USB-A Accessories

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.

More to look at

• USB-A to USB-C cables
• OTG adapters
• Converters
• Car chargers
• Right-angle cables
• Guide: Which charging cable does my phone need?