Samsung S4's Micro USB to Standard USB cable

[eieio]

I have a technical question regarding the white Micro USB to Standard USB white cable that comes with the S4:

Does it have a non-standard, internally reversed wiring that the S3's black Micro USB to Standard USB does? I know for certain that the S3's black cable has internally REVERSED cabling.

I'm asking because i need a 2nd white Samsung S4 micro usb to standard usb cable (it only comes with one) due to my specific circumstances and they are kind of tough to come by. If there's anyone who knows how to get one more of these, I'd be grateful to know please.

Back in the S3 days, I did my research and Samsung did indeed reverse 2 internal cables INSIDE their black S3 usb cable. Hence, it was imperative that one would only use ORIGINAL Samsung S3 usb cables, and NOT ordinary micro usb to standard usb cables. Thank you so much in advance.

 

[LoganK]

Back in the S3 days, I did my research and Samsung did indeed reverse 2 internal cables INSIDE their black S3 usb cable. Hence, it was imperative that one would only use ORIGINAL Samsung S3 usb cables, and NOT ordinary micro usb to standard usb cables. Thank you so much in advance.

I'm not sure what the heck you are talking about, but let's assume it is correct and the Samsung cable did not work with other micro-USB devices...

You can always use bog-standard micro-USB cables with Samsung phones. Charging works. Data works.

Don't worry about buying special cables. Just buy normal ones and don't worry about any manufacturing defects Samsung may have had in the past.

 

[maccaroo]

The Samsung micro USB cable is definitely not standard. I've just bought an S4 and the only micro-USB connectors that fit the phone are the ones with 'Samsung' on them. The same is not the case for my previous phone, the S2, which seems to work with both.

The difference is the size of the gap inside the connector. The standard version has a thicker plastic section inside the connector (where the pins sit).

The problem here is that I've got a number micro-USB connectors at home, work, in the car etc which I use to recharge the phone as well as other bits. Replacing / duplicating all these is a pain! Also, the S4 is advertised as having a standard micro-USB connector.

(I've taken pictures, but can't figure out how to add them to this post... dang it)

 

[thehatguy]

That's BS in my view.

I haven't even taken my cord out of the package yet. I use standard cables to hook my S4 to the PC.

It's a snug fit, but works just fine.

John

 

[maccaroo]

Wow. The sheer weight of logical reasoning by thehatguy inspired me to figure out how to post some images. Thanks for making me a better user...

Samsung connector:

Standard connector:

Clearly there is a difference.

 

[AshManMB]

I have no idea what you are talking about.

I use the standard one that came with the phone at home to charge, and I have a generic micro usb at work with an ac to usb adapter and in the car I have a cigar lighter plug with the micro usb connection, everything works fine on any of the cables.

the only cable I found that doesnt work very good is a 6ft long white cable I got off ebay, it charges, but takes like 2 hours to get 10% charge on the phone. I think because it is long and very thin it loses signal over the length of the cable.

all of the micro usb connectors plug into the phone without issue.

micro usb is a standard, not a propriety connector, like the apple 30 pin dock connector or lightning connectors...

 

[texasotts]

Hmm I haven't even unwrapped mine. I have been using my other chargers for it and it's working fine

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Android Central Forums

 

[eieio]

The Samsung micro USB cable is definitely not standard. I've just bought an S4 and the only micro-USB connectors that fit the phone are the ones with 'Samsung' on them. The same is not the case for my previous phone, the S2, which seems to work with both.

The difference is the size of the gap inside the connector. The standard version has a thicker plastic section inside the connector (where the pins sit).

The problem here is that I've got a number micro-USB connectors at home, work, in the car etc which I use to recharge the phone as well as other bits. Replacing / duplicating all these is a pain! Also, the S4 is advertised as having a standard micro-USB connector.

