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Nothing feels more comforting than checking on your house from a remote location. Personally, I’ve got a security camera for my front door and living room, as I like to keep a close eye on delivered packages and my dog’s whereabouts. If you’re looking for peace of mind, you’re in luck, as Best Buy’s selling the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera Security Bundle for $249.99, which is a savings of $350. The bundle includes three wireless 1400p security cameras. That’s one hell of a deal right there.

The Arlo Pro 4 cameras have a resolution of 2560×1440 and a field of view of 160 degrees. These cameras can be used either indoors or outdoors, and they work with popular voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit. The audio communication works two ways and the cameras can even capture color night vision video. Whether you want to spy on your neighbors with the live streaming feature or set up motion and sound alerts for incoming packages, you can do a lot with these cameras. This bundle also comes with rechargeable batteries, anti-theft mounts, a dual battery charging station, and more.

This is a phenomenal deal, especially for three cameras. There’s no better time than now to make your home more secure.

Get the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera Security Bundle for $249.99 at Best Buy

Author: Ashley Biancuzzo, Associate Editor

Ashley is a professional writer and editor with a strong background in tech and pop culture. She has written for high traffic websites such as Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her off time, she enjoys playing video games, reading science fiction novels, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound.

Recent stories by Ashley Biancuzzo:

Make cooking easy (and healthy) with 29% off Ninja’s Air Fryer Pro XLThis ludicrously cheap $65 Ecovacs will vacuum your home for youGoogle’s Nest smart thermostat is $50 off right now

Nobody loves a big blowout sale more than Amazon and, whether you’ve been on the hunt for a new gaming laptop or monitor, we’ve got it all right here. Amazon launched its first ever Big Spring Sale event this week, which lasts until March 25th. The best part is that you don’t even have to be a Prime member to take advantage of these delectable deals.

If you’ve no idea where to begin with your shopping, don’t sweat it. The team at PCWorld carefully curated the juiciest deals for you, culled after sifting through hundreds of available discounts. Yes, most of these are computer related — you’re reading PCWorld after all — but we also found some especially enticing smart home deals, too!

Hubs, docks, and dongles

Anker 555 $39.99 (33%+ off): The Anker 555 is PCWorld’s current top pick for hubs and dongles… and for good reason! It’s lightweight enough to stick in your backpack and it has every port you could ever want. Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock $254.15 (20% off): PCWorld’s favorite laptop docking station is on sale right now, so you better jump on it sooner rather than later. It features a massive 16-port expansion as well as lightning fast 2.5Gbps Ethernet. You can’t get much better than that!

Laptop deals

Asus ROG Strix G16, $1,699.99 (Save 15%): This powerful gaming laptop is packing an RTX 4070 GPU as well as a 165Hz refresh rate display, which means gameplay should be nice and smooth.Asus Vivobook Pro 16X $1,799.99 (Save 18%): The spacious 16-inch 1600p display features a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, making it the perfect screen for content creation and office work, especially paired with its ferocious Core i9-13980HX processor and RTX 4070 graphics.Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip $589.99 (16% off): The 2-in-1 design makes this Chromebook super versatile. Also, you can easily play triple-A titles on this machine thanks to cloud gaming.Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo $1,899.99 (17% off): Need more screen real estate for your content creation projects? Well, this laptop comes with a full-width secondary touchscreen. We recently reviewed the non-Pro version of this notebook and called it a near-perfect dual screen laptop.Asus ROG Strix G15 $799.99 (20% off): Equipped with an RTX 3050 GPU and an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H CPU, this is an solid gaming laptop for those on a strict budget. You don’t see gaming laptops going for $800 very often.

Keyboard deals

ROCCAT Vulcan II Mini Air $139.99 (22% off): This keyboard’s white color scheme and rainbow backlighting will definitely elevate the overall look of your office space.Logitech K400 Plus Wireless $22 (21% off): This PC-to-TV keyboard is unique because of the built-in touchpad, which allows you to effortlessly navigate your entertainment.Logitech MX Keys Mini $79.99 (20% off): The keys on this keyboard are shaped for your fingertips, making for a more comfortable typing experience. Plus, thanks to its small form factor, it’s super lightweight and portable.

Mice deals

Asus ROG Harpe $99.99 (33% off): This mouse has a wildly responsive DPI of 36,000–the ideal peripheral for intensive shooters. Corsair KATAR Elite Wireless $59.99 (25% off): According to Corsair, this wireless gaming mouse has up to 110 hours of rechargeable battery life, allowing you to game well into the night. And the next night, and the…

Monitor deals

Samsung T35F Series $119.02 (21% off): This is a good monitor for the everyday person. It’s 27-inches and has a 1080p resolution, which is suitable for day-to-day tasks, and you can’t beat this price.Samsung Odyssey G30A $179.99 (22% off): This is a refresh rate (144Hz) monitor with FreeSync built-in, which helps reduce screen tearing during gameplay.Samsung CR50 Curved $129.99 (43% off): Looking to up the immersion factor? Then you should totally pick up this 27-inch 1080p curved monitor, which is designed to wrap around you and suck you in. Samsung S65TC Curved $449.99 (44% off): This a fantastic monitor for gaming or watching movies on. It measures a massive 34-inches and has a curvature of 1000R, so it’s designed to surround you when you sit in front of it. It also has AMD FreeSync built-in, which helps nix any stuttering or screen tearing issues. Sceptre 1080p LED Monitor $89.97 (18% off): This is another good everyday monitor. You’re getting a 1080p resolution as well as two HDMI ports and one VGA port. It’s also 24-inches, which is a nice size for a dual monitor setup.Sceptre 4K UHD Monitor $159.97 (20% off): This 27-inch 4K Sceptre monitor is a great pick for photo editors or content creators. The 4K resolution should be nice and sharp, which is important when you need to get the smaller details just right.

Software deals

Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021 $99.99 (33% off): This is the full version of Microsoft Office 2021. This package includes Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It’s also a standalone purchase, not a subscription. For more details on this deal, check out this comprehensive writeup.

Smart home deals

Amazon Echo Pop $22.99 (43% off): This adorable little speaker from Amazon is perfect for bedrooms and other small spaces. Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) $34.99 (30% off): According to Amazon, this sphere-shaped speaker produces clearer vocals and deeper bass than previous generations. Blink Outdoor 4 (4th Gen) $64.99 (35% off): This smart security camera features two-way audio as well as a two-year battery life. Blink Video Doorbell $41.99 (30% off): This smart camera allows you to save and share clips in the cloud, and you can set it up within minutes. Ring Doorbell Wired (Refurbished) $39.99 (27% off): If you want to stick with Amazon smart devices, then this refurbished Ring Doorbell is a killer fit for most people. It has 1080p video with two-way talk and you can get notifications sent straight to your phone. Arlo Essential Video Doorbell $67.99 (66% off): This doorbell features 1080p video, two way audio, night vision mode, and a wide field of view–useful for when you want to cover a larger area like a driveway.

