Which type of USB device do you use most often?

[Sandy Bridge]

Since we're in the USB A to C industry transition, I thought it would be interesting to see which types people are using in Q2 2022.

 

We're also at the point where according to the Wikipedia chart, there are 14 competing standards of USB connector types... which leads to the obligatory XKCD:

 

 

For simplicity's sake, however, I've left the poll at the three most common types and glossed over the differences between standard/mini/micro and changes in connectors between generations.  If someone else wants to start a poll with all 14 types, go right ahead!

 

-----

 

I use Type A devices the most.  Mice, keyboards, USB drives, webcams, microphones... all the things I use most frequently use type A, and I'm almost always using a Type A device.

 

I also use Type B devices.  My printer is 2.0 Type B, and my external hard drives are USB 3.0 Type B.

 

Both my desktop and my laptop have a type C port, but I don't have any Type C devices.

 

On rare occasions I also use a mini/micro connector, and I think most of those are type B... but those are rare occurrences and I'm not nearly as good at identifying the mini/micro ports just by looking at them.

[Aaron44126]

Technically, you could plug a USB "type B" device like an external hard drive or a printer into a USB-A or USB-C port on your PC, you just need the appropriate cable.  USB "type B" is just the device-side connection.  The actual USB data protocol is the same no matter which type of connector you use.  (...Well, USB-C adds some additional optional capabilities like multiple streams and DispalyPort support.)  You can totally get cables with a USB-C connector on one end and standard USB type B or micro USB on the other end.

 

So, yeah.  I have a USB mice with a USB-A cable and that's the only USB device that's always plugged in.  My personal laptop doesn't actually have any USB-C ports, but when I replace it in a few months, I'll have a few and I think that I'll get some cables needed to switch other devices that I plug in (i.e. Xbox game controller or external hard drives) over to USB-C...  If only because USB-C is less hassle to deal with because you don't have to worry about which way you orient the cable when you plug it in!

[Hertzian56]

Edit: I guess we're taking the larger side as what he's talking about so selected A.

 

A mix really, my newer extra phone is C, my main phone is the micro c but also is micro b super speed. I have an external disc writer that uses mini A  on one side and type B on the other, a real pain to have to keep that specific cable. My WD passports are the micro b super speed to usb A 3.0. My tab 3 is micro c. So micro C is the most used for me.

 

===The big side on all of them is just standard USB type A which is what pretty much they all are so you may want to qualify your criteria.===== I wouldn't want C-C only, too easy to break off, A has good strength/aspect ratio.

 

I have car chargers that are micro c only and I am glad with micro b super speed I can also just plug in a regular micro c and leave the extra socket empty. Otherwise totally glad that C is like it is, no more having to fumble with which side goes which way, just take devices dying and replaced with C to get totally on that.

[User]

I feel more and more Type-C devices are coming into my life and it will eventually dominate. Overall, today Type-A is still more prevelant in cheap(er) devices like headsets, GoPro, bluetooth speakers, etc.

[Sandy Bridge]

Re: the cables, indeed, I was thinking, "the device side when the cable has both", which is why I added "device" to the poll (although I see now that one could equally well answer "type of USB device" as "mouse").

 

What's been fascinating to me is how incremental the transition to C has been.  It makes sense; I prefer buying A devices because if I have more than one C device, I'll need to buy A-to-C adapters (and I already have C-to-A ones because of a work laptop that had C ports only when almost all its peripherals used A).  I do see the advantage of reversibility - I was literally just trying to plug in a type A cable the wrong way on the back of my desktop - but it's not enough of an advantage to swap out working components.

 

I suppose part of it is that computers last a lot longer than they used to, and a fair amount of peripherals do as well.  In the old days, a five year old machine was an antique; now it's perfectly serviceable in most cases, at least as long as you aren't planning to play Crysis 4 with it.

[Hertzian56]

I like having several different devices I can use the same chargers and cables on so micro c is very convenient, no need for a bag of cables for various devices just a few. I have held off on switching my main phone from my s5 to my A01 for that purpose, my car chargers would be useless most of the time, not of fan of those plug in ones since my small car doesn't have a lot of room around the 12v. I can use the same micro c for my phones and tablet and battery bank when traveling and using the car as a charger. It would have been cool if they had just oversized the Type C port so you could plug in a micro c, or it may fit but the actual geometry of the connector is different. I do have a couple of Type C to Type A cables for my lone device, I also use a Type A to Type C adapter for my mouse into the rear Type C port on my laptop.