USB-C Will Be Mandatory For All Smart Devices Sold in India

India will be adopting USB-C type as a common charging port for smart devices, with stakeholders reaching a consensus at a meeting of an inter-ministerial task force, consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said on Wednesday. From a report: The government held wide-ranging consultations to standardize charging ports for all compatible smart devices, but it is yet to reach a decision on chargers for low-cost feature phones. With universal chargers consumers will no longer need a different charger every time they purchase a new device. Besides, the move will also reduce massive amounts of e-waste. In 2021, India is estimated to have generated 5 million tonnes of e-waste , only behind China and the US, according to an ASSOCHAM-EY report, Electronic Waste Management in India.

Re:

[John Napkintosh]

Maybe soon it will be more common for a USB-C port to appear on every wall outlet throughout the world?

Re:

[fahrbot-bot]

Maybe soon it will be more common for a USB-C port to appear on every wall outlet throughout the world?

So... millions of AC to DC converters, one is each outlet?
Don't some (many? most? all?) still draw at least a tiny amount of power, even when not in use?
(Google results are unclear about this. Perhaps depends on circuitry / type of device?)

I'd rather stick with people installing individual ones as needed: USB-C wall outlet [amazon.com]

Re:

[mark-t]

Don't some (many? most? all?) still draw at least a tiny amount of power, even when not in use?

Some might, I can't say for sure, but there's no theoretical reason why they should.

If it's made properly, when not in use, it's effectively an open circuit on the DC side... when the DC is an open circuit, the AC side won't have any work to do, so it would not be drawing any power either. Any actual wastage would only be on account of imperfect electronic components would probably be on the order of fraction

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[fahrbot-bot]

At the end of the day, I suppose might make a difference of as much as a whole penny on your monthly power bill.

Sure, but if they were in *every* outlet around the World (billions of them) -- as OP mused? Also, the additional possible component failures, regular AC outlets are super simple. Just sayin' I don't think it would be a good idea to have them in all the outlets...

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[mark-t]

Sure, if you scale it up... but you're still going to have far greater power losses just transmitting the power to people's homes than you would from correctly made AC-DC converters everywhere.

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[Trongy]

If you use a physical switch that has an open circuit there will be no leakage.

However the USB sockets that we have today, in common with plug packs, use transistors to do the switching and they leak a small amount of current.

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[jbengt]

. . . when the DC is an open circuit, the AC side won't have any work to do . . .

That's not how it normally works, especially if there is some isolation between AC and DC. In order to have no AC power loss, the AC has to be an open circuit. (even then, there is can be a little capacitance in the AC lines that leaks a very tiny amount of power)

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[mark-t]

Right.... that's because electronic components are not perfect. The leakage you are describing would work out to be on the order of pennies of power over an entire year.

Again, the power losses simply associated with transmitting the power to your home are going to be quite a few orders of magnitude greater than this.

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[AmiMoJo]

They do draw a tiny amount of power, but of course over millions of outlets it adds up. It could be greatly reduced by adding a physical on/off switch. Almost all wall sockets in the UK have an on/off switch, and it wasn't until I started travelling that I realized that's not the case in many parts of the world.

The other issue with USB built into wall sockets is that the electronics die and then the whole socket needs to be replaced. Unlike a plug-in charger, you have to turn the power off and there is a ri

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[ctilsie242]

I'd rather not have this. I'm more content with a regular outlet that does 120 or 240 volts, and bring my own charger. If the outlet was badly wired and doing something crazy like 440, the charger would die, and not my phone.

I also don't trust the security on a random USB-C port sticking out of a wall. A typical AC outlet only has power. It can handle data, but that is only an exception, and not expected. Using my own charger ensures that a USB port on a wall doesn't provide added "features"... like tr

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[Excelcia]

Glad they waited until a symmetrical port came out before standardizing on it for regulation

It's actually unfortunate. The USB-C part, not the symmetrical part. While I am by no means an Apple fan, their lightning cable plug is far superior.

