Which part of the super-discount USB Type-C connector, which costs only 0.05 yen for one, is of low quality?



Peripherals for smartphones and PCs are sold in large numbers and the differences are difficult to understand, but there is a clear price difference for each item.

Timon, who posted on Twitter how to modify his own hardware, compared 16-pin USB Type-C connectors with different prices of 0.05 cents (about 0.05 yen) and 20 cents (about 20 yen) each. 'What's wrong with cheap connectors?'

Lets play 'Which part is cheaper?' We have two 16-pin USB-C connectors. One costs ~ 20 cents and the other ~ 5 cents at QTY 100.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1317577204608475136.html

Two types of USB Type-C connectors were used for comparison: the 0.05 cents ' SHOU HAN TYPE-C16PIN ' and the 20 cents ' HRO TYPE-C-31-M-12 '. According to Timon, the apparent difference between the two is the presence or absence of a slight crack. The super-discount 'SHOU HAN' (on the left) has a slight crack in the folded part marked with a red circle. Timon explains, 'It seems that cracks were caused by the molding speed being fast or by using a metal that is sensitive to stress, but with only a few scratches, there is almost no problem.'



The cheaper 'SHOU HAN' (on the left) has a coarser joint on the exterior.



The inside of 'SHOU HAN' with the outer layer removed is as follows.




The inside of 'HRO' is as follows. Compared to the cheap 'SHOU HAN', the structure is quite complicated. 'This is where the price difference is the most,' commented Timon.




Both contact parts are coated with gold, but 'SHOU HAN' (left side) is probably brass, and 'HRO' (right side) is copper. However, the gold coating on 'HRO' is partially incomplete, and Timon said, 'High price does not necessarily mean high quality.'



Below is an enlarged image of the coated part of 'HRO'. You can see that the copper is firmly covered with gold. On the other hand, brass, which is the content of the contact point of 'SHOU HAN', looks similar to gold, so 'it is unknown how much gold will be used for coating' SHOU HAN ''.



in Hardware, Posted by darkhorse_log