Fast charging speeds to be standardised

All mobile phones, tablets, earphones and a wide range of other portable consumer electronics will need to be sold with USB-C charging ports from Saturday, the EU has announced.

First introduced around a decade ago, USB-C charging ports are reversible and capable of accelerated data transfer and charging speeds, the latter known as 'fast charging’.

In a statement on Friday, the European Parliament said that as of the following day, all such devices sold in the EU must have a USB-C charging port, with laptops set to follow suit in late April 2026.

  • @manualoverride
    13•4 days ago

    Here is your new device with a USB-C port*

    only compatible with the specific cable provided in the box

    • @[email protected]
      13•4 days ago

      i see people complain about this constantly yet i have never heard anyone irl complain about it, i’m starting to believe you’re all literally just making it the fuck up

      • .Donuts
        8•4 days ago

        I’m pretty sure people are just reading what they want to read. The actual box will say something like “please only use the cable provided”, and this makes sense because that’s the only cable they have tested to be safe.

        It’s just a simple phrase to make sure that when some idiot uses three different converters on six cord extensions, he can’t sue the company when his house is on fire.

        • @manualoverride
          1•3 days ago

          No there are some silly proprietary techs which either prevent compatibility or severely limit charging speed. As well as a lot of devices which simply didn’t bother to put any circuitry in and just used the USB-C port as a dumb power connector which only works with their charger and cable. I provided examples in my last message.

      • @[email protected]English
        3•4 days ago

        People assume it’s “just a cable” and might not understand some of the details.

        Cables contain a chip to tell devices the power they can carry safely.

        So most USB-C cables should work to a degree, but might not be enough to power a device fully. The default is to allow 60W, but the USB-C standard currently allows for up to 240W. So a random seizure-brand cable from Amazon may “work” but be unable to power the device while it’s running.

        There was also an issue a few years ago where devices could draw too much power and destroy whatever was charging them. Not so bad if it was a charger, but it was happening to laptops when you plugged a phone into them.

        Other things not in the standard but easy to find are USB-C extension cables, and cables with USB-A (regular rectangular USB) on one end and USB-C on the other.

      • @manualoverride
        1•3 days ago

        A few years ago I decided to make sure everything I purchased was USB-C where possible. Items I have that I can think of:

        • Philips Sonicare toothbrush case - only works with USBA to C cable.

        • BlockBlueLight hexagon night light - only charges with the cable supplied USBA to C.

        • air mattress (random Amazon brand) inflator has USB c charger that will not charge anything but does allow the inflator to work, no power bank or USB-C charger works.

        • I have several “non-iQ” chargers with random incompatibility between Samsung and Apple devices.

        • A tennis racket style electric fly swatter works with some chargers and not others

        • USB-C IR camera which works on android but not on new iPhones due to some power pin incompatibility.

        • I have a drawer full of USB-C cables with various ratings up to 140w, have to select the correct one for the application.

        It may be just that these are all pre-EU unifying the standards, but there is enough USB-C e-waste in my house that I purchased in good faith that USB-C means it’s compatible, but it isn’t.