Author: Ashley Biancuzzo, Associate Editor

Ashley is a professional writer and editor with a strong background in tech and pop culture. She has written for high traffic websites such as Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her off time, she enjoys playing video games, reading science fiction novels, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound.

Recent stories by Ashley Biancuzzo:

Best laptops 2024: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and moreToday’s best laptop deals: Save big on work, school, home use, and gamingGet this RTX-powered Lenovo gaming laptop for an absurdly low $749

Gaming laptops have gotten really, really good. It doesn’t take much looking to find models that promise high-performance parts, thin-and-light design, or sometimes both. It’s not too surprising to see gaming laptops coming at pretty surprising prices. But knowing what you’re actually going to get before you hit that buy button, and making sure you have your priorities sorted before you even start shopping can save you from a whole lot of fuss. 

Here, I’m going to break down some of the key features you should be paying attention to when you’re shopping for a new gaming laptop in 2024. The market has changed a lot, and making the right calls can make a big difference between getting a laptop that’s still kicking years from now and winding up with one that won’t even meet your demands today.

Looking to pick up a new gaming laptop? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops available today.

GPU is key

Unlike with desktop PC building, where you can pair just about whatever CPU you want with your choice of GPU, the gaming laptop manufacturers really take a lot of the choice out of the matter. Most, if not all, major gaming laptop makers are going to put extremely capable CPUs into their machines, and whether that’s a couple-generations-old Core i5 or the latest workstation-grade chip, it’s probably not going to make the biggest difference in your gaming experience on the laptop. If you’re hellbent on gaming at 1080p with low settings and a focus on raw frame rate, then you might be better served by maxing out the CPU, but in most other cases, you should be in good hands with whatever options you’ll have available. 

This means the GPU is by far the more important component to consider. First, it should be a discrete GPU. Integrated graphics have come a long way, but even an RTX 4050 is going to have the edge. Consider your target resolution, frame rates, and the types of games you want to play, and then choose a GPU from there. Bear in mind that laptop GPUs are much slower than their desktop counterparts overall, so don’t rely on desktop GPU benchmarks. If you can’t find a review of the laptop you’re looking at, check recent reviews of models using the same GPU to get a rough idea of the performance. Also keep a keen eye out for the “TGP,” or Total Graphics Power, of the GPU a laptop is offering. The TGP can vary greatly in laptops, and while a lower wattage may mean less heat and power draw, it also will mean lower performance. 

Finally, pay attention to the cooling the laptop includes for that GPU. This is where reviews will be especially helpful. Without proper cooling, a GPU’s performance can drop hard. I tested a poorly cooled RTX 4090 in one laptop that ran slower than a well-cooled RTX 4080 in another, much cheaper laptop.

Consider RAM capacity

A big, bold, and powerful top-line gaming laptop

MSI Raider GE78 HX 14VIG-600US

Read our reviewPrice When Reviewed:$3,799.99Best Prices Today:$3799 at B&H | $3799.99 at Newegg

You don’t get much choice in how fast or what type of RAM you’re going to get, but you absolutely should be paying attention to how much RAM you can get. The initial RAM capacity is one thing, but how much more you can add is perhaps even more important. You don’t want 8GB. That’s just not enough in 2024. Ideally, you can start out with 16GB of memory and upgrade down the line to 32GB or more as future games see increasing demands. 

If a laptop has only soldered-on memory, you’ll face a trickier decision. 16GB may be enough for some time, especially if you’re playing lighter games. But with many new AAA games calling for 16GB in their system requirements, I don’t think it’ll be too long before 32GB becomes the new normal. With that in mind, you may want to opt for the extra memory from the get-go so that you don’t end up with a laptop that would otherwise be perfectly capable if it weren’t stuck at a memory dead-end.

If you find a laptop with upgradeable memory, then there’s no harm in just getting 16GB today, as you can just upgrade later (and another stick of 16GB is probably going to be cheaper a year or two from now than it is today, especially when DDR6 drives down prices of older RAM).

Starting storage and upgrade options

Our favorite gaming laptop

Alienware m16 R2

Read our reviewPrice When Reviewed:$1,849.99Best Prices Today:$1849.99 at Dell

After GPU and memory, storage should be your next consideration. Thankfully, the stakes are a little less dire. For the most part, storage is upgradeable. Even if you land on a system with room for only one drive, that can almost always be upgraded, even if it’s a hassle to do so. 

With that in mind, consider what games you play often, how much room you want for others, and just how much bigger modern games are getting. A 128GB drive will hardly hold a full system, and 256GB won’t offer up much extra room for even a single bigger game. If you have one main game you play, a 512GB drive might do the trick. If the laptop has an extra M.2 slot (you’re not likely to find 2.5-inch slots on laptops in 2024), you can certainly settle for a smaller boot drive and just pop in a bigger SSD to serve as a file and game repository. That empty M.2 slot also means you don’t have to settle for whatever drive the manufacturer will give you and can instead opt for one one of the best SSDs available whenever you upgrade.

A display to fit your needs

If you plan to just connect to a quality gaming monitor at home for most of your play and only rely on the laptop’s display when you’re on the go, then this might not matter. But if you plan to game on the built-in display, it’s worth making sure you’re getting a good one. 

Given that even the biggest laptops have, at most, 18-inch displays, you can get by with a 1080p display without too much pain. You can instead focus on color, panel type, and refresh rate. 

For a colorful monitor, you should be looking to see close to 90 to100 percent sRGB advertised, or go for 100 percent DCI-P3 for a gorgeous upgrade. If you see a laptop’s color only advertised as some percentage of NTSC (such as the common 45 percent NTSC), you’re going to end up with a very drab display that doesn’t bring your games to life.

If you don’t see a panel type listed with a product, it’s likely a basic LCD display with fairly low quality. IPS and UWVA display panels are roughly equal, and they can offer decent clarity. You’ll find plenty of laptops using these two panel technologies. OLED has a huge advantage for contrast and pixel response time, making for punchy and responsive gaming, but it usually comes with more battery life drain.

You can find 120- to 144Hz displays quite commonly among gaming laptops, while 165Hz and 240Hz are also becoming more common. The faster the refresh rate, the smoother your gameplay can look, though slower OLED displays can sometimes appear as smooth as faster LCDs.

Finally, a quick note on MUX switches in 2024. While you might find them and be able to see some benefit while gaming on the laptop’s internal display, the introduction of CASO means they’re far less essential for maximizing performance.

Ports are a big deal still

Regardless of whether you’re using your gaming laptop as a desktop replacement or gaming on the go with it, you’ll want to ensure you’ve got the right ports to help with the job. 

