Should manufactures go back to dedicated charging ports?

[Mooncatt]

I say yes. A thousand times yes, but I'm wondering if others have the same frustration I do. Seems the weakest link for me in phone hardware is the USB port. I've had several phones now that uses the USB port to charge, and every time, either the cables or the port itself wears or quickly. I leave my phone plugged in and rarely use my USB for actual data transfers and such, which I know causes things to wear faster. On top of that, my current phone (and others) have the port on other sides than the bottom, adding more stress and fatigue on the port and plug/cable. Back before my Androids, my phones had actual dedicated charging ports with the round pin style plug. I never had one problem with those charging, and took years to wear it out. Not months, like my recent phones. Come on, why force me to use a weak connection for power when 99.9% of the time i don't even use it for its traditional purpose? Grrr.

As a side note, it's not just phones. I have a stand alone GPS unit that uses USB for power and it has the same issue.

 

[ice2008]

Usb has the advantage that it works globally with no extra adapters needed.
Plus you can use pretty much anything as a power source, tv, laptop, pc, mains and so on.

So i'd say no to going back to the connector mess of the past.

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[Ry]

Micro USB is the standard the manufacturers agreed to use.

Coming from the Motorola proprietary charging and data cables, I can say USB is just fine. Motorola went from a proprietary connector that was pretty damn flaky to mini USB and eventually micro USB. Since their move away from proprietary connectors, I haven't had any issues whatsoever with a charging or data port going bad.

Should manufactures go back to dedicated charging ports? No. They shouldn't.

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[Mooncatt]

I can understand going to an industry standard connector, but they still should have went with something more sturdy than USB. Or perhaps a dual option setup. One of my past phones had a dedicated universal power port and a proprietary data/charging port (not USB), so it shouldn't be too hard.

Actually, this is the first I've heard anyone say they actually like the current format. I've heard several other people with these same issues, and i was going through about one USB cable a month at one point on my last phone. That was with the cable going straight out of the port with no bends. I had tried numerous brands, including name brand. I know going with one standard was supposed to help reduce waste, but I've probably trashed more USB cables from that one phone than worn out plugs from all my other electronics combined, and looks like the same may happen with the two i have now. I say that because one has the port on the side, the other has it on top, making the cables have to bend 90 to 180 degrees coming out of the phone.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I can honestly say that I haven't had one single USB cable go bad that came with any of my phones. Nor have I ever had the charging port on the phone go bad. I've seen them go bad, but it's never happened to me.

Would I like them to use a different standard? YES!! Make them all use the standardized inductive charging and put it on every phone.

 

[Ry]

I can understand going to an industry standard connector, but they still should have went with something more sturdy than USB. Or perhaps a dual option setup. One of my past phones had a dedicated universal power port and a proprietary data/charging port (not USB), so it shouldn't be too hard.

Actually, this is the first I've heard anyone say they actually like the current format. I've heard several other people with these same issues, and i was going through about one USB cable a month at one point on my last phone. That was with the cable going straight out of the port with no bends. I had tried numerous brands, including name brand. I know going with one standard was supposed to help reduce waste, but I've probably trashed more USB cables from that one phone than worn out plugs from all my other electronics combined, and looks like the same may happen with the two i have now. I say that because one has the port on the side, the other has it on top, making the cables have to bend 90 to 180 degrees coming out of the phone.

Like Kevin, I too can honestly say I've never had a mini nor micro USB cable go bad on me.

I used the same mini USB cables with my RAZR V3c that I used with my RIZR Z6tv. I'm using the same micro USB cables from my DROID with my DROID Bionic.

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[Ry]

Would I like them to use a different standard? YES!! Make them all use the standardized inductive charging and put it on every phone.

Verizon phones have this. They don't really push it though.

You'll still need a port for data though.

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[Kevin OQuinn]

Verizon phones have this. They don't really push it though.

You'll still need a port for data though.