The issue lies with where the "tongue" is. With USB-C, like microUSB before it, the tongue is inside the device-end receptical. If stress is applied to the cord, it is this little tongue inside the device that takes the force and is most likely to break.

With lightning, the tongue is on the cord. If stress is applied, the weak link is on the cord. The wors

Re: USB-C

[registrations_suck]

Are you smoking crack?

Lightning sucks man. BIGTIME.

And I say that as a user who is all-in on Apple devices.

EU, India, Probably Brazil...

[williamyf]

Who's next?

This is looking good for the environment.

Let's Hope that the Indians and Brazilians are as wise as the Europeans and madate USB-C + PD not only for smart devices and phones in general, but also as a battery charing port for all maner of gadgets, from flashlights to robot vacuums, from rechargeable Vape thiguies to portable music players/boomboxes. From 4/5G portable "pucks" to AA/AAA battery chargers...

Re: EU, India, Probably Brazil...

[kopecn]

Smart Thermostats and Smart Sprinklers, and Smart lightbulbs and Smart Doorbells, and Smart Locks⦠I doubt they will think this through.

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[EvilSS]

Thermostats are usually powered by DC from the furnace control board, lightbulbs by the socket they are installed in, locks by batteries since they tend to be installed in doors that swing open and closed and generally lack any power or wiring, and doorbells by a transformer that also drives the chime although some like the Unifi doorbell can be powered by a USB C to POE adapter that can be routed through the wall to the back of the bell, and some are battery powered and rechargeable with USB C or micro (bl

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[msk]

My thermostat gets 24 VAC from the air handler.

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[EvilSS]

You are correct, my bad. My entire post is moot.

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[tlhIngan]

Thermostats are usually powered by DC from the furnace control board

Not really, it turns out.

Almost every thermostat I have does draw power from the furnace board, but they all came with batteries - regular AA batteries you change every 2-5 years or so.

They don't work without the batteries even if you have furnace power, but often furnace power would often let them do other things (some used it to power the backlight). But the main thermostat logic seems to be powered by the batteries.

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[jbengt]

Not really, it turns out.

Almost every thermostat I have does draw power from the furnace board, but they all came with batteries - regular AA batteries you change every 2-5 years or so.

First of all, batteries are usually only for thermostats using digital electronics for programming. The batteries are usually there for back-up of the programming (flash memory negates the need for a lot of that) or, in more sophisticated installations, for continued operation with power loss, though I don't think that w

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[EvilSS]

My last two did not have batteries, including my current "smart" thermostat. The ones I've seen in the past that did, they used them as a backup for power outages so you didn't lose your settings because they didn't have onboard non-volatile storage.

And none of that explains how adding USB C to them would be better in any way.

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[EvilSS]

I'd go a step farther and just say mandate it for all devices that take DC power in and that could be powered by USB PD. I'm sick of products shipping with a barrel jack style power brick. I have a bunch of USB to barrel jack cables for all the products that use 5v 1A so I can plug them into a USB power hub instead of fitting half a dozen bricks into a power strip. Would be awesome to be able to do that with other devices like external drives.

Smart Watches too

[kopecn]

Does any current smart watch use usb-c?

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[OwnedByTwoCats]

Does any current smart watch use usb-c?

Apple Watch Series 7 came with a USB-C to magnetic charging cable. I'm guessing Series 8 does as well.

I believe my Series 2 (which is in good shape, and for sale, cheap) came with a USB-A to magnetic charging cable.

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[tlhIngan]

Apple Watch Series 7 came with a USB-C to magnetic charging cable. I'm guessing Series 8 does as well.

I believe my Series 2 (which is in good shape, and for sale, cheap) came with a USB-A to magnetic charging cable.

But it's not proprietary - the magnets are that align the watch to the base sure, but the protocol for charging isn't. It's just a standard wireless Qi charger you can get anywhere.

