5 Cheap Amazon USB Adapters That You Should Always Have At Home

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USB-C has become the standard connection type for computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices. Manufacturers have been complying with the standard for several years now, with USB-C ports acting as the centerpiece for connectivity on most modern devices. But that doesn't necessarily mean consumers have caught up, and you may find yourself with older devices that still need to connect to laptops, mobile devices, and even power outlets. USB-A printers, hard drives, mice, keyboards, and other accessories can still have a lot of life left in them, and you never know when you may need to fire up an older, forgotten device that still relies on legacy USB ports.

Fortunately, there are affordable USB adapters available with all kinds of connectivity options. Keeping a small collection of adapters in a utility cabinet or electronics drawer will see you perfectly prepared when incompatible ports would otherwise prevent you from getting the job done. Amazon has a wide range of cheap USB adapters available in its inventory. Setting a maximum budget of $15 per adapter, we've tracked down what we feel are the most convenient and budget-friendly USB adapters to keep on hand. Among them you'll find options for TV and entertainment purposes, as well as for general device connectivity and charging purposes.

USB-A was long the most popular USB connection, so it's likely that the bulk of your electronics that don't feature USB-C will feature USB-A. This is good reason to keep several USB-C to USB-A adapters around. They will allow you to connect newer USB-C devices to older USB-A ports. The Elebase USB-C to USB-A adapter comes in a pack of four, and it goes for just $8.99. It's well reviewed, with 82% of customer reviews giving it five stars. Such a majority can be difficult to find with cheap products, which makes this 4-pack of USB-C to USB-A adapters stand out among the crowd.

One thing to note about these adapters, however, is that they don't support video output. That means they won't work with HDMI cables or video-capable USB-C cables. But they are ideal for anyone who needs to connect a USB-C device to an older USB-A port. Elebase does include charging support and USB 2.0 data transfer, so you can still use one of these adapters to charge a phone while it's connected to your laptop, or to simply transfer files from an external USB-C hard drive over the USB-A port in your laptop or desktop PC. Moreover, these adapters are available in a wide variety of colors to choose from.

The Ugreen USB-A to USB-C adapter is the inverse of the adapter we just talked about. This one allows you to connect older USB-A cables to devices with a USB-C port. Phones typically only have one connection port, and with that port now being USB-C across the board, having a way to connect gadgets that use your phone's USB port can come in handy. You can use this adapter to connect older external hard drives to newer USB-C devices, as well as things like SD card readers with a USB-A dongle connection. Mice, keyboards, and other USB-A accessories can also be connected to laptops and desktop PCs this way.

Ugreen has made this adapter capable of reaching transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps, though it can only do so when used with cables shorter than 3.3 feet. But the USB-A to USB-C adapter interface is a good way to keep your older USB cables and devices up to date, in a sense, as it supports a broad range of USB-C and USB-A devices. These include multiple generations of the MacBook Air, Samsung Galaxy lineups, iPhones, and plenty of others. A 4-pack of Ugreen adapters costs just $10, and you can at times find it discounted to just $7.99 on Amazon.

HDMI is a commonly used port for connecting devices to external displays, as well as for connecting components to smart TVs. A USB-C to HDMI adapter is a good one to keep around in the event you need to connect your laptop or tablet to a monitor, TV, or even a projector. The Acer USB-C to HDMI adapter is priced at just $12.99 on Amazon, and it opens up a world of options when it comes to screen real estate. It supports 4K resolution at 60Hz, which makes it ideal for gaming, but it's also backward compatible with 2K resolution at 144Hz.

One limitation of this adapter is that it doesn't support charging. HDMI is primarily intended to transmit a video and audio signal, so you'll need to ensure you keep your connected devices powered independently of their connection to a monitor or TV. This is an incredibly versatile USB adapter, though, as it works with devices like MacBooks, iPads, Chromebooks, mobile devices, and pretty much any device that has a USB-C port and the ability to play video or audio. Amazon will at times even discount the Acer USB-C to HDMI adapter to just $10.

Wireless printing has become increasingly popular, especially with the rise of smart home setups. But you never know when you may want to plug directly into your printer. A square-shaped connection port known as USB-B is the USB interface still used by many printers. The QianLink USB-C to USB-B adapter will allow you to connect newer USB-C devices directly to such a printer. It's the kind of adapter that can save the day if you connect to your printer wirelessly and your home Wi-Fi network goes down, or if you simply want to get more life out of an older printer that's unable to connect wirelessly.

This USB-C to USB-B adapter is limited to 480 Mbps data transfer speeds. That isn't much if you plan to print or scan massive documents, but for most users, this isn't going to be any kind of bottleneck. QianLink lists a wide variety of brands the adapter is compatible with, including some popular names like Epson, HP, Canon, Dell, Xerox, and Samsung. Amazon has a 2-pack of the QianLink USB-C to USB-B adapter priced at just $6, and 93% of customers who have reviewed the adapter give it either five stars or four stars.

As technology around the house becomes more driven by the USB-C interface, having a universal way to keep all of your electronics powered is essential. The Anker power adapter comes with a USB-C port, which allows you to plug one device at a time into a power outlet. This may even be the kind of USB adapter you want to purchase several of, as many phone manufacturers no longer include a power adapter or cable with the purchase of a smartphone, and a power adapter like this can fill in when you need to charge your phone.

The Anker USB-C power adapter delivers 20W of power, and while that is plenty for fast charging capabilities with a phone, it will be limiting when it comes to larger devices. Those devices will still work with this adapter, but they will take longer to charge than when used with power adapters that have more power capacity. Amazon has the Anker USB-C power adapter priced at just $9.99, and it's available in a number of different colors to choose from. It has a Power Tuner Chip for efficient power delivery and a built-in temperature sensor to prevent overheating.

In compiling this selection of USB adapters, we focused first on pricing under $15. This was to ensure they offer a favorable price for just about any budget, while at the same time recognizing nobody wants to spend too much money on tech