They work fine and still have a metal sleeve, but as I noted they are slightly flimsier because of their design which looks like [|] with a thin bit in the midd

They work fine and still have a metal sleeve, but as I noted they are slightly flimsier because of their design which looks like [|] with a thin bit in the middle. You can search for "reversible USB A cable" - there are lots of them available for sale. I assume the "USB Trident" logo is imprinted on both sides since you can plug it in either way. ;-)