For external display connections, be on the lookout for HDMI 2.1 as well as USB-C ports that mention DisplayPort support (often listed as “DP Alt Mode”). USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 can also be extremely handy, as they not only let you connect out to hubs that multiply your port options, but they can also handle the display output at the same time. 

In 2024, USB-A ports aren’t always a given, but it can be very helpful to have a couple on deck for connecting mice and headphones. If you can avoid it, don’t rely on Bluetooth for connections to your gaming peripherals — the latency is just too high.

Battery life doesn’t have to be awful

A laptop should be portable, even if you only plan to use it lightly when you’re away from power outlets. Ultrabooks have made leaps and bounds in battery life, but gaming laptops still have a penchant for burning through their batteries in record time. That is, if the discrete GPU is enabled. Many gaming laptops give you the option to disable the discrete GPU, and that can be a boon to battery life. I’ve seen some laptops that might go two hours normally stretch closer to eight hours with the GPU turned off. Unfortunately, not all laptops handle battery savings equally, even if they have similar components and battery capacities, so be sure to check reviews for battery life measurements. 

Further reading: The best gaming laptops under $1,000

Author: Mark Knapp

Recent stories by Mark Knapp:

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While there are plenty of free alternatives out there, it’s hard to beat the Office genuine article when it comes to pure capability and features. Today you can get the full version of Microsoft Office 2021, the latest release that works as a stand-alone without a Microsoft 365 subscription, for just $99.99, a 33 percent discount off the usual $150 price. The Windows and Mac releases are on sale at Amazon as part of its spring event.

The Home and Student 2021 package for Office includes Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which can be installed or transferred on a single Windows 10 or 11 PC or a recent Mac computer. While this package lacks the full version of Outlook (a free version was included in a recent Windows update) and extra OneDrive storage, you don’t need to pay a monthly subscription. The package can be downloaded directly, no need to wait for a shipment.

At $99.99, it’s a $50 discount off what Microsoft is offering from its online store right now. And yes, despite the “2021” label, it’s the latest version of these applications. An Office 2024 update is coming sometime in the near future, and Microsoft says there will be a one-time purchase option as an alternative to a 365 subscription…but we have no idea how much it’ll cost when it arrives.

Get Microsoft Office 2021 standalone for $99.99 at Amazon

Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer

Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.

Recent stories by Michael Crider:

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If you’re unable to drop thousands of dollars on a souped-up gaming rig, you’re not alone, but that doesn’t mean you have to settle for a below average machine. Right now you can pick up the Lenovo LOQ 15IRH8 for just $749 at B&H. That’s $560 off the usual price!

This laptop wields Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4050 graphics as well as a sizeable, 15.6-inch display with a 144Hz refresh rate. Although you may need to taper your expectations depending on the type of game you’re playing, $749 is a damn good price for a gaming laptop. These often start around $1,000 and only go up from there.

The Lenovo LOQ 15IRH8 is packing an Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. Depending on the graphic demands of the game, you may need to dial back the graphics on faster-paced titles. However, with older games, you should be able to bump up the graphics preset to High or Ultra. The 1080p display also has a maximum brightness of 350 nits. We’ve seen brighter displays, sure, but it’s perfectly fine for most games. Besides, you can always plug into an external monitor if need be. Other cool features include a 1080p webcam for videoconferencing and dual 85-blade fans for when things get red hot.

Bottom line? You almost never see gaming laptops selling for this cheap — at least not new. Grab it before it’s gone.

Get the Lenovo LOQ 15IRH8 for $749 at B&H

Author: Ashley Biancuzzo, Associate Editor

Ashley is a professional writer and editor with a strong background in tech and pop culture. She has written for high traffic websites such as Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her off time, she enjoys playing video games, reading science fiction novels, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound.

Recent stories by Ashley Biancuzzo:

Best laptops 2024: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and moreToday’s best laptop deals: Save big on work, school, home use, and gamingSave $450 on this stunning Lenovo 2-in-1 laptop with a 4K OLED screen

Life online can differ wildly from the real world—especially when security is involved. It’s not likely someone will break into your home if you lose your house keys. But leaked login info? That puts a target on your back. Case in point: Last week, Roku disclosed a whopping 576,000 users were victims of a credential stuffing attack, far exceeding the original 15,000 accounts first reported in mid-March.

Credential stuffing involves plugging in usernames and passwords taken from data leaks and breaches into various websites. Hackers can do so quickly and efficiently through automation, as illustrated by the half-million accounts affected by this campaign. The attackers behind this Roku breach ultimately bought streaming service subscriptions and Roku hardware products through several hundred accounts with payment info on file. 

In response, Roku has reversed those unauthorized charges—and also enabled its method of two-factor authentication on all accounts. Users must now click an emailed verification link to complete login.

These steps are all the right ones, except for one part—the fact that people reuse passwords, making this kind of hack possible and the subsequent remediations necessary. If more people had stored payment information in their Roku profiles, the damage could have been far more extensive, even if the 576,000 users caught up in this hack were just a fraction of Roku’s 80 million active accounts.

Fact of the matter is, reusing passwords in today’s environment is about as useful as a doorknob lock. They’ll keep out casual lurkers, but not anyone with determination to get in. Weak passwords are just as bad, since computers can crack or guess simple passwords with stunning ease.

Terahash / X

Terahash / X

Terahash / X

The most dangerous scenario is if a reused, weak, or easily guessed password works on one of your financial accounts—a hacker could make off with your life savings with little effort. At best, you’ll get your money back after appealing to your bank, but at worst, you could be left on the hook for the loss.

Not far behind are shopping sites, where it’s more common to keep stored payment information on file. Someone could quickly rack up hundreds (if not thousands) of fraudulent charges in your name, leaving you to unravel the mess.

But even on sites that “only” hold more of your personal information, like your birthdate, physical address, phone number, or age, there’s risk. Bad actors can use those details for building a fuller profile of you and successfully pulling off social engineering attacks on your more sensitive or essential accounts.

If you do reuse passwords, it’s an easily fixed problem—and Roku’s security team perfectly modeled what you should do. First, change your passwords so that you end up with unique and strong passwords (the longer the better) for each site. A password manager will handle that work for you so it feels painless. Whether you choose a paid service or a free one, it will autogenerate passwords (and even user names), then save them.

Next, add two-factor authentication to your accounts as much as possible. Ideally, you’ll want to use a separate app from your password manager for the most security, but even if you store it in a compatible password manager, you’ve at least got it in place. At minimum, enable two-factor on any account that has personal information (or information that could give away your identity), and/or payment details.

Between these two moves, you’ll up your online security considerably. Just be sure to follow one big piece of advice: Always keep your passwords for your password manager and your primary email address memorized. Life can become a major hassle if you don’t.

Author: Alaina Yee, Senior Editor

Alaina Yee is PCWorld’s resident bargain hunter—when she’s not covering software, PC building, and more, she’s scouring for the best tech deals. Previously her work has appeared in PC Gamer, IGN, Maximum PC, and Official Xbox Magazine. You can find her on Twitter at @morphingball.

