No, flashlights should not be using USB-A!
That would be extremely dangerous and would just result in a short.
Let’s just go with USB-C, as the connector itself can handle 5A without trouble, and most flashlights would only draw 2-3A max.
I agree that magnetic charging is not ubiquitous enough yet but the way to get there is make a robust design and NOT patent it, or only do so in order that others can’t, and freely offer it to the industry. Get it out in to the world and let others copy it into their designs.
It would not need to have exposed contacts to the extent that it was easy to short them out. They could easily be recessed just enough that it would take a deliberately matching shape, piece of metal to do so. For example we see this all the time with small mechanical connectors, don’t usually have objects getting inside them and shorting the connector out, unless you happened to have a pocket full of metal shavings. 
I think somebody is confused about magnetic charging. It doesn’t need any contacts at all! It uses a changing magnetic field to induce a charge. Some phones have magnetic charging capability in addition to a regular USB charging jack. Magnetism is universal and AFAIK, magnetic charge induction isn’t a patented process.
USB has a higher current capability than any previous USB connection.
It is also more robust than all other USB connectors.
If someone is breaking USB C off of their phone then they have absolutely no care for their device and are probably pulling the entire cable to rip the connector off.
No other port will magically be more robust and endure this kind of abuse.
Instead of making everything idiot-proof just take care of your devices and there will be no problems.
And no I have never heard of someone ripping USB C off their phone.
Unless USB develops a new magnetic connector that all devices implement, it’s not gonna happen.
Magsafe died in favour of USB C.
Wireless?
Magnetic charge connectors are not the same thing as induction charging. I would never, nor should anyone else, refer to induction charging as only “magnetic” in the context of a topic talking about connectors.
There are products with magnetic coupled, charge connectors. I have also made some myself. Briefly the process is epoxying neo magnets onto a housing, with wires soldered between each and the battery +/- contacts. The polarity of the exposed faces of each is reversed so it can only go on the charge base one way, not reversed (so no need for a diode reverse-charge protection). In cases where a device might go into a pocket or other area where there is metal, the contacts can be recessed as easily as drilling a hole deeper than the depth of the magnet. That process is pretty basic/quick DIY, a manufacturer can make it much more refined by designing in a location for the magnets.
I assume you mean USB C? You are welcome to feel that subjectively, you have to baby your devices because that fragile connector is “good enough”, but personally, it seems really ridiculous and you couldn’t be more wrong about “absolutely no care”. In fact, something as simple as dropping the device while the cable is plugged in, can easily damage it, and I don’t mean from some great height onto concrete, I mean a small drop which the device would otherwise survive. Products that cost hundreds of dollars should not be this fragile.
Are you seriously trying to suggest that mobile products should not survive the shock that comes from something as common as dropping them? We have completely different concepts of good engineering if we disagree about this.
Merely making the port larger, yet otherwise similar, does make it more robust. To use that word “magic” tells me you chose words poorly. There’s nothing at all magic about making something mechanical, larger to bear a larger force against it. It is true of the hinge on your refrigerator, the bolts on your car, your arms and legs, just about anywhere you look, if something has a mechanical weakness then it can be improved by strengthening this weak area.
I imagine that you haven’t really thought about your position much, because if everything else in your life were as fragile as a soldered on USB C connector, you couldn’t go a single day without breaking something, unless just sitting around doing little to nothing.
I am in favor of products improving. Not excuses.
I am with the rest that say USB C because in a few years it will be the standard. I can’t wait until it is, it offers so much more flexibility then micro USB when you consider you have thunderbolt and other options that use the same port.
If you think a USB C connector breaks from a drop with a cable inserted, you are mistaken.
If you think USB A is more durable than USB C, you are also mistaken. Go look up the insertion cycle lifespan.
If you want to join the USB IF and give them your ideas then go ahead, but I would never pay for a modern device like a flashlight with an outdated port on it that is being phased out to be obsolete soon (type A).
In fact USB C is having a new design coming with no housing so that the body of the device can take more of the stress and make it far more durable than it already is.
Magnetic if possible. Jacks break.
Magnetic
Well, it’s not like your micro USB cables and power bricks are going to suddenly disappear when USB-C becomes the new standard. You can still use and charge micro-USB lights the same as you always could. So, I wouldn’t disregard a light just because it happens to use micro-USB. When they become available with USB-C, great, but I wouldn’t wait for it.
No, I’m not. That and many other stresses easily break them. Have it plugged in to charge while driving, get in an accident, phone flies from where it was, connector damaged.
Put it in your pocket with a portable power pack to charge it, move the wrong direction, stress on the connector breaks it.
It is not at all uncommon to break a USB C connector, quite the contrary it is one of the number one causes of phone damage after a cracked screen.
It seems as though you are having trouble following the conversation. I said nothing about which has a higher insertion cycle lifespan. However, you completely misunderstand what that spec means. It is a guideline for a minimum endurance in the design, which does not mean that any particular product meets that, nor does it mean that USB A won’t withstand not just as many, but more insertion cycles.
“Modern device like a flashlight”? You do realize that flashlights have been around for 100 years? Do you realize that there’s nothing outdated about USB A, that millions of people have devices with USB A? Do you realize that most of the USB power banks on the market, including the new ones coming out daily, use USB A? Do you have any idea that most of the things you’re writing are completely backwards?
