Danger, high voltage: OnePlus warns against using its USB-C cable with other products

USB Type-C cable
Make sure you've got the right cable for the job

Benson Leung, an engineer at Google, recently took to Google+ to inform people not to use the OnePlus USB Type-C cable with other products.

It's one of a number of cables which doesn't meet version 1.1 of the USB Type-C standard, as it uses the wrong type of resistor. The upshot being that it could damage your charger, hub or PC USB port if you use it with devices other than the OnePlus 2.

Now OnePlus has responded and admitted that this is indeed the case, saying that neither the OnePlus Type-C cable nor the OnePlus Type-C adapter are compatible with all third-party devices.

Refunds offered

Fortunately, the company plans to make amends, as much as possible, as it's allowing users to apply for a refund if they bought either of these cables to use with devices other than the OnePlus 2.

The offer is available until the end of December, but whether you take them up on it or not if you have one of these cables you're best off not using it for anything other than the OnePlus 2.

OnePlus has confirmed that it's already started work on developing Type-C cables and adapters with compliant 56kΩ resistors, in place of the 10kΩ resistors the current ones use, so hopefully these will be available soon.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.