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Protecting your personal data isn’t just smart these days—it’s a necessity. As the world grows more and more connected, your private info becomes more and more valuable. Whether it’s using leaked info from website breaches to hack into your other accounts or holding your personal computer ransom for money, malicious evildoers won’t hesitate to ruin your day if it puts profits in their pockets.

All is not lost though. Following some basic security principles can help protect you from most of the attacks you’ll find on the World Wild Web. Better yet, these five easy security tasks should take only a short while to get set up. Do them now and sleep easier at night.

Further reading: Be safe! How I set up a ‘Paranoid PC’ to surf the risky web

1. Use a password manager

On of the biggest security risks these days is password reuse. Major websites and services report massive data breaches on a shockingly regular basis. If you’re using the same email and password for multiple accounts, and any of those accounts leak, attackers can hack into your other ones using the information.

The best overall password manager

Dashlane

Read our reviewPrice When Reviewed:Free I Advanced: $2.75/mo I Premium: $4.99/mo I Friends & Family: $7.49/moBest Prices Today:$4.99 at Dashlane

Using strong, unique passwords for every account you own protects against that—but memorizing a different random password for every website you create an account for is next to impossible. That’s where password managers come in. These tools can create strong randomized passwords for you, store the information, and automatically fill in login fields on websites and software alike. Browsers are starting to offer basic password management tools too. They work in a pinch, and you shouldn’t feel ashamed about using Chrome’s password manager over nothing, but aren’t good enough overall. Investing in a proper password manager is well worth it (especially because many services offer a free tier).

Our guide to the best password managers can help you find the perfect fit for your needs.

2. Enable two-factor authentication

Most major services now offer a two-factor authentication feature, especially if they handle more sensitive personal data. Turn it on whenever you can. If a hacker does somehow manage to gain access to your login information, 2FA can still save your bacon.

Two-factor authentication requires you to confirm your account two ways before you’re able to log in: with something you know, and something you have. The “something you know” is your username and password. The “something you have” comes courtesy of an authorized tool you have in your possession. Usually, 2FA requires you to input a code that’s either sent to you via text message or email when you try to log in on a device for the first time, or to grab a code from a supported 2FA app, or connect a security device devoted to account authentication. The exact method varies by service, and many offer several 2FA options. Without that code, hackers can’t break into your account even if they have your login information.

Some services, including Google accounts, are switching to passwordless “passkey” authentication that supercharge security without needing 2FA, but that technology is still in its early adoption days. Microsoft and Apple have also committed to adopting passkeys in time.

Our two-factor authentication guide explains the concept more deeply, and includes our picks for the best 2FA apps and hardware. Uber was hacked because an employee was tricked into sharing their 2FA code, however—even with two-factor authentication active, make sure you aren’t sharing those crucial codes with anybody else.

3. Stay safe with security software

Now that your online accounts are locked down, it’s time to turn our attention to security for your personal computer. You don’t want malware secretly siphoning off your information while you’re banking or browsing your medical history, after all, while ransomware can lock you out of your computer completely until you pay a bounty.

The best overall antivirus suite

Norton 360 Deluxe

Read our reviewPrice When Reviewed:$49.99 for the first yearBest Prices Today:$19.99 at PCWorld Software Store | $49.99 at Norton

That’s where security software comes in. Yes, you still want to run antivirus and a firewall even in 2024. Good news, though: The Microsoft firewall that ships with Windows 10 and Windows 11 gets the job done just fine these days, while the Windows Security tools that come bundled with the operating system (including antivirus) now offer surprisingly good antivirus protection. Better yet, they’re enabled by default in Windows if you aren’t running a third-party alternative.

You still may want to run paid-for security software, as those suites offer much more than mere antivirus protection these days—you’ll also receive tools that protect against malicious ads and emails, more advanced firewalls, family protection for several devices, VPN access, and more. We regularly evaluate security software, and our guide to the best Windows antivirus suites can walk you through the top options. Use something though, even if it’s just Windows Security.

4. Don’t use a Windows admin account

Here’s one of the biggest under-the-radar security pro tips around: Don’t use a Windows administrator account day-to-day. Instead, use a secondary standard account.

A lot of malware tries to sneak itself on your system. Only administrator accounts can install software in Windows. If you’re using a standard account, you won’t be able to allow a rogue program onto you PC accidentally (at least not easily). For the best security, set up your computer with all the software you need using an admin account, but then use a secondary standard account to go about your business in general life. It’s very easy to switch over to your administrator account quickly when you need to install something new.

And definitely set your friends and family up with standard accounts if you’re sharing your computer with others. This Microsoft help page explains how to create accounts in Windows 10.

5. Back up your data

Finally, backing up your data is an underappreciated but vital aspect of your security toolkit. If a virus does manage to breach your computer’s defenses, having a comprehensive backup can help you restore any lost data, and potentially help you sidestep ransomware bounties.

great backup software that guards against malware too

Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office

Read our reviewPrice When Reviewed:$49.99Best Prices Today:$29.99 at PCWorld Software Store

There’s no single way to back up your data. Some people take “images” of the entire operating system, others rely on online backup services, and some folks simply drag key files over to external hard drives on the reg. Any method works as long as you’re doing something!

We’ve got several resources that can help you set up a data recovery plan, including guides to the best Windows backup software and the best online backup services. We’ve also rounded up the top free backup services, and have a guide explaining how you can back up your data for free using built-in Windows tools. Using free tools typically require a more patchwork, intensive process than the user-friendly premium offerings, but hey—they work.

Editor’s note: This article is periodically updated, most recently to update the intro and include relevant new links and info throughout.

Author: Brad Chacos, Executive editor

Brad Chacos spends his days digging through desktop PCs and tweeting too much. He specializes in graphics cards and gaming, but covers everything from security to Windows tips and all manner of PC hardware.

Recent stories by Brad Chacos:

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It’s easy to think that all USB-C cables are the same, and that manufacturers are only claiming to be superior in order to jack up the price. After all, it’s just a cable, right?

That’s completely understandable, but not always accurate. We at PCWorld have tested a ton of USB-C cables and can say with certainty not all of them are made the same. In fact, there can be huge performance differences among cables when it comes to both charging and transferring data.

Hands-on evaluation of numerous cables ranging from the biggest, most-recognizable brand-names to the cheapest of the cheap has revealed some clear winners, which I highlight below.

Why you should trust me: PCWorld has been testing hardware since the 1980s and I’ve been poking and prodding PC components since I cracked open my Commodore VIC-20 in junior high school to see why it stopped working (who uses aluminum-coated cardboard that frays as an RF shield? Commodore, that’s who). I’ve also been a professional journalist for more than three decades and started my stint at PCWorld as an intern in 1993.