The only trick is because the coil is so small, the Qi charger coil needs to be equally small, so you may not be abl

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[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Every smart watch I've had used some form of proprietary magnetic charging cable. Granted that's not a conclusive statement, but my understanding is that it's done that way so keep them semi-water resistant.

Pointless Treadmill Stopped

[Lexicon]

Excellent, we can stop this pointless USB treadmill of eternal upgrades now. USB-C for the next 50 years, by worldwide government mandate!

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[blahabl]

Great. Excellent technology to be stuck on. I could hang my GF's iPhone by the Lightning cable it was charging from, and it'd keep charging unless I also tried to swing it. Meanwhile with my USB-C stuff either the connector slides out outright, or doesn't contact unless I fiddle it just right, and then don't even breathe in the same room. Such an awesome standard to force upon everyone.

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[VeryFluffyBunny]

Don't buy poorly made, cheap shit then, & if it's faulty, send it back to the manufacturer.

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[iAmWaySmarterThanYou]

Lmao!!

Oh, wait... you're serious....

Instead of standardizing on a port that is solid and doesn't break the device when pressure is applied we should do what? Send back to the manufacturer? To do what exactly?

That is not how the world works. Your warranty is expired, they will charge 90% the cost of a new one to fix/replace it, if they're willing to do anything at all, you have to pay shipping both ways and you don't have your devices for however long. All so we can standardize on a shitty port.

Great.

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[VeryFluffyBunny]

USB-C design is fine. It works for hundreds of millions of people. I have loads of USB-C devices, use them a lot, & have never had any problems with the plugs or sockets. Then again, I buy stuff that's made to last as much as possible. It's a false economy to go for the cheapest because you'll more than likely have to have it repaired or replace sooner. Don't complain if you buy badly made shit & it doesn't last.

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[iAmWaySmarterThanYou]

This is a fun game. Let's play it some more.

USB-C design is not fine. It has failed for hundreds of millions of people. I have loads of USB-C devices, use them a lot, & have had many problems with the plugs or sockets. Despite buying stuff that's made to last as much as possible. It's a false economy to go for the highest quality because you'll more than likely have to have it repaired or replace sooner because USB-C is trash. Complain loudly if you buy high quality, well made to spec devices & th

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[VeryFluffyBunny]

OK, so USB-C:

• - Cables are typically thicker & therefore more durable;
• - Rated at >10,000 connect-disconnect cycles;
• - Metal shielding around pins protects them from wear & tear & accidental shorting;
• - Compatible with a wide range of cables, devices, & peripherals;
• - Transfer speed of up to 40 Gbps (USB 3.2);
• - Supports USB 4;
• - Native power support for 100W/3A and up to 240W/5A;
• - Supports 8K resolution at 60Hz with HDR10 colors.

Now your turn. Please, do tell me about Lightning conn

It only needs to be required in a major market

[sentiblue]

EU is already mandating that. India/US/Asia or any other part of the World doesn't need to do this. If the manufacturers want the EU market, they have no reasons to make it a separate device only for EU. They'll make all their devices using USB-C. Having said that, I don't expect US to make the same move as India did.

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[zshXx]

I am glad India is doing it. You can never trust these capitalist pigs to do the right thing just because one country mandated it. If ts profitable for them to continue making 2 versions, they will. India should not depend on EU decision to make their citizens life easier.

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[Trongy]

Some phone manufacturers already make different versions of a device for different markets. If you look at Samsung phones, they will often use the same model name, while having a different CPU in different markets. Apple now produces iPhones at a factory in India for the Indian market in order to avoid tariffs.

Also worth noting in the article cheaper "feature phones" still outsell smart phones in India. The Indian government still hasn't decided whether to make USB-C mandatory for them.

India: "Me too! Me too!"

[zarmanto]

This feels to me like much ado about nothing. The EU has already fought this battle and won, and the single most affected vendor (Apple) has already stated that they will be complying. Further, simple economic realities suggest that they'll be doing it worldwide, because it's less expensive than maintaining two otherwise identical product lines. Why does it matter in the slightest that India is now passing virtually identical laws?