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the devices, or their prices, should know that in the new decade nothing should be launched with a standard that’s outdated.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 And you don’t want to, in the next year feel like you’re using an outdated port.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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Guaranteed faster charging.
- Guaranteed faster transfer speeds.
- 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.