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Not all verizon phones. And just one carrier doing it at all isn't really pushing the standard. Do they even use the standard, or is I something else?

All you really need the port for is ADB.

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[Mooncatt]

Tell you what... Those of you saying you don't have these problems can send me your phones and cables since they seem immune. One to replace my Bionic that doesn't like to charge well, and one to replace my fiance's Razr that jumps the screen around on its own when plugged in. Both phones barely 3 months old. Any takers?

 

[GMJeff]

You can't really be serious in asking that question. Motorolas have been known for bad charging ports for some time. I know people that have went through a few OG Razrs due to the issue.

I myself, like many others I am sure have not had issues with the micro usb ports on their phones. My wife had a blackberry curve that had a bad port, so we upgraded our phones, problem solved.

I have owned samsung, htc, motorola, blackberry, nokia, palm and others over the years using proprietary plugs, mini usb and micro usb.

I do like the micro usb as well, just due to the fact that if i forget my cable at home or just need to top of the battery after a lot of use on the job, i can usually find someone in the immediate work area that has a cord i can borrow.

As for going back to proprietary chargers, no way.

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[Ry]

Tell you what... Those of you saying you don't have these problems can send me your phones and cables since they seem immune. One to replace my Bionic that doesn't like to charge well, and one to replace my fiance's Razr that jumps the screen around on its own when plugged in. Both phones barely 3 months old. Any takers?

Stop being so rough with them.

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[Mooncatt]

All it does is sit in a cradle. At least my last phone had the port on the bottom (LG Optimus S) so the cable could hang straight down, but i already said how bad it was with cables. My Rand McNally GPS unit is known to prone to a bad mini USB port and the newest line is supposed to have them beefed up, but haven't heard any real world reviews of them. In the case of the phones, I've always been able to replace the cables and be good again for a bit, so that's where my main complaint lies. The cables all seem to be prone to coming loose internally right behind the micro plug, even if they've never been kinked or just bent hard.

 

[GMJeff]

So really, because no one has come out on the forums to champion your issues, there can only be one of two situations present here.

1. The user, or the habits of the user interfacing with the device.

2. The devices referred to are in question.

As Sherlock Holmes used to say: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

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[DroidDavi]

Its a standard and it cuts cost so nope not gonna happen

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[anon(883913)]

This is a good topic. Personally, I like USB but I have found it to wear out quickly (Thunderbolt and Razr have gotten loose). When I had my Rezound I loved using the MHL cord that came with it! It stayed in perfectly and didn't wiggle as well as it was easier to find which side is top and which side is bottom. And the best thing was that if I couldn't find an MHL cord, a regular Droid charger (can't remember if its min or micro USB) would still fit! But proprietary cords, I think not because I always go over to friends and family members houses and need a quick charge and since the USB is just about everywhere, everyone has a spare cord and connector somewhere!

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[The Hustleman]

I had 4 OEM EVO usb cables go bad on me, but the charger port never went out.

I think the cables should be built better though.

But keep usb

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[Kevin OQuinn]

I did champion the cause....move to a wireless charging standard.

 

[Mooncatt]

I'd be ok with that if it wasn't so expensive.

 

[anon(883913)]

I did champion the cause....move to a wireless charging standard.

Wireless charging is nice but in its current state it is hard to use. I'm waiting for the day when I can have one central charging base in my house that broadcasts charging signals to all of my devices allowing the devices to charge anywhere in the house. That would be about the only time I would invest in wireless charging because as of right now the device has to be within centimeters of the charging base and while it is nice to just sit and forget, I like to use my phone while it is charging (watch YouTube, stream music, look at FaceBook, etc). Also current wireless charging requires expensive base stations and external back covers which add weight and thickness to the devices (my current Droid Razr cannot even accept wireless charging because its so thin) and like I said, it is currently not worth it.

 

[Ry]

How fast can wireless charging stations fully charge a 2100 mAh smartphone battery?

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