Shop by the plug
When a cable goes missing or a new phone arrives, the first question is which plug it takes. These pages gather the cables, chargers, adapters and power banks from Charging and Power by the plugs they have. A product is listed under every plug its own listing names, in its name, its description or its choices. So a USB-A to USB-C cable is under both, and a power bank with built-in USB-C and Lightning cables is under both of those.
The four connector pages
- USB-C accessories is the largest. USB-C is the rounded, oval plug that goes in either way up, on the iPhone 15 and later and on most Android phones of recent years. It holds cables of every length, wall and car chargers, power banks and adapters.
- Lightning accessories is for iPhones from the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 14, which have Apple's narrower Lightning socket: USB-C to Lightning cables, adapters between the two, 3-in-1 cables and a power bank with a Lightning cable built in.
- USB-A accessories is for the older, larger rectangular plug that goes in only one way up. No phone has it, but many chargers, cars, laptops and power banks still do. Here are cables with USB-A at the charger end, chargers with USB-A sockets, and adapters.
- Magnetic tip accessories is for cables whose small tip stays in the phone while the cable clicks on with a magnet.
How to tell which plug you need
Look at the socket at the bottom of the phone. A rounded oval is USB-C. A narrower slot with a flat bar inside is Lightning on an iPhone. A smaller socket, wider on one side than the other, is micro-USB, found on older Android phones and small gadgets such as torches and speakers.
Then look at the other end. The socket on your charger, car charger, laptop or power bank decides the plug at the far end of the cable, and a cable has to match at both ends. Since October 2020 Apple has put only a cable in the iPhone box, and many other phones now come the same way, so a new phone's USB-C to USB-C cable often meets an old charger with only a USB-A socket. Either a USB-A to USB-C cable or a wall charger with a USB-C socket solves it. The guide to which charging cable your phone needs goes through every combination.
Questions people ask about connectors
Does USB-C mean fast charging?
Not on its own. USB-C is the shape of the plug. Fast charging comes from USB Power Delivery, written PD, and the watts, so look for both. Shop by charging power sorts chargers by their watts.
Can one cable charge an iPhone and an Android phone?
For an iPhone 15 or later and a recent Android phone, yes: both take USB-C. For an older iPhone in the same house as USB-C phones, a 3-in-1 cable or a small USB-C to Lightning adapter covers both.
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