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.

All cables have a limited life span. The connectors can wear out, get bent or clogged with debris. The wires inside of the cables themselves will eventually fail once it has been bent enough times too. Yes, you can get a cable to last much longer if you don’t abuse it, but eventually that cable will wear out with enough use.

That’s not to say a high-quality cable built with more wire conductors inside and thicker overmolding near the connector won’t last longer, but abuse that pricier, higher-quality cable enough and it will fail.

The key word is “abuse.” A well-built cable that isn’t abused will give you many, many years of service, but if you’re the kind of person who likes to yank the cable out by grabbing it in the middle while standing on the power strip the cable is plugged into or you tend to twist the cable until it’s a misshapen mess, it will fail.

And that’s if you buy a name-brand, well-built cable. Even cheaper cables are likely to fail far sooner when subjected to the same abuse.

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.