4 ms·

Until cheap knockoffs heard they could charge 4x their normal price by changing the coloring. ... You can't trust the coloring either if you're buying off of A

• Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  Coloring appears to have worked for distinguishing between USB 2 and USB 3, at least in my experience.
  • katbyte 7y ago
    With USB 3 isn’t the other end of the cable usually different as well?
    • deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    • pdpi 7y ago
      USB-B for USB 3 is physically quite different, yes — looks like two stacked connectors.
      • sargun 7y ago
        It’s a micro usb plus another kind of adapter. This gives you backwards compatibility for devices if you want to expose usb 2 via usb-a -> micro
        • pdpi 7y ago
          I was actually thinking about B rather than micro-B, though I guess both my description and your explanation apply either way!
  • moftz 7y ago
    The physical contacts are different though. You can look down into a USB 3 plug and see the new 5 contacts just as you can look at a USB 3 socket and see the new contacts right up front. Also I don't always see blue in new USB 3 cables and sockets, sometimes it's just black.
    • Wowfunhappy 7y ago
      > Also I don't always see blue in new USB 3 cables and sockets, sometimes it's just black. True, but if the cable is blue, that always indicates USB 3, at least in my experience—I've never seen a blue USB 2 cable. I think this is sufficient given backwards compatibility—how often do you specifically need a USB 2 device? I very much doubt many "normal" people know to check the contacts.
      • djsumdog 7y ago
        Blue or Green if it's a Razer device, or Red to indicate Gen2 vs Gen1 ports on gaming motherboards.
• diminoten 7y ago
  Amazon fraud is not the problem some people on HN make it out to be...
  • tracker1 7y ago
    Okay... pull up a list of USB3 chargers and tell me which ones on the first page of results are not counterfeit or poor quality knockoffs, even with 4+ stars... now do it for cables, including those labelled as "Amazon Basic" ... It's a pretty big issue. I paid a lot more and ordered a spare USB3 charger from Google it's so bad in my own experience.
    • jjeaff 7y ago
      You have found AmazonBasics that were counterfeit of fake? If so, that's a pretty big deal. Amazon is slapping their logo on those products and presumably doing QA. They are also the only company allowed to sell them on Amazon. Not to be confused with Amazon's Choice. Which means jack squat.
      • tracker1 7y ago
        I've had Amazon Basics cables that weren't up to spec, yes. In fact most Amazon Basics electronics products have been poor quality of those I've purchased (mostly cables and a couple sets of speakers) so much that I won't even buy anything labelled as such now.
        • jjeaff 7y ago
          Interesting. I've always found AmazonBasics to be fine. Not great, but usually gets the job done.
      • Nexxxeh 7y ago
        Not directly addressing your question, but Amazon did a recall on their own chargers included with UK and Ireland Fire tablets, and recalled over quarter of a million portable AmazonBasics chargers.
• JudgeWapner 7y ago
  Then buy from Walmart or best buy.