Life with USB-C is great, except for the one nagging problem that’s been there since the beginning – you never really know what you’re getting. While it’s not quite the “Wild West” anymore, I was thrilled to see that someone finally made a collection of USB-C cables that not only do what they say they’ll do, but literally have their specs printed on the cable itself.
USB-C is probably one of the most underrated things to happen in mobile tech, maybe ever? Even 10 years ago it was still hard to imagine being able to use the same cable type across your phone, tablet, laptop, or anything else, but that’s very much the reality of today. In theory, one could go on a trip with just a single USB-C cable and be able to charge up their laptop, smartphone, tablet, gaming handheld, headphones, and a number of other pieces of tech with just that one cable. There are still dedicated cables for some things, like smartwatches, but the “Universal” part of USB finally feels true.
The problem is just that it’s really hard to buy the right cable.
It’s not hard to find a USB-C cable – they’re literally everywhere. But the one problem with this standard is that it’s so flexible that two different cables can serve wildly different tasks. A basic cable might be able to charge up a phone at around 20W, but not be able to transfer data at all.. Meanwhile, another cable on the higher end might support 12x the power while also being capable of display output and 40GBps of data transfer. Yet, at a glance, they probably look essentially identical. Even if you bought the right cable for a specific application – let’s say charging a laptop at 100W – you might not be able to tell it apart from the dozen others in your bag.
I’ve been frustrated by this problem countless times over the years, and equally annoyed that there wasn’t a good solution to finding the “right” cable besides just ordering a new one. So I’m glad to see that someone has finally fixed this – though I’d never have guessed it’d be a YouTube channel’s merch shop.
LTTStore launched “TrueSpec” cables early this year with the promise of not only strictly adhering to USB-C spec on the cables it sells, but also clearly messaging what the cable can do on both the packaging and the cable itself. It took way too long for someone to do this consistently. There have been cables here or there with labels, but it’s been rare and usually with some negative factor, like inconsistent labeling or a small lineup.
“TrueSpec” hits what I’ve wanted. Each cable has a label etched into either end, quickly identifying what power and data transfer speeds the cable is capable of. The cables themselves aren’t anything fancy beyond this label, but the build quality is obvious with some thick rubber sheathing. Admittedly, I do wish the cable was thinner – it’s pretty bulky and heavy, which is a little annoying in a backpack – but the pros outweigh the cons in my book.
They’re also admittedly not cheap at all. USB C-C cables start at around $22 and A-C at around $17.
It’s not like this is some completely unprecedented idea.
Labels on USB-C cables have been done before, and there are options out there with labels on the cable ends just like this – the organization behind USB-C even has documentation on how to implement this for crying out loud. It’s just so uncommon that “TrueSpec” is easily the most polished and clear effort to actually deliver on this idea.
LTTStore also sent out some of their other products – this article isn’t sponsored in any way, to be clear – including the infamous LTT Screwdriver and Precision Kit, and I’ve enjoyed using them both. The Screwdriver in, well, screwdriver tasks, and the Precision Kit has been a great add-on to my recent endeavor to clean out my closet of old “spicy pillow” smartphone batteries by removing those batteries from the phone for easier disposal – more on that in a coming 9to5Google Weekender edition.
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