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USB-C ushers in a golden age of charging accessories

The move from old-style USB ports to the newer USB-C has had its share of growing pains  But the updated design is leading to a profusion of new products to charge your gadgets.

The biggest reason is that USB-C can charge both your phone and your laptop. And, increasingly, other things like MiFi portable hotspots and Bluetooth wireless earbuds. That means one charger or one battery pack can be useful in a multitude of circumstances. No more do you need lots of different chargers for lots of different devices, and if you're on the go, you can move your laptop charging cable over to your phone and back to keep both batteries topped off.

"USB-C is a truly universal connector for data, power and video, and it works across all device platforms from Mac to PC, iOS to Android, smartphone to computers," said Sanho Chief Executive Daniel Chin, whose company has aggressively pushed to take advantage of USB-C with a range of power and data accessories.

Another big USB-C benefit is that more powerful devices, like a laptop or a tablet, can charge smaller ones like a phone, giving you a juice boost that may bail you out when you can't find a power plug. With older USB, charging was a convenient afterthought useful only for phones, but the USB Power Delivery technology -- you'll often see "PD" on accessory boxes and port labeling -- can reach up to 100W, enough for high-end laptops.

Of course, there are still problems moving from the earlier rectangular USB-A ports, on PCs for two decades, and from the smaller USB Micro B ports. Older or cheaper devices often use older USB connectors, so we're still a long way from one universal port. Airports, airplanes, hotels, cars and other charging locations rarely offer USB-C charging ports, so there you'll need your charger and a power plug.

And iPhones and most iPads still use Apple's proprietary Lightning connector. The new 2018 iPad Pro models use USB-C, so perhaps future Apple products will be able to benefit from USB-C ubiquity.

For those who want to be part of the future, there are a range of USB-C accessories that can help you make the jump. Here's a look at some of the ones I've been testing.