News Japanese company makes $16 USB-C cable that rotates 360 degrees — cable is approximately 3 feet long and offers 240W power delivery and USB 2.0 tra...

[Admin]

Sanwa Supply Inc. just introduced a USB-C data cable that rotates 360 degrees for the ultimate flexibility.

Japanese company makes $16 USB-C cable that rotates 360 degrees — cable is approximately 3 feet long and offers 240W power delivery and USB 2.0 tra... : Read more

 

[JohnyFin]

...over engineering

 

[newtechldtech]

All this effort and no 40Gbps data transfer ?

 

[chaz_music]

Interesting design, but if they are using slip rings internally, the metal on metal lifetime might be short. This could be due to oxide formation on the metal, fretting failure, plating failure, and other fun stuff. But for $16, why not?

 

[Greg7579]

Sounds great but I will never buy another USB C cable that is not 40 Gbps. In fact, I threw away a box full of USB cables away recently (which we should all do) and ordered new ones. Result? Not all "40Gbps" cables really are. The cable can cause transfer speeds to throttle back faster than any other issue.

 

[husker]

...over engineering

Maybe, but every smart phone since 2015 is over engineering - Gotta move those units!

 

[CroxWire]

Interesting, I guess there is a need and a use case for this? Unfortunately, I am not the market for it I guess.

 

[RoLleRKoaSTeR]

Likely to break within a week or so.

 

[stonecarver]

Where I could see a bonus use is on a laptops power brick this type of rotating connection.

 

[why_wolf]

Interesting, I guess there is a need and a use case for this? Unfortunately, I am not the market for it I guess.

Probably for people that have a dedicated charger that they plug everything into periodically so awkward port placement = awkward placement of device. Not really a world ender, just annoying.

 

[80251]

Manufacturing a USB cable that only manages 2.0 xfer speeds now doesn't seem very useful -- regardless of how cheap the cable is. Maybe it's sole intended use is to just charge things?

 

[BorNX]

But it only rotates 180°...

 

[Li Ken-un]

Not all "40Gbps" cables really are. The cable can cause transfer speeds to throttle back faster than any other issue.

Can’t go wrong with Thunderbolt 4-certified cables.

I will never buy another USB C cable that is not 40 Gbps.

Thunderbolt 4 certified, passive, 240 W ― 100% forward-compatible with Thunderbolt 5. No more guessing games when pulling USB-C cables out of a bag/box. They either work or do not. 😀

 

[Notton]

y'all are asking way too much from a charging cable.

 

[spongiemaster]

All this effort and no 40Gbps data transfer ?

40Gbps? This cable doesn't hit 1/2 of 1Gbps. Why would you need such massive data rates from a charging cable?

 

[Li Ken-un]

40Gbps? This cable doesn't hit 1/2 of 1Gbps. Why would you need such massive data rates from a charging cable?

I mean… why does Intel’s Thunderbolt 4 certification require 100 W charging on at least one computer port? Or that the Thunderbolt 5 specifications now go up to 240 W?

Surely there are scenarios in which high-wattage charging and high bandwidth from one port is needed?

 

[spongiemaster]

I mean… why does Intel’s Thunderbolt 4 certification require 100 W charging on at least one computer port? Or that the Thunderbolt 5 specifications now go up to 240 W?

Surely there are scenarios in which high-wattage charging and high bandwidth from one port is needed?

I don't get your point. This cable costs half what a name brand Thunderbolt cable costs. Why complain that a cable doesn't have the same specs as a cable that costs twice as much? If this cable was $30, then it would make sense to complain about the low transfer rates.

The overwhelming majority of USB-C cables I've owned have never transferred any data even once. They're used for charging devices and get replaced when my daughter inevitably bends the end of the of the cable so it doesn't work any more. This cable would hopefully reduce the number of times I would need to replace a charging cable. Not every cable needs to be capable of being used in every scenario.

 

[newtechldtech]

40Gbps? This cable doesn't hit 1/2 of 1Gbps. Why would you need such massive data rates from a charging cable?

Because people hate to buy two cables for phones/tablets ... and by the way , that "massive data rate" does not cost more than $1 more in production .

 

[spongiemaster]

Because people hate to buy two cables for phones/tablets ... and by the way , that "massive data rate" does not cost more than $1 more in production .

What phone has Thunderbolt and is capable of 40gb transfer rates? Some Apple iPads have Thunderbolt, and Apple charges $60 for a Thunderbolt cable. This cable cost 1/4 of that.

 

[newtechldtech]

What phone has Thunderbolt and is capable of 40gb transfer rates?

Ipad pro tablets , and next year high end phones will use USB4 (40Gbps) . and USB3 C phones(5 Gbps) are already here for long time... which make USB2.0 canle a JOKE

 

[Li Ken-un]

I don't get your point.

Imagine grabbing any USB-C cable, and it works for just what you need it. Charging a Mac Book Pro? The first cable you blindly pulled out of your backpack will do it. Charging an Android phone? Sure. Connecting the laptop to the Thunderbolt dock? Yup.

If you only have fully capable cables, then you always have the right cable.

That is as opposed to:

• The cable does not support the wattage for charging a Mac Book Pro; try another cable.
• The cable is USB 2.0 only; try another cable.

The fact that it is USB-C at all is already a step up from multitude of DC barrel jacks of varying inner/outer radii, each of which you had to carry for the specific device it served. Our sentiment is in that same spirit.

This cable costs half what a name brand Thunderbolt cable costs.

Half of these Thunderbolt cables cost less than the novelty cable:

1. $14.99 for Xcellon Thunderbolt 4 Cable (Passive, 1.6')
2. $15.99 for OWC Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C Male Cable (2.3')
3. $17.99 for RVP+ 3' Thunderbolt 4 & USB4 Cable (Black)
4. $19.99 for RVP+ 6' Thunderbolt 4 & USB4 Cable (Black)

The other point you do not get is that for a cable with so much effort put into its design, it seems to have sacrificed a great amount of functionality for form. If I had $16 to spend on a cable, I would not be making it a priority to ensure that the ends can bend at arbitrary angles at the expense of other potentially more useful traits.

Why would you need such massive data rates from a charging cable?

The idea is that you should not distinguish charging, data, or video cables. A USB-C cable selected at random should be all of the above. Was USB-C not invented to make all that nonsense obsolete?