(I've taken pictures, but can't figure out how to add them to this post... dang it)

maccaroo:

like you, i actually looked into this matter when i was using my S3 and a number of folks warned me against using anything BUT Samsung S3 usb cables for the S3. of course, this was during the early days of the S3's introduction.

i do not know anything about the differences between the S3 usb cable versus the S2 usb cable (i didn't own the S2).

i am trying to ascertain whether or not it is "safe" to use the S3 cable on the S4 -- i certainly don't wish to short out or otherwise damage my brand spanking new S4 due to my own lack of research! I do have 2 S3 usb cables so if they actually have the identical internal wire configurations, then i'd be ok to do so.

wondering why the bunch of us have such widely varying experiences/opinions on whether the S4 USB cable is standard? one would have expect this to be a factual answer, and not one based on interpretation!

 

[maccaroo]

Thanks. I'll try some of the other cables at home to see how they fare. So far I've only tried the cable I had at work, which didn't work.

I guess the other cable could be the non-standard one, and the S2 just tolerated it. To be sure about that I'd need to look up the required dimensions of a micro-USB connector, which I'm not motivated enough to do at the moment

As far as swapping the lines within the cable is concerned, that may or may not be an issue. From what I recall from an engineering module on data communications, swapping the pinout may or may not make a difference, depending on the device.

 

[eieio]

Thanks. I'll try some of the other cables at home to see how they fare. So far I've only tried the cable I had at work, which didn't work.

I guess the other cable could be the non-standard one, and the S2 just tolerated it. To be sure about that I'd need to look up the required dimensions of a micro-USB connector, which I'm not motivated enough to do at the moment

As far as swapping the lines within the cable is concerned, that may or may not be an issue. From what I recall from an engineering module on data communications, swapping the pinout may or may not make a difference, depending on the device.

maccaroo:

may i ask if you found out anything further regarding this mystery?

thanks in advance!

 

[SpookDroid]

Well, I can say that I've used non-Samsung cables with mine and it charges/transfers data just fine (one Motorola, one BlackBerry). However, the one thing that is NOT standard (or at least not the same that it was with the GSII) was the MHL (microUSB to HDMI) cable. THAT could be what you're referring to...

 

[JustCruisin]

I've been using my Kindle charging cable, works like a champ.

 

[Atlantis69]

Having similar issues... generic USB cable will fit into the phone, but does absolutely nothing. Phone won't charge, PC won't detect the phone.
Shame since I just bought a four pack so I could have one for each car and PC.
I can only guess it's a non-standard implementation of MicroUSB at this stage. I've tried all four cables with no success.

Interesting that eieio's cable has pin 4 intact, whereas mine doesn't exist on the genuine cable.

Genuine Samsung Galaxy S4 cable:

Aftermarket generic micro USB cable:

 

[Atlantis69]

Did a bit of probing with a multimeter and it seems that there is a difference between the Samsung cable, and the 4 generics I purchased.
The genuine cable seems to follow the correct USB standard whereas the generic routes pin 2 on the USB-A end to pin 4 on the MicroUSB-B end. Very bizarre stuff, and the place I bought it from said they haven't had any complaints and are trying to put the blame on the S4. I can't really prove much more without forking out more money on cables

 

[dfb8085]

maybe the dang cable is just defective.

 

[jhill110]

maybe the dang cable is just defective.

Most likely I would think. If the S4's cable was different it would be well documented.


Submitted VIA Subspace

 

[GMJeff]

I use a different cable to charge my s4 when needed.

At work, I use a cable from a Nokia Lumia 920, in my truck I use a generic at&t charger and at home I use a change cable from a Galaxy Note.

All of them charge the phone properly. As someone mentioned earlier, microUSB is an industry standard now, so anyone claiming to use it has to be able to accept any microUSB cables or attachments.

The pictures shown before must be some sort of proprietary design based on the microUSB design.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[tomdea]

Came from BB to S4 - BB micro usb cable works fine with this phone.

 

[kasarn]

A couple weeks ago my USB cable broke. One of the pins came out. When I went to yhr Sprint store they replaced it with an HTC cable. So I don't think you need that cable.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[furiousyellow]

Just tried a micro USB cable I had laying around from one of my old Motorola phones. Was able to connect as USB device on my PC just fine.