So essentially this is to address what I’ve been writing, that it has an inherent weakness. Above you wrote “join the USB IF” but apparently they are conceding what I stated and you argued against. You have managed to prove yourself wrong.
It’s not even that I consider USB A to be the ultimate connector form factor. Not at all. It just beats USB B and C hands down, which is why it is used on things like USB power banks, hubs, motherboard ports, etc. Essentially it is used far more when there is no space constrain and my argument is that there isn’t that much space being saved, particularly on something larger and thicker like a flashlight.
Besides, the fact of the matter is, there are far more flashlights with mUSB than USB C, so I have no idea where you’re getting the idea that you can just insist that you’re only going to buy them with USB C. If you mean in some glorious future you will, at some point USB C will be “outdated” too.
It is pretty silly to make a weak USB port on something like a flashlight, especially (considering the intent of this website, budget lights) lower cost offerings which aren’t necessarily built to the same standards as more expensive lights. If you sincerely believe some generic light with the tiniest USB C PCB they can shoehorn into the available space is going to be durable, then you’re in for a surprise.
@Dave, have you thought about the danger factor of using USB-A in a flashlight?
It’s really dangerous to do this, and completely banned by the USB-IF due to a massive risk of shorts.
Also, in its specifications, USB-C can handle much more power, and has much more uses. For example, without needing enlarged contacts, it can handle 5A, can handle much more datastream, and is more durable due to its circular symetrical shape, unlike USB-A and micro-USB.
In fact, for us enthusiasts, USB-C is a huge boon. Using the additionnal pins of USB-C, we could do some amazing stuff, such as directly wiring the data pins for directly programming the IC with NarsilM, Anduril, etc.
That would be cool. I’m sold!
It is dangerous to misuse the cable between two powered hosts, not inherently dangerous to plug it into a flashlight. Two different issues.
Frankly I’d just as soon have a standard 5.5mm DC barrel jack, that is a very common, non-proprietary connector, but kids these days insist on USB-everything, and I can see the benefit of having fewer cables. Hopefully soon we can do away with data cables on portable devices entirely, have data only done wirelessly and move the power connector to a DC barrel jack. This will make the cables thinner and cheaper too, not needing the data lines.
It doesn’t really matter if it’s banned by USB IF, it is not in any way illegal to make or sell them. Remember this is a charging cable, not a data cable.
USB C is not more durable. The failure point is not the connector shell shape on either, rather it is the connector socket to PCB solder joints. If anything a more durable connector shell just subjects the solder joints to more stress. This would have been less of a problem before the industry moved to lead-free solder, but is also particularly problematic on budgetized designs like you’d find on a budget flashlight PCB, using thin copper pads on a thin PCB.
Other things you can use USB C for, great, but in this case it’s just for charging a flashlight. Making it weaker because some other device needs data, doesn’t seem like the path towards durability.
Definitely USB type C.
Micro type B is already obsolete and started to be phased out. If you have many cables with micro B connector just buy eg. this type of adapter (micro type B female to type C male):
USB Type C is the most robust of the USB connectors to date. Also look up USB PD (Power Delivery) standard - this permits up to 100W of power over type C plug - soon we will see ultrabooks and normal notebooks powered by USB-C type chargers.
Wrong. USB type A socket according to USB standard should only be used on host side to avoid connecting two hosts together. Peripherals should use Type B sockets. That’s why printer cables etc use Type B plug (full size). Only standard breaking chinese hardware like USB drive enclosures use Type-A sockets on peripheral side and Type-A to Type A cables which are not standard compliant as far as I know.
Mini type B is more fragile than micro-B (cycle rating). Type A also would take to much space on driver PCB.
Jacks persist because they are cheap, simple and you symmetrical (you don’ have to wonder which side to plug you headphones). USB-C replace in new phones even the jack port for headphones.
Wait - are you trying to say that Type-C sockets are so fragile they only last one day on average? I’ve have yet to see type C socket broken off of PCB but granted they are not as ubiquitous as micro-b yet. That will change soon as phone mfgs adopted type C already. You seriously must have some “non-standard usage scenarios” if you think Type-C sockets are fragile…
Magsafe died because in fact it was MagUNsafe Poor execution resulted in burned connectors, Apple censored photos, whole mess resulted in class action suit.
There are many magnetic 3rd party USB cables out there - like this for example:
But this also suffer from exposed contacts… I think wireless charging will become more and more popular - at least in phones.
Would inductive charging (like Qi) even work if the receiving coil is behind ~2mm of metal casing?
usb type C FTW! another bonus of using type c is the potential of utilizing type c PD with voltages of up to 20V 100W = super fast charging.
That would be a bit silly when you consider that you can buy a 5 pack of USB C cables for $3 delivered, and that the only thing worse than one tiny fragile USB socket would be adding a second one in series.
It is mechanically inferior. It’s almost as though I am in the twilight zone to have a conversation with people who can’t even grasp the basic fundamentals of mechanical strength, which benefits from more material. It is impossible to make a tiny connector with a small fraction of the amount of the same material, as strong.
I’ll leave it at that and you can buy whatever you want, but I for one will not be buying any lights that recharge from a flimsy little USB socket. I only buy lights with very good body threading so I can just swap my cells manually without thread wear concerns, and not have the downtime charging it which is a win/win situation for me.
I have a motorola droid zforce that use a usb C… the charger failed within 8 months…