I've had headphones die because the connector came loose after around 500 insertion cycles.

Several companies in China make a "mag safe"-style connector for micro usb that is really nice. Some of them only provide power/ground. Others provide the full 4-wire spec.

I have a pair of Sony Headphones that annoyingly shut off the wireless when you charge them. So I didn't really care if it had the full four wire spec.

There's some out there for USB-C, but I wouldn't trust them for high-speed data transfer.

I grew up using Walkman; I have decades of experience with 3.5mm headphones jacks breaking. Interestingly, it seems like nearly all devices with 3.5mm jacks are engineered a lot tougher because I haven't been able to break a jack in years.

Wisdom accumulates!

There's a dead comment under here which points out that 3.5mm is three connections around a large-ish cylinder, while USB-C is 24 connections in a tiny space.

It's easy to make tough, lasting connections when you have space for decent-sized leaves of sprung metal.

It's incredibly hard to make tough, lasting connections when each connection is on a 0.2mm pitch that is almost too small to see.

Bottom line - USB-C is an optimistically designed standard. It's almost impossible to make a super-affordable USB-C connector which will stay reliable for thousands of insertions. Especially when it's also used for up to 100W of power.

Plastics like Stanyl are supposed to be good for 10k cycles, but it's always tempting to cut corners and use something cheaper. And the physical design tends to collect dust and compact it inside the plug and the socket - which doesn't help.

> There's a dead comment under here which points out that 3.5mm is three connections around a large-ish cylinder, while USB-C is 24 connections in a tiny space.

That's not it really. It's the connector and solder strength.

The problem is that when you buy a piece of electronics with a micro-usb port, you don't know which connector type the product designer used, or if the solder joints are good, etc. Sometimes you won't know for maybe 100 or 200 insertion cycles, which usually places the device outside a manufacturer's warranty.

The solder joints on a right angled jack experience a torque on insertion. That torque puts strain on the solder joints. Do it enough times those solder joints will crack from the cycling. Or worse the connector just rips the copper up off the fiberglass layer, since the strength of copper bond to fiberglass is much much less of the strength between solder and copper.

Here's an example of an SMD mount only micro female usb connector: https://tinkersphere.com/electronic-components/1817-female-m...

The only thing holding it to the circuit board itself are tabs which need to be soldered to copper pads on the board. (My failed headphones were of this type.)

Though it seems like most USB C devices appear to be using through hole legs for mounting (I haven't seen a device use surface mount only yet). The solder flows through copper plated hole, bonds with the copper in the hole as well as the copper on the opposite side as well as the leg in the hole, increasing the strength of the part.

https://www.mouser.com/Connectors/USB-Connectors/_/N-88hmf?P...

I have magnetic connectors for USB-C in both varieties. The circular one I normally use just has two pins and is great because I put my phone down near the cable and it usually leaps across and connects. The multipin flat connector supports PD and data, I'm not sure exactly what its limits are but it does what I want.

Both were cheap ebay purchases made because I'm willing to plug a $10 cable into a $600 phone despite the early USB-C cables occasionally frying devices.

All headphones and earphones I’ve tried will cut off everything else while they are being charged. Including Bose and Apple.

Yes, this is a PITA. If you know of a maker of headphones and earphones that doesn’t do this, please let me know.

I had (and lost, unforunately) a pair of Sennheiser MM400 headphones... The charging jack was on the removable battery pack and you could charge it while using it (no effect at all on headphone operation)

> All headphones and earphones I’ve tried will cut off everything else while they are being charged. Including Bose and Apple.

This has not been my experience with my AirPods Max. They work over Bluetooth just fine while being charged, unless they are completely depleted (0% battery).

For reference, this is on firmware version 4A400 but this has been the case since I received them (months ago).

I’ve used my B&W PX over Bluetooth while charging over USB-C.

They also support playback input over USB-C or 3.5mm. It’s nice. Expensive, though. But not Apple Airpods Max expensive, at least!

I also have the B&W PX and can confirm this.

I don't love these headphones though. They clamp on my head way too hard for extended use.

Turtle Beach can charge while using. And play two inputs at once. The biggest downsides are how ugly they look and lack of NC.

Adding another one, my Sennheiser PXC 550 (both original and II) will charge and do bluetooth or wired audio.

I bought a used set of Bose QC (Quiet Comfort) and they came with two removable batteries and a charger, all packed nicely in a really small case.

I replaced the foam for $7 at some point but they still worked nicely last time I checked despite being 7 or so years old now.

Weird, I can charge and listen to my Sennheiser Momentus Wireless 3 at the same time.

Jabra 85h can charge over USB C and play over Bluetooth at the same time.

> Plug a computer into a monitor

… and get only 30Hz on 4k ;)

You can totally get 4K 60Hz, so long as the USB-C port supports DisplayPort 1.4a Alt-Mode.

(which raises one of the problems with USB-C - it's impossible to tell how what features it supports)

USB is meronymic morass.

alt-mode was the "killer feature" for me, alt-mode MST with a bus-powered splitter to drive dual DP (or HDMI) QHD external screens from a single USB-C port. This makes a regular laptop a viable desktop replacement for me.

Support for multiple external displays makes the billing, though these have 1x HDMI + 3x TB4 ports to play with.

> much harder to break a USB-C port then a micro USB port on all phones I've owned.

phone context, yes. But in laptop/notebook context, USB-C is not durable, stuff gets very loose.

Depends on the manufacturer. Lenovo x280 vs 2018 MBP. The Lenovo USB-C port is awful after 3 years of use, the port is loose and devices, including the woefully cheap charger, fall out. MBP, similar age (slightly older), and the ports still have a satisfying 'click' when plugged in. x280 cost more...

I find that port on the left here is decent, but the weird combined one is very bad:

https://www.onmsft.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ThinkPad-T...

I don't know whether I over-use it, but the charger won't stay in of its own accord - same Lenovo brand charger works fine in the Mac. Pre lockdown, I commuted with both machines everyday. I've been disappointed with the build quality of the Lenovo laptop as a whole - the trackpad has the surface peeling off and the backlight is covered in bright spots which I can only assume happens because the back-panel doesn't have adequate protection.