USB SuperSpeed requires extra wires and much better shielding, which means a thicker, more expensive, less durable, cable.

You also can't make SuperSpeed cables that actually meet the spec once they get past a couple meters.

If I just want to charge my phone or laptop, a High Speed cable is actually better.

USB-C itself has nothing to do with data rate at all. It's really the combination of USB-C and USB 3.x standards made things like hell. It was supposed to have one single cable to do everything but the fact is that I have far more cables which look almost exactly the same but with dramatically different capabilities and I have no idea which can do what at all.

But nonetheless, USB-C indeed introduced one issue that I never imagined: sometimes my phone decided that it should charge the charger instead of being charged...

I don't know, sometimes I just want a very thin cable that is flexible - for charging mostly. I bought a proper USB-C anker cable for my phone early on, and replaced it literally within few days as it was proper big shielded cable that had zero flexibility, horrible for charging. I didn't care that technically it could do 10GB/s, it just wasn't necessary.

In theory, the choice of USB-C or -{,mini,micro}A/B is orthogonal to the choice of version: there are USB-A and even USB-B connectors (with additional pins) that support USB 3.0 as well. There is a logic to this.

In practice, it is confusing.

micro-USB requires a different extended connector for 3.0 [1], and I don't think there is a mini-USB 3.0. USB-A is generally coded with a different color and the extra pins are clearly visible [2], especially when you hold a 2.0 cable side-by-side. So it is all quite clear except for USB-C.

[1] https://www.startech.com/en-us/cables/usb3aub15cms

[2] https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/usb-2.0...

There was logic to it: you could have a completely passive cable with a type c connector that would interoperate.

Agree or disagree, it wasn’t completely absurd.

There are "charge only" micro usb cables too; I hate them.

I'd be fine with charge-only cables if there was a distinctive, mandatory, universally-honored way of indicating that.

I deliberately carry charge-only cables when I anticipate encountering untrusted chargers, and I've designated all mine with a band of red heatshrink on both ends.

These are useful for charging in no security situations. You can connect your device to an untrusted port in a wall with a charge-only cable.

If they have an A connector at the other end they are easily identified by just looking how many contacts it has.

These were made to save money but I found them handy for security reasons (no need for a USB condom).

USB condom. And now I know. Where can I buy a trustable one of these?

Pretty easy to validate— you plug your device into a trusted computer first and it doesn't recognize it.

For Type A chargers they are readily available online and can be testing using the approach mikepurvis wrote in a comment parallel to this. Or you can make yourself a clunky one as it’s just two wires.

I have seen them called “data blocker” or “secure charging cable” but what you want is one that is a female-to-male device so you can attach it to charging cables not just bricks.

Type C is harder. I have one from the early days of Type C that doesn’t do PD so in the end it’s only useful for phones. I haven’t seen one that does Power Delivery.