For my USB-C cable reviews, I don’t rely on consumer reviews like some “reviewers” — I purchase the cables retail and personally test each one of them, examining the resistance, how they are physically wired, and query the embedded eMarker (if it has one), and then performance test them where appropriate for charge rates, transfer rates, and display support. My picks are separated into two groups to avoid any confusion: USB-C cables that are best for charging, and those best for both charging and fast data transfer.

For more information you can refer to our guide on how to buy a USB-C cable on Amazon without losing your mind, and you can find out more about how I test cables below my picks. 

Updated on April 17, 2024 to include new helpful information about USB-C cables in the FAQ at the bottom of this article. And Samsung Galaxy owners, take note of my odyssey in search of the fastest charging for these devices. It could save you time.

Best USB-C cable for charging

Belkin BoostCharge 240-watt charging cable

Pros

240W charging rate Quality braiding and overmolding Big-name brand

Cons

Lacks support for high-speed data transfers Pricier than others Price When Reviewed:$19.99Best Prices Today:$19.99 at Amazon$19.99 at B&H

Ever since Apple stopped selling our top big-brand cable for charging, we’ve been looking for a suitable replacement and we may have finally found it with Belkin’s BoostCharge 240-watt charging cable.

This 6.6-foot, or 2-meter, cable supports the highest USB Power Delivery charge rate, comes from a recognized big-brand, and is the same price as Apple’s 100-watt cable that used to sell for $19.99 all day.

What happened to Apple’s 100-watt charging cable? In keeping with updated USB power delivery specs, which moves the bar from 100 watts to 240 watts for faster charge rates, Apple dumped the 100-watt 6.6-foot cable for a new 240-watt cable and *cough* increased the price from $19.99 to $29.99.

The good news is the Belkin BoostCharge 240-watt charging cable is a worthy alternative to Apple’s offering.

Internally, the cable is just about on par with the Apple cable for cable resistance. That’s a good thing because Apple’s cables are actually internally constructed quite well in our experience. It’s the outside of Apple cables that has a reputation for falling apart and fraying.

The BoostCharge gives us more confidence than Apple with its pleasant braiding, beefy overmolding and Belkin’s boast that the cable has been tested to more than 30,000 bends.

The BoostCharge also features dual eMarker chips, which support over-temperature protection. With 240-watt charge rates, that last feature is particularly important as the BoostCharge can detect if it’s overheating and signal the devices to pause until it has cooled down enough.

The biggest bummer is the lack of wiring to support video output or actual high-speed data transfers. The BoostCharge is basically a plain-Jane charging cable supporting 480MBps transfer rates (vs. 10Gbps or 20Gbps).

That’s fine though, because most people are simply charging a laptop, tablet, or phone, and don’t need all of those features nor the bulk (data cables tend to be much thicker due to the extra wiring). We actually recommend that most people buy a basic charging cable for the daily abuse of plugging and unplugging devices, and, if necessary, reserving a shorter and higher-capability cable strictly for transferring chores. This should make the pricier fast data and video cable last far longer.

Sure, the Belkin is $20 and perhaps not the best value, but for someone looking for the warm embrace of a big brand to make them feel better, we think the BoostCharge cable is a good pick. The TLDR is if you would have bought an Apple cable but you’re balking at $29 for the equivalent — pick up the Belkin BoostCharge instead. If the Apple brand makes you feel more comfortable, read on.

Anker New Nylon Series 3 USB-C to USB-C 2-pack

Pros

Great value 12K bend cycles Better than Amazon Basics

Cons

Limited to 60W charging Lacks fast-transfer support Price When Reviewed:$13.99Best Prices Today:$8.99 at Amazon$12.99 at Walmart

At the time of our review, the Anker New Nylon 2-pack was the No. 1 best-selling USB-C cable on Amazon and that’s probably for good reason. At roughly $14 for a pair of 6-foot USB-C to USB-C charging cables from a brand-name people trust, it’s a great value, and for most people looking to handle phone-, small laptop-, and tablet-charging duties-, you probably don’t need to read any further. Just click add to the cart, and move on. If, however, you are someone looking for the caveats with this Anker pair of cables, read on.

The New Nylon 2-pack cables are braided and Anker says they’re tested to 12,000 bend cycles, which is better than most budget charger cables advertise.

Inside, however, there isn’t much special to the Anker New Nylon 2-pack. As basic “charging cables” they’re limited to a maximum of 60 watts. If you’re confused by what a “charger cable” is and whether it can transfer data, just know that the Anker cables can, but only at the minimal 480MBps speeds, meaning it could take minutes to copy large files to your laptop or phone.

You should also know that the lack of faster data transfers also means the Anker cable can’t be used to hook your laptop up to a USB-C port for video.

The cables themselves are really nothing special other than on price and the Anker name. Internally, the construction is pretty basic with resistance, or how much electrical drag the wires place on the charge rate, meh as well. The good news is that the Anker New Nylon cables are still better than the Amazon Basics cables we reviewed in 2020 that are even more meh and even pricier at $10 per cable today.

While cable snobs may turn their noses up at the 60-watt charge performance, in reality, it doesn’t matter that much since even a cable as average as these will perform fine for charging a phone, tablet, or Dell XPS 13- or MacBook Air-class laptop with no issues at all.

That means if we were a new iPhone 15 owner looking to replace a pile of obsolete Apple Lightning cables, we’d buy two or four of these Anker New Nylon cables and stop wracking your brain trying to find the “best USB-C cable.”

The only reason to skip basic charging cables such as the Anker, would be for those who need to transfer large files or someone who wants to hook a monitor or actual fast USB-C drive to your computer.

For everyone else, are there better cables? Sure, see above. Higher-quality, with lower resistance and faster data rates and even sturdier construction? Yes, all those can be had — for more money. But truth be told, if all the cable is going to do is sit plugged into a charger waiting for you to come home and plug it in, who cares? The Anker does the job adequately and it’s from someone you trust at the right price.

SOOPII 100W 6.6ft USB C to USB C Cable Fast Charge

Pros

Cool display that shows device charging rates No problems after months of charging various devices

Cons

eMarker chip gets some details wrong Outdated 100W power Below average in terms of resistance Price When Reviewed:$13.99Best Prices Today:$13.99 at Amazon

We hate to admit it, but we can be suckers for gimmicks and SooPii’s USB-C to USB-C cable has a great gimmick with an integrated display that tells you in real time how much power your phone, tablet, or laptop is drawing.

Sure, most people won’t really care, but for nerds, that extra bit of insight can be compelling. The accuracy of the SooPii is fairy spot-on according to our Charger Lab Power-Z USB-C analyzer.

