The older USB plug, still everywhere
USB-A is the larger, flat, rectangular plug that goes in only one way up. No phone has a USB-A socket, but a great many other things do: older plug chargers, car dashboards, laptops, power banks, and the USB sockets built into lamps, hotel bedsides and plug sockets. A cable with USB-A at one end lets a newer phone charge from all of them. This page gathers everything in Charging and Power whose listing names USB-A or a plain USB plug.
What is here
- USB-A to USB-C cables: nylon braided cables in many colours, 6A cables offered up to 8m, and 90-degree elbow and right-angle cables that sit flat in a car or a game controller grip.
- 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 cables with USB-A at the charger end. One short splitter charges several USB-C or micro-USB gadgets at once at a basic 5V 2A, so it is for charging only, and slowly.
- Chargers with USB-A sockets: a dual-port UK plug charger with one USB-C and one USB-A socket, and a multi-port charger with four USB-A and two USB-C sockets.
- Adapters: OTG adapters that let a phone with USB-C take a USB stick, a keyboard or a mouse with a USB-A plug, a USB 3.0 adapter with a small light, and adapters that let a USB-C cable plug into a USB-A socket.
What USB-A means for charging speed
USB Power Delivery, the fast-charging standard used by most phone makers, is built around USB-C. So a USB-A to USB-C cable will charge a phone, but usually not at its fastest. Electrical Safety First puts the older kind of USB charging at around 7 to 10 watts, which is why an old cube from a drawer can take hours to fill a modern phone. Some chargers have a faster USB-A socket using Quick Charge: the dual-port charger here gives up to 18W from its USB-A socket with Quick Charge 3.0, against 20W from its USB-C socket with PD. For the quickest charge, USB-C at both ends and a PD charger is the way; see USB-C accessories.
USB-A still makes sense where the socket is already there: a car, a laptop, a bedside lamp, a work desk. There, a good USB-A to USB-C cable is simpler than a new charger.
Questions people ask about USB-A accessories
What is an OTG adapter for?
OTG lets a phone act as the host for a USB gadget, so a USB stick, card reader, keyboard or mouse with a USB-A plug works on a phone with USB-C. See OTG adapters.
Will USB-A disappear?
New chargers and laptops lean towards USB-C, but cars, older laptops and existing chargers keep USB-A sockets for years, so a USB-A cable or two stays useful.
How long does delivery take?
Delivery is included in every price and tracked to your door. Each product page says when it usually arrives.
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