Could this be the next Kobo Clara HD or Nia iteration?

[Quoth]

I've a 3m USB-A to USB-C cable and micro & mini adaptors for it. Very handy.

I can find no difference in charging or speed using USB-C to USB-C for PC to Sage or Elipsa or Lenovo Yoga Tab compared to USB-A to USB-C, and actually the Sage charges fastest with the supplied Lenovo USB-A charger (though the tablet is USB-C). Also makes no difference using USB 2.x or USB 3.0 speed USB-C or USB-A ports to a Sage. The two fastest USB devices I have (A USB 3.0 HDD and a mini-USB interface camera) go no faster on USB 2.x than USB 3.0, so I'd guess only an NVMe over USB SSD and maybe a SATA SSD over USB might go at USB 3.0 speeds. My Firewire based Digital Camcorder goes faster than any USB device I have.

There are also USB-A data/charge cables with micro-SUB, mini-USB, USB-C and Apple Lightning tethered adapters at about €12.

Really only USB-C monitors and USB-C laptop PSUs need USB-C to USB-C cables. The cheap set of dumb USB-C host adaptors I have allow mini-USB, micro-USB and USB-A plugs for Tablet to host slaves.

The "advantages" of USB-C for a phone, tablet or ereader are purely the connector goes in either way.

Advanced features need advanced OPTIONAL features at both ends:
1) serial data for power supply negotiation, up to 20V, so as to power a laptop, except the max power isn't enough for gaming laptops or multiple downstream charging.
2) Video. It actually needs extra signals and quite a few laptops and most tablets/phones with USB-C can't drive video to a monitor with USB-C only. Make sure any monitor has at least HDMI.
3) Swapping Slave and Host mode. Like USB2Go on mini-USB and micro-USB, not all USB-C ports do it.
4) Charging and being a host port at the same time. Rare. And actually a few rarer phones/tablets with micro-USB can do it too. Both often need a Y cable.

Basically USB-C "OPTIONALLY" combines a power connector for more than 1.5A @ 5V, HMDI video and everything a micro-USB does. It seems to me a pointless design that sows confusion and underspec'ed to power more powerful laptops.

[mrecom]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I guess you're right. What I should have said is that I have a ton of microUSB cables, having to get USB-C ones (and making sure I have the right cable with the right device) is just one more thing I have to worry about.

I have to think you're in the minority when it comes to this. Over 90% of portable devices in my household are usb-c. All of my phones since 2015 have been usb-c. Even things like my percussion massager and cordless air duster are usb-c.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I guess you're right. What I should have said is that I have a ton of microUSB cables, having to get USB-C ones (and making sure I have the right cable with the right device) is just one more thing I have to worry about.

I have two cables in the drawer. One is MicroUSB and the other is USB-C. Both have a USB-A end on them.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by mrecom

I have to think you're in the minority when it comes to this. Over 90% of portable devices in my household are usb-c. All of my phones since 2015 have been usb-c. Even things like my percussion massager and cordless air duster are usb-c.

I have two USB-C devices and rest are microUSB or lightning. So that makes USB-C in the minority.

[DNSB]

Looking at my devices in current use:

Lightning:	2
Micro-USB:	4
Mini-USB:	1
USB-C:		4
Thunderbolt:	2

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by mrecom

I have to think you're in the minority when it comes to this. Over 90% of portable devices in my household are usb-c. All of my phones since 2015 have been usb-c. Even things like my percussion massager and cordless air duster are usb-c.

I have one phone that uses USB-C. Every other device uses microUSB (or miniUSB). I've got several older eReaders. So, speaking for myself, USB-C is just an inconvenience. Although I admit I'm probably in the minority -- although I think there are still a huge number of microUSB eReaders in use.

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have two USB-C devices and rest are microUSB or lightning. So that makes USB-C in the minority.

I have 1, maybe 2 USB-C devices. The rest (> 15) are micro USB. I also have some lightning devices.

Another person in the minority.

[John F]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I have one phone that uses USB-C. Every other device uses microUSB (or miniUSB). I've got several older eReaders. So, speaking for myself, USB-C is just an inconvenience. Although I admit I'm probably in the minority -- although I think there are still a huge number of microUSB eReaders in use.

As regards to being in the minority, I would guess you aren't.

Browsing new stuff, some have USB-C, some have microUSB, some have both. But it looks to me like the majority of things still being sold have microUSB. New phones and tablets may have USB-C, but I would guess that the majority of consumer electronics have a microUSB connector (if they have a connector for data or charging, ignoring Apple stuff).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by John F

I have 1, maybe 2 USB-C devices. The rest (> 15) are micro USB. I also have some lightning devices.

Another person in the minority.

MicroUSB -- 4 Readers, 1 music player, 1 backup battery
Lightning -- 2 iPhones and 1 iPad
USB-C -- 1 Reader, 1 BT adapter

I prefer microUSB.

[mrecom]

I'll throw in some household counts.
3x Chromebooks (2 different manufacturers): USB-C
2x Samsung Galaxy phones: USB-C
1x Samsung Galaxy tablet: USB-C
3x battery packs (1 small, 1 medium, 1 car jumper): USB-C
1x HP work laptop: USB-C
1x Apple work laptop: USB-C
1x ~2013 Paperwhite: Micro-USB
1x kids tablet: Micro-USB
1x iPad: lightning

All but 1-2 of these devices were manufactured in 2019 or earlier.

[Deobulakenyo]

I prefer USB-C if only for one reason: reversible plugging.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rcentros

So it's basically the current Clara HD, except waterproof with USB-C, blue, made with recycled material, has 16 GB of storage (instead of 8 GB) and has built-in BlueTooth. It probably also has a faster CPU (but that's just a guess). It looks like the price is going to jump $30 for these new features.

I know what you meant. But a condensed version of what you wrote would be:

So it's basically the current Clara HD, except everything is improved.

I mean, come on. USB-C, double the storage, a better screen, waterproofing, and (potentially) a faster processor. That is a solid device upgrade right there.

[John F]

Originally Posted by mrecom

I'll throw in some household counts.
3x Chromebooks (2 different manufacturers): USB-C
2x Samsung Galaxy phones: USB-C
1x Samsung Galaxy tablet: USB-C
3x battery packs (1 small, 1 medium, 1 car jumper): USB-C
1x HP work laptop: USB-C
1x Apple work laptop: USB-C
1x ~2013 Paperwhite: Micro-USB
1x kids tablet: Micro-USB
1x iPad: lightning

All but 1-2 of these devices were manufactured in 2019 or earlier.

Since we are counting...

USB-C devices

1 tablet
1 computer

Devices that have both USB-C and microUSB

1 battery charger

MicroUSB

3 battery chargers
>5 powerbanks
1 computer
2 fans
1 bug zapper
>4 game controllers
2 earbuds
2 headphones
and I'm guessing some other stuff

Lightning

I don't feel like counting

[JSWolf]

I forgot all the chargers I have. They are all USB-A.

[John F]

Originally Posted by John F

Since we are counting...

USB-C devices

1 tablet
1 computer

Devices that have both USB-C and microUSB

1 battery charger

MicroUSB

3 battery chargers
>5 powerbanks
1 computer
2 fans
1 bug zapper
>4 game controllers
2 earbuds
2 headphones
and I'm guessing some other stuff

Lightning

I don't feel like counting

Silly me, I forgot my Kobo devices. So that is 3+ more micro USB devices.