Unfortunately, once you get past the cool display, there are a few nagging issues: For one, the SooPii is rated at 100 watts (the older maximum power a C-to-C cable could support, which has now been supplanted by 240-watt cables.) There are also some inaccuracies reported by the cable’s eMarker chip, despite it getting the charging capabilities of the cable correct. t

The eMarker wrongly claims the cable is 1-meter long when it’s actually two-meters or 6.6-feet long. It also reports that the cable can transfer data at USB 3.2 and USB4 speeds up to 10Gbps and 20Gbps. But the truth is there are literally no wires to support data transfer at those rates at all. Rather, the SooPii can move data at the minimum data rate of 480Mbps but nothing faster.

The good thing is that SooPii’s product description plainly states it’s a basic charging cable, so the company isn’t trying to pull a fast one on you, but it doesn’t speak well of the QA process.

Internally, the wiring is a little below average for a good charging cable in terms of resistance — the electrical drag the internal wires have — but it’s still better than, say, the Amazon Basics cable we reviewed in 2020. And at $13.99 for the 6.6-foot cable, it’s only so-so value. We’ve seen better charging cables and better data-transfer cables at the same price or even lower.

But you’re not here for those features. You’re here for the cool display. And while the flat-out wrong specs encoded in the eMarker are unfortunate, the charging rate remains accurate. In fact, we’ve used the cable for basic charging of laptops, phones, and tablets for two months with no issues at all — and the gimmick works. It’s just nice to look at the cable and see our laptop is drawing 42 watts, and our phone is drawing 2 watts while being used.

For some, that’s worth overlooking the flaws; for the risk averse, you may want to pass in favor of one of the more reliably built cables from a name brand, such as those above.

For most people the above cables are what you’re looking for: reliable and fast charging (when paired with a good power bank). For those who also want to transfer data or connect a monitor though, these are our picks:

Best USB-C cables for charging and transferring data

Cable Matters 6-foot USB C cable

Pros

Can transfer data and run a monitor Long, 6-foot length

Cons

Limited to 20Gbps Relatively heavy at 3.5oz Pricey Price When Reviewed:$18.99Best Prices Today:$17.99 at Amazon

If you’re looking for a high-quality USB-C cable that will give you excellent performance, it’s hard to beat Cable Matters 6-foot USB-C cable. The cable can do it all and do it all well (well, almost) from charging at up to 100 watts, transferring data from your USB 3.1 SSD, or running a monitor. The only area where it doesn’t excel is in Thunderbolt performance, which is limited to 20Gbps. That’s not a ding in our book because that’s the tradeoff of a 6-foot cable. To hit 40Gbps, you’d have to step down to a shorter cable.

The other cost of this quality is weight and pliability. The cable weighs almost 3.5 ounces, making it the the heaviest cable we tested outside of the 4-meter (13-foot) cable we looked at above. Those thicker gauge wires also mean you can’t roll up as easily or compactly as other cables, too.

And no surprise, high performance and high quality mean it’s not cheap. At $18, it’s among the more expensive cables here. But if performance and quality is your jam, the Cable Matters 6-foot USB-C cable will have you humming.

Cable Matters USB4 2.6 foot USB-C cable

Pros

USB4 rating Can charge and fast-transfer data Quality construction

Cons

Only 2.6 feet Stiff Niche appeal Price When Reviewed:$19.99Best Prices Today:$13.99 at Amazon

Cable Matters Cable is but 2.6-foot so it lacks the appeal of long cables. What appealed to us enough to buy the cable is its USB4 rating which promises high-performance.

And no surprise, the cable was able to charge our laptop at 100 watts, and offered the best voltage and lowest resistance thanks to the wires Cable Matters uses and its 2.6-foot length. That also translated into excellent USB 3.1 data transfer rates, monitor suppor,t and the only cable here capable of driving our Thunderbolt 3 SSD at a full 40Gbps data rates.

If you’re looking for high-performance in all things and don’t mind the length, the Cable Matters USB4 cable is our pick.

Its weaknesses are its stiff feel thanks to the higher-quality, thicker wires and construction Cable Matters uses, and its price. Looked at in dollars-per-foot, this $20 cable is about $8 per foot. With the Amazon Basics USB 3.1 USB-C cable below, you’re only paying $3.17 per foot. 

That Amazon cable can’t match the Cable Matters USB4 in Thunderbolt performance, but few need it. That makes the cable best suited to niche areas but it’s fast nonetheless with excellent construction.

Compared to our picks above, we wouldn’t advise purchasing any of the other USB-C cables we tested. Why settle for something inferior? But we understand some will want to see which cables didn’t make the cut and why.

USB-C cables that didn’t make the cut

Dockcase 8.5-inch USB-C cable

Price When Reviewed:$9.99Best Prices Today:$11.99 at Amazon

The Dockcase USB-C to USB-C cable is the worst value here if you only judge a cable by length and price. In capability though, this 8.5-inch cable is one of the better performers—a consequence of its short length. The shorter the cable, the less the resistance and, well, the better the performance, even with thin wires.

The Dockcase advertises a 100-watt charge rate, 4K video support, and even Thunderbolt 3 support. The company doesn’t mention it but that Thunderbolt 3 speed is limited to 20Gbps, not the full 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 users expect, so take note. It’s not practical, but we did charge our laptop at 100 watts with the Dockcase.

Physically, the cable is a flat design with a rubbery outer sheath. The strain relief where the cable connects to the housing is minimal, as well, which makes us question its durability over time. 

Its length is best suited for an ultra-fast portable USB-C SSD, and can pinch hit for charging or running your monitor. We personally wouldn’t recommend it for use with a high-speed Thunderbolt drive or device though, given its aforementioned limitations with that spec.

Amazon Basics 6-foot USB-C USB 2.0 cable

Price When Reviewed:$8.62Best Prices Today:$14.03 at Amazon

The Amazon Basics USB-C to USB-C USB 2.0 is the cable that epitomizes minimum effort. At 6-feet long, it will do its job to charge your phone or tablet, and even your laptop at up to 60 watts, and that’s about it. Since it’s a USB 2.0 cable, data transfers to or from your computer will be dog slow compared to a USB 3.1 cable. Moving a 1GB file might take a few seconds on a USB 3.1 cable and nearly a minute with the Amazon Basics USB-C Charging cable.

The cable itself is amazingly light. In fact, it’s probably too light, which means Amazon didn’t really use the thickest wires it could for this cable. That shows up with some of the highest resistance among the cables 6 feet or longer in this roundup, meaning less power delivered to your phone or tablet. Granted, we are talking about 2 percent lower wattage compared to the best of the longer cables here. But still, that’s like a school report card that says “present” as its main selling point.

It’s not all bad for the Amazon Basics cable. It does carry a big-name brand. And its lack of wires to support higher-speed USB 3.1 makes it relatively thin and light, and very pliable.

Would we use this cable to charge our laptop every day? Probably not, but for someone charging a phone or tablet, its lightweight feel can be be a plus. 

Anker 6-foot Powerline USB-C cable

Price When Reviewed:$11.99Best Prices Today:$14.99 at Amazon

This is Anker’s oldest Powerline cable but it’s still available alongside the Powerline II and Powerline III models. As its name tells you: This version is a USB 2.0 (480Mbps) cable, so transferring large files to your phone or tablet from your computer will be tedious at best.

It has a black plastic sleeve without the tacky rubbery feel some cables have. On the inside it’s about average, with actual charging performance somewhat better than the Amazon Basics USB 2.0 cable but not in the class of the Javex cable, which supports charge rates up to 100 watts instead of the Powerline’s 60 watts. Phones, tablets, and light-duty laptops are its best use cases.

Unfortunately, while it’s a decent cable for certain uses, its pricing hurts it. At its typical pricing of $12 it’s not worth it. We’ve seen it more recently for $8, which makes it slightly more attractive, but even at that price, we’d recommend you buy the Javex instead.

JSAUX USB C to USB C Cable 60W 2-pack

Price When Reviewed:6.99Best Prices Today:$6.99 at Amazon

Do you get what you pay for? JSAUX “USB C to USB C Cable” kinda proves the old adage that says if the price is low, there’s a reason for it. Not only do you get a 6.6-foot / 2-meter USB-C to USB-C cable in the box—you get two of them for what other brands might charge you for just one cable. Unlike some lesser-known cables on Amazon, the JSAUX cables are at least properly marketed with warnings that it is NOT a Thunderbolt 3 cable, it can NOT output video, and its charge rate is limited to 60 watts, with data limited to a very slow 480MBps. It’s essentially a basic USB-C charging cable and not the greatest one. We looked at the internal resistance of the cable itself and found it to be pretty mediocre. In fact, we haven’t seen a USB-C to USB-C cable with worse resistance. That pretty much means it skimps on internal wiring and potentially may not hold up over time as the cable is flexed over and over again. With all this said, most people don’t actually need high charge rates on a charging cable (where less resistance would be more valuable) and we think that’s reflected in the more than 31,000 reviews of this top-selling cable—with most of them positive—from around the world.

We’d pass for a slightly pricier cable, and would even prefer the Amazon Basics cable to it, but we do recognize that for charging a smart phone and tablet, it’ll probably be fine, which explains how there are 31,000 happy customers. There are, however, better choices out there for those willing to pay for it.

How we test USB-C cables

For this roundup, we purchased retail USB-C cables for our testing. We physically measured and weighed each cable and examined each connector. A proper USB-C cable should use a one-piece shell rather than a folded shell with a visible seam in it. None of the cables we purchased used the lower-strength folded shells.

We do want to point out that weight does tend to matter. All cables are essentially tiny metallic wire strands bound together with insulation. Sure, the connector, housing,  braiding, and outer shell all factors in its weight, but lighter-duty cables literally have fewer wires and are far lighter. For example, the Cable Matters high-performance USB 4 cable is 32-inches long and weighs more than the Amazon Basics low-performance USB 2.0 cable, which is more than twice as long.

That’s not always better though, as a cable with more wires that are a heavier gauge—or thicker—are less pliable and also take up more space in your bag.

Are they all wired correctly?

You’d think you could tell whether a cable is USB-C 2.0 cable by looking at the wires in the connector but that’s not the case. Some cables use connectors with pins that aren’t hooked up to anything.

To check each cable, we use a BitTradeOne USB Cable Checker 2.0 to first see what actual wires are inside of the cable and whether they are hooked up correctly and what they do. For example, a USB-C cable that is fine for charging but a dog in data transfer   will show up as being wired only for USB-C 2.0, as you can see below by the green LEDs. The “CC” LED indicates the Cable Configuration channel is wired up correctly. 

A full-featured USB-C cable has additional wires to carry higher-speed data and the USB Cable Checker 2.0 shows this Cable Matters USB 4 cable in the picture below with the correct wiring all available. The small LED display also tells us that the cable has an ID e-Marker chip, the shell is properly grounded to the cable, and it does a quick resistance test too. The cable tester also checks to see if the metal shell of the cable is grounded to the ground wire of the cable, which is required by spec. Every cable here was properly grounded.

Resistance is futile

The resistance check from our cable checker is quick and dirty, so we augmented that by also measuring the resistance of the cable’s ground wire and vbus wire using a milli-ohm meter connected via a pair of USB-C breakout boards. The breakout boards at both ends add about 30 mohms to the total. By spec, a USB-C cable should not exceed 83 mohms on the ground wires and 167 mohms on the voltage bus.

Many of the cables we tested were within spec or close enough that it didn’t matter, since there’s likely even more resistance we’re not able to account for with our method. We definitely could tell which cables used heavier-gauge or thick wires with less resistance to restrict the flow of electricity, and which ones cheaped out.

What did the e-Marker say?

Since each of the more advanced cables carries an e-Marker that tells the computer what the cable can do, we noted that and the validity of the e-Marker’s claims. All but one of the cables met those claims, but the one that was wrong was way, way wrong. It claimed USB 3.2 10Gbps transfer speeds and a 1-meter length, when it literally didn’t have the wires for the faster transfer speeds and was actually 2 meters long.

We then looked at how fast the cable would charge and transfer data, and whether it supported an alternate mode to run a monitor, using real-world hardware.

For charging speeds we recorded the maximum wattage at which the cable could charge an Asus ROG Strix 15 gaming laptop over its USB-C port using USB-Power Delivery with an Aukey 100 watt USB-PD charger as the source while the laptop was under load. USB-PD today is limited to 100 watts (with a 240-watt spec on the way). Any USB-C to USB-C cable should handle 3 amps at 20 volts, or 60 watts. All of the USB-C to USB-C cables fell into the standard 60-watt or 100-watt camps.

We didn’t test the temperature of each cable’s housing, but we did test the cheapest cable by running it at 5 amps and 20 volts for an hour. The housing heated up by 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cable itself became relatively warm (see the thermal image below). Not ideal, but it did this without failure. We subjected other cables to two-hour loads without failure, as well.

For one final charge test, we tasked each cable with a 20 volt, 3 amp and 20 volt 5 amp load (for the 5-amp rated cables) and measured the voltage delivered at the end of the cable using our CT-3 meter.

The cables with the thinnest-gauge wires add more resistance, which in turn reduces the voltage delivered to your laptop, tablet, or phone.

For data transfer, we measured the speed using Crystal Disk Mark 8 while plugged into the USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port of an MSI Prestige 14 Evo laptop. Since the cables can also be used to transfer data from a Thunderbolt storage drive, we measured how fast that happened using a high-speed SSD-based SanDisk Professional Thunderbolt G-Drive. We found three transfer modes among the cables tested: Thunderbolt 20Gbps performance, Thunderbolt 40Gbps performance, or zero performance because the cable would not work at all with a Thunderbolt drive.

Our last test looked at each cable’s capability running an Asus ROG Strix 17.3-inch portable gaming monitor. The monitor is a high-performance gaming monitor with a resolution of 1920×1080 and refresh rate of 240Hz—which is basically the same bandwidth requirements of a standard 4K 60Hz display.

FAQ

What are the different types of USB-C to USB-C cables?

There are a number of different types of USB-C to USB-C cables including: USB 2.0, USB 3.1 Gen 1, USB 3.1 Gen 2, and Thunderbolt 4.

The main difference between all of these is their data transfer rates and their charge rates. Basic charge cables give you very slow data transfer speeds and typically only up to 60 watts. For a phone, tablet, and even most small laptops such as a Dell XPS 13 or MacBook Pro 13 that’s fine. As you move up to larger laptops such as a Dell XPS 15 or MacBook Pro 16, 60 watts will limit how fast you can charge.

The other key differentiator is speed. USB 2.0 is a plodding 480Mbps. USB 3 cables range from 5Gbps to 20Gbps. While USB4, and Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 can support up to 40Gbps of throughput.

Thunderbolt, USB4, and many USB 3 cables also support display support using DisplayPort.

2.

What are USB-C cables used for?

USB-C cables today are used for transferring data, running monitors, and charging everything on the planet from $5 LED trinkets to $2,000 laptops and even power tools now. It is basically the most common type of cable for electronics today and thanks to its universal and open design it has rapidly replaced all other competitors including Apple’s Lightning as well as older USB cables. It’s appeal is the reversible nature so you no longer have to look for alignment. With its ability to handle 240 watts now, USB-C to USB-C cables will likely begin replacing other proprietary cables as well.

3.

What is the difference between a Type A and Type C cable?

There are a few key differences between the two. A USB-C to USB-A cable has a rectangular connector on side with 4- to 9-pins in it. As you know from trying to plug a mouse into your PC, it only fits in one way and you usually never get it right the first time. On the other end of a USB-C to USB-A cable, you will find the modern oval USB-C connector, which fits in both ways and packs far more pins and wires inside. The short story is that a Type A to Type C cable will typically charge at much slower speeds than a Type C to Type C cable as well as transfer data at far lower data rates. That isn’t always the case as some phones that use special Type A to Type C chargers and cables will indeed charge very fast—but they’re usually proprietary. With most new phone chargers going to USB Type C, you’re probably going to usually want a Type C to Type C cable.

4.

Should you buy a USB-A to USB-C or USB-C to USB-C cable?

The right answer depends on what you want to plug the device and cable into. If you are charging your Galaxy S24 Ultra or iPhone 15 into a charger using a USB-A port, then obviously, you’ll want to buy a USB-A to -C cable.

If you’re wondering what the capabilities are between a USB-A to -C versus a USB-C to -C cable, that largely depends on the cable.

In pure capabilities, a USB-C to -C can potentially charge up to 240 watts and transfer data at up to 40Gbps (and higher eventually with USB4). These are all things even the best USB-A to -C cable can only dream about.

The thing is, while a “full-featured” high-end USB-C to -C cable can do more, most phones can’t take advantage of its features. For example, you have to have an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or a high-end Android phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra or Google Pixel 8 Pro to be able to transfer data at 10Gbps. Most budget phones and tablets transfer data over USB at a plodding 480Mbps even if you have a USB-C to -C cable capable of 40Gbps transfer rates. And you guessed it, if a phone’s top transfer speed is only 10Gbps, pairing it with a 40Gbps-capable USB-C to -C cable still limits you to 10Gbps transfer speeds. The simple truth is that for data transfer, a USB-A to USB-C cable that supports USB 3.2 10Gbps or 20Gbps transfer rates is more than enough for most people.

Where it likely matters more to pay for a USB-C to -C cable is charging speed. Outside of proprietary fast-charging designs used by a few phone makers such as Huawei, Oppo, and One Plus, USB-A on even the newest iPhone and Galaxy generally top out in the 15-watt to 20-watt range. Using a USB-C to -C cable and an appropriate USB-C charger will let you reach 30-watt charge rates or more depending on the phone.

We would be remiss if we didn’t point out that despite USB-C charging generally outperforming USB-A — in reality, you’re not giving up that much performance since most phones don’t charge at their maximum charge rates most of the time.

TLDR: A USB-A to -C cable with support for USB 10Gbps will work fine for the majority of fast phones for data transfer but won’t hit the higher charge rates you desire.

5.

Is USB-C the same as USB PD?

The short answer is no. USB-C is the standard that defines the physical “oval” reversible USB-C plug and connector and nothing more. It doesn’t refer to the underlying transfer protocols such as how fast data is transferred. A USB-C connector can be a very slow 480Mbps “USB 2.0” or it can be the fastest 40Gbps USB4 or Thunderbolt 4.

USB PD, or USB Power Delivery, refers to the advanced charging capabilities over a USB-C a connector and cable. The newest USB Power Delivery 3.1 spec allows for charging up to an impressive 240 watts, although we’ve yet to see any laptops that support it yet.

6.

Why won’t my cheap USB-C device charge over USB-C?

USB-C is the standard for charging phones, tablets, and laptops, and is rapidly becoming the standard for even cheap $5 USB fans and other electronic trinkets.

While there can be many reasons why your device won’t charge — such as a bad cable or bad charger — the most common reason no-name USB hardware won’t charge when using a USB-C to -C cable, but will charge using a USB-A to -C cable is likely the fault of a poorly designed device.

Charging from USB-C is complex and requires devices to negotiate charge rates before the USB-C Power Delivery charger will supply any power. Many cheap USB-C devices don’t include this hardware, so the USB-C charger will not activate. 

Take that same cheap USB device and plug it in with a USB-C to USB-A cable to a USB-A charger and it will suddenly charge. This is because old-fashioned rectangular USB-A ports are dumb and are designed to supply a slow charge rate no matter what.

7.

Why won’t my cheap USB-A to USB-C cable work for transferring data?

Obviously, one answer is the cable is simply bad or damaged, but if you’re finding that a brand-new cable that came with your $5 USB fan or $7 LED USB-trinket won’t transfer data at all, you’re probably using the “free” USB-A to -C cable that came with that cheap device.

Many of these cheap cables contain wires that only supply power to charge that cheap trinket and don’t support data transfer at all. You can sometimes see this by looking into the square USB-A cable connector where only two connections are visible. A standard USB-A cable usually features at least four connections inside of it.

You can “fix” this by buying a USB cable that supports data transfers.

Author: Gordon Mah Ung, Executive Editor

One of founding fathers of hardcore tech reporting, Gordon has been covering PCs and components since 1998.

Recent stories by Gordon Mah Ung:

How we test USB-C cables at PCWorldDon’t buy these dangerous USB-C accessoriesBest external SSD for gaming 2024: Portable performance drives

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The Complete 2024 CompTIA Course Super Bundle by IDUNOVA – $63.99

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StackSocial prices subject to change.