The beauty of the new USB Type C is that it comes with faster transfer rates and the convenience of saving its users from plugging it in the wrong direction. It is slowly becoming the new standard in today's world where mobile devices are the majority's choice as their daily drivers. In an effort to keep everything up to that standard, an engineer from Google took it upon himself to test several USB Type C cables that are sold through Amazon.
Google's Benson Leung, who has worked on the recently unveiled Pixel C tablet and Chromebook Pixel, has been putting new USB Type C connectors that are sold through Amazon to the test. He has found that many of the cables that are advertized as the new standard isn't suited with Google's Chromebook Pixel. "Specifically, these adapters do not charge the Chromebook Pixel 2015 because the adapters leave the C-C lines floating, where the specification requires a Rp pullup to Vbus to identify the cable as a legacy adapter or cable," reads a review Leung posted on a product listing.
The issues come from cable that feature the new standard on one end, and legacy Type A or Type B on the other. Leung mentions that manufacturers and consumers can find the USB specification at usb.org under developers/usbtypec.
The worst possible scenario that might occur with these uncertified cables would be damages to the user's hub, charger or the device itself. However, there's no easy way for users to check out an uncertified cable at the time of purchase, leading to buying a couple of listings from Amazon somewhat dangerous.
As with anything else, it's always best to check out product reviews that are posted in listings to check how it fares. While most of them would come off as cheap compared to the certified ones, skimping on device peripherals to save more money would still likely have the risks and hazards that come with them.
