply, but also recharging the batteries of other gadgets, as from "".
• Compactness... The connector has a very small size, therefore it is actively used in the production of modern tablets and tablets.

disadvantages

WITH technical point of view USB Type-C is almost perfect. So why hasn't it become the most popular yet? Why are manufacturers in no hurry to equip their equipment with them? There are no obstacles for technical equipment, but there are good reasons that slow down this process.

First of all, it has a unique physical structure, therefore, to connect most gadgets, you need adapter cables, all kinds of splitters and adapters. If the connected device does not support USB 3.1, such a connection simply loses its meaning, since the maximum data transfer speed and power support will not be provided.

Most of the released computer, mobile, audio and video equipment is equipped with Type-A, Type-B Mini / Micro, which do not have support for USB 3.1 or even 3.0. The massive move to USB Type-C will reduce demand for existing products that lack it. Regardless of the wishes and expectations of users, manufacturers deliberately push back effective technology and slow down its spread.

Secondly, even if there are two plug-in Type-C devices all benefits may not be available. This is due to the imperfect technology of processing and transmitting information of certain categories of devices. For example, you can sync your smartphone and personal computer / laptop via Type-C. However, data transfer in both directions will be limited, since the hard drive will not be able to provide the maximum speed.

Yes, new technology is available, it is in use, but the transition is still far from complete. You need to understand that in the event of a complete transition to USB Type-C, you will have to send all outdated equipment for recycling.

Micro-USB - on this moment the most popular interface for smartphones. It is gradually being replaced by Type-C. As of the end of 2017, Type-C can be found even in mid-range models, which is good news. In this article, we will explain why Type-C is better and what are the advantages of this technology.

4 main advantages of Type-C

Bilateral work

The connector in a smartphone is one of the most vulnerable places. It is not always possible to put the smartphone on charge the first time, especially at night in the dark. As a result, the smartphone becomes unusable and has to be repaired.

Type-C can be inserted in either direction and there is no longer any danger of loosening or pulling out the connector in the smartphone.

Copying information between smartphones

What if you need to quickly dump photos or videos from one gadget to another? How to use Bluetooth before? Not necessary if you have a Type-C cable and at least Android 6 (Marshmallow).

The operating system is able to identify another smartphone and offer data exchange between them. To do this, you need to open file manager on your device and copy all the information you need.

Improved performance

The developers took into account the micro-USB errors and significantly improved the characteristics of their new product. A smartphone with Type-C can charge almost 5 times faster (up to 15 W), of course, under certain conditions.

Charging other gadgets

In addition to transferring files, you can also charge another smartphone using the Type-C cable. Recently, smartphone manufacturers have a fashion to create gadgets with huge 4000-7000 mAh batteries. Thus, your device will turn into a portable Power Bank.

Also, as an option, you can protect yourself from crooks who, under the pretext of a discharged phone, ask you to call yours. Alternatively, you can suggest charging.

Some technical information

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a standard that defines cables, connectors and digital communications. The first version appeared in 1998 and replaced the PC interfaces that existed at the time. The USB Type-C connector has been around since 2014. It has more contacts than its predecessor and they are symmetrically located. As a result, it doesn't matter which side you insert the cable.

There are many differences between the various connectors and USB versions. They have various characteristics and different speed data transmission. USB A and B connectors only have 4 pins, while USB 3.1 Type-C has 24 pins, which are needed to support more high current and faster data transfer.

In addition, the separately specified USB 3.1 standard increases the speed up to 10 GB / s, and supports innovative ways to power devices.

According to the specification of the Type-C port, the connector will last over 13 years without signs of wear, provided you use it twice a day.

To meet these requirements and manage increased power flow, USB-C cables are generally thicker than classic cables.

HDMI and audio signal transmission

Type-C can replace other cables. The certification process for many signals and protocols has already been completed. These include: VGA, DVI, or HDMI, where the Type-C port mimics a display port, including protocol conversion. Of course, this requires appropriate hardware and software located on the device on the other side of the port.

Audio is also a hot topic of discussion as the headphone jack is slowly disappearing from phones. The USB Audio Device Class 3.0 specification supports digital audio transmission. As a result, the Type-C female adapter must have a digital audio converter that will still be compatible with all of your Type-C devices.

Not always high speed

Although an increasing number of smartphone manufacturers are incorporating USB Type-C, they are still mostly using the USB 2.0 standard rather than the current USB 3.1 standard. This limits the transfer of data between devices. If your gadget supports USB 3.1, but the other device does not, the speed will also be limited.

Conclusion

Micro-USB is as outdated as its predecessor mini-USB was. Although the interface is still popular, it is quite cumbersome and has a number of significant technical limitations.

Type-C is able to replace the standard audio jack, HDMI, a lot of adapters, including OTG. It is more convenient for them to use due to its versatility. With it, you can share battery power and quickly transfer information between gadgets.

"The new USB Type-C standard!" - sounds really interesting and impressive. However, is it that good and is it that useful? This is what we will try to find out. First of all, we note the devices that support new standard USB, there is still quite a bit on the market. The leading position is occupied by the beloved microUSB Type B. However, in our opinion, its time is slowly coming to an end. And those who are already ready to abandon old ports may face a number of problems.

First, new technology doesn't mean speed. In other words, USB Type-C may not be faster than its predecessor. For example, Two was equipped with this type of USB, but it did not charge faster from this: it is still the same USB 2.0 interface.

There are several popular interfaces: USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, the speed of the latter, by the way, can reach up to 10 Gbps. Let's theoretically assume that our Type-C connector supports this speed. What will it give us? Imaginary superiority. Take a look at your PC, at the speed of your hard disk, to USB connectors motherboard- you will also need a cardinal update of your computer if you decide to transfer files from computer to smartphone at high speed. In other words, having a smartphone that supports data transfer at USB 3.1 speeds is only half the trouble.

The next point concerns the prevalence of Type-C. Let's once again imagine ourselves as a tourist traveling the world. You've lost your cable, and your smartphone needs another dose of charge. Your actions:

• Buy a new cable in the store
• Ask a friend or stranger for it

In the first case, it will be quite difficult to find a cable, since it is still a rarity for stores. In the second case, again, not every person will have the cable you need with them. Thus, you will have to either wait until the parcel of the online store reaches you, or hope that one of the passers-by will be as advanced as you. And we, by the way, have not yet touched on the high cost of the Type-C cable.

Meanwhile, the transition to USB Type-C will be the reason for the abandonment of various kinds of devices that require old cables. The solution may be to use an adapter, but this, in turn, is additional costs. In addition, adapters take up a lot of space and are inconvenient.

Still ready to upgrade to the new USB Type-C standard? The answer to such actions can only be a quote from Armstrong: "This is a small step for a person, but a big step for all mankind." You are paving the way for the future. And the more people use new technologies, the sooner we will enter a new era of human development.

Have USB port Type-C has at least one undeniable and obvious advantage over a port micro USB- you can insert the connector into it by either side (like Lightning). But USB Type-C also has its drawbacks, we will talk about them today.

1.USB Type-C does not support fast charging

Currently, no smartphone with a USB Type-C cable is compatible with technologies that support fast charging (such as Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0). Perhaps it will appear in the future, but definitely not on those smartphones that have already been released.

2. USB Type-C does not guarantee high data transfer rates

USB Type-C is only a connector form factor, not a data exchange standard. Myself USB cable Type-C can meet different standards - USB 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1. Even if the cable supports USB 3.1, the data transfer rate through it will be limited by the port of the smartphone or computer. In theory, data via USB 3.1 can be transferred at speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, but in reality, this speed will most likely be unattainable even under ideal conditions.

3.USB Type-C is not widely used

Surely you often asked your friends for a charger or cable to charge your discharged smartphone. In the case of USB Type-C, this will not work - hardly anyone has such a cable. You can ask for a micro USB cable from any passer-by. They may refuse, but almost everyone has it ..

4.USB Type-C is expensive

Worst of all, if the cable is lost or becomes unusable - a micro USB cable is very cheap in computer stores, and USB Type-C is not available in all retail outlets, and you will have to pay much for it more money... In addition, there is no guarantee that the new cable will be of the same quality as the one that came with the smartphone, there is a great risk of running into a fake.

5.USB Type-C does not support familiar accessories

If you have already bought various accessories for your smartphone, such as portable chargers, OTG adapters, flash drives, speakers, etc., be prepared that they will be incompatible with USB Type-C. Finding accessories that support this standard is currently quite difficult.

All this does not mean that the USB Type-C standard is bad, just its time has not come yet. Plus, many compatibility issues can be solved by purchasing USB adapter Type-C -> micro USB.