I have a lot of complaints about USB-C, mainly surrounding how confusing the port is. Is this cable only for charging? Wait, it doesn't have power delivery? Oh, it does, but why does it support USB 2.0 (480Mbps) and not USB 3.2 (10Gbps)? Oh cool, it's actually a Thunderbolt 4-compatible cable (40Gbps). In many cases, there's just no way to tell what a USB-C cable is actually capable of.

What I will give the port standard credit for is its versatility, and over the years, I've found several unexpected purposes for USB-C that were more useful than I expected. The increasingly common port can be used for way more than just traditional charging and data transfer.

A USB-C-to-Ethernet Adapter gives you a superfast wired internet connection

I've only used this accessory a few times, but it's really come in handy

A few months ago, I was trying to get roughly 100GBs of various retro game ROMs on my Pixel 10 Pro for a story I was working on at the time. I could just plug my Pixel 10 Pro into my Mac with a standard USB 2.0 cable, but since I wasn't at home, the usual USB 3.2 cable I'd use for something like this wasn't available. Also, I didn't have access to my library because it was on my Windows 11 gaming PC at home.

That's when I remembered I had a USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter buried in my gear bag. I dug it out, plugged it into my Android device, and connected it directly to the router via wired Ethernet (where I was at the time had a pretty weak wireless internet connection). I then transferred the ROMs remotely to my Pixel 10 Pro with Microsoft's Remote Desktop app. The entire process took about 22-25 minutes, all thanks to a tiny USB-C Ethernet dongle I forgot I even owned. Of course, you could also use a USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter like this with a laptop, desktop, or even a tablet.

Charging a phone with another phone

It's phoneception in the best way

A few years ago, I was on a flight form Toronto to San Francisco with Porter Airlines. That was my first mistake, given how tiny the airline's planes are, but I was also surprised to find that there wasn't a standard plug or even a USB port for charging devices. With my iPhone 15 at 25%, things weren't looking good, given I planned to use it to watch movies I'd downloaded ahead of time for the flight (Porter flights also don't have displays built into their seats). That's when I remembered I also had a Pixel 8 Pro on me as a backup smartphone.

Because USB Power Delivery is a bidirectional negotiation rather than a fixed, direct connection, two devices can communicate when connected to determine which has the most charge to direct the flow of power in a way that makes sense. With this in mind, I plugged my iPhone 15 into my Pixel 8 Pro, and sat back while Apple's phone slowly charged.

It's important to keep in mind that this won't work with every smartphone and that some Android devices only accept USB Power Delivery rather than dole it out. If you're not sure whether your phone supports the feature, it's worth a quick Google Search. That said, if you own a recent iPhone, Pixel, or Samsung device, this USB-C charging feature is likely supported.

Connect to a monitor without a separate power cable

This one really felt like magic the first time I did it

I've since moved on from Benq's EW3280U 4K HDR monitor in favor of LG's Ultragear 27GP950-B, but years ago, when I first set up the mid-range display, I was shocked to find it supported Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alt mode. This means that with one cable, I was able to connect my MacBook Pro to the monitor as an external display and charge it at the same time, all while maintaining a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. It felt truly wild at the time, and I miss the feature a lot on my current monitor.Of course, you'll need to be aware of the power draw of whatever device you're hooking up to your monitor, since most displays can only deliver 10W to 30W. This feature is far more common than it was in 2020 when I was frequently using it, and you'll find several monitors from Dell, LG, Samsung, HP, Lenovo, and more that support both Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alt Mode. It's really cool and can help streamline a desk setup and free up more ports on your monitor.

Charging the Switch 2 with a power brick

Even if your power brick doesn't have the wattage, you can still trickle charge your device

Calling back to a situation I described earlier in this story, but this time with Air Canada, I recently found myself on a flight to San Francisco from Toronto with no USB ports or standard plugs available to me. This was a massive bummer because I had planned to spend time playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Invalice Chronicles on my Switch 2, which was already at just 60% battery (yes, I know I should have charged it ahead of time).

Thankfully, I had an INIU Power Bank P50-E1 in my backpack. It only features a 10,000mAh battery and a maximum output of 27W, which isn't ideal. I always have it in my backpack to charge my phones. I pulled out the USB-C cable that came with my MacBook Pro (which only supports Power Delivery), and plugged one end into the power brick and the other into my Switch 2. While 30W-45W is the sweet spot for charging a Switch 2 while playing, I was able to make the handheld's battery last much longer and even charge it a bit (The Invalice Chronicles isn't a super resource-intensive game). Thankfully, my Switch 2 lasted to the end of the roughly five-hour flight with ease.