Do NOT buy phones with Micro-USB ports in 2020

I know I will be writing reviews of many devices this year. And I know a big number of these devices will have Micro-USB ports. I also know many of these devices will be good devices, and I will tell you to consider them, or even buy them because at their price points they will be worth buying. But that doesn’t take away the fact that Micro-USB should not exist in 2020 on any smartphone, at any price point. And I will be pointing all reviews of devices with Micro-USB ports to this article.

It is that simple. All companies, no matter the devices, or their prices, should know that in the new decade nothing should be launched with a standard that’s outdated.

Everything has gone Type-C. From laptops to earphones. Almost all Android Phone companies have at one point launched devices with USB Type-C. Even Apple has type-C on their Macs and on the iPad Pro lineup. They’re also rumoured to be adopting the technology on all upcoming iPhones. And with the new EU regulations, it could be a requirement for all devices to have a single, standard port.

I still don’t get why some companies haven’t adopted type-C on all their phones, at all budgets. The idea that it is a reserve of expensive phones is stupid. We’ve seen Xiaomi bring the port to the Redmi 8A – which is a $99 phone. No one else should have an excuse.

If you’ll be buying a device for more than KES. 15000 ($150) please make sure it has a Type-C port. Because this is a device you’ll be using for a while. And you don’t want to, in the next year feel like you’re using an outdated port.

You’ll love having Type-C everywhere because of a couple of reasons:

1. One charger for everything. This is unbeatable. All my devices have a type-C charging port. I use one charger for everything. From my earphones to my laptop. It makes travelling easier. It makes life easier.
2. The Type-C standard is one port for everything. From my Type-C port (and my laptop supports Thunderbolt 3), I can connect ethernet, HDMI, and literally anything. Including eGPUs. On phones, you can do much more with the port than with the MicroUSB standard.
3. Guaranteed faster charging.
4. Guaranteed faster transfer speeds.
5. Something I love is I don’t have to check which side of the cable is right when inserting charger to port. Anyway works.

Yes, the USB standards in terms of what your type-C port can do will vary with device, and with the company – especially with laptops, but that doesn’t take away the fact that you’ll have one port for everything. And the unbeatable convenience of that. Anyway, by the time USB 4 rolls out everywhere, things will be better organised.

This post is meant to make companies launching devices in the Kenyan market to reconsider their decisions. It is infuriating to see a device launch for over $200, over $300, with a MicroUSB port. If you can, ignore such devices. Don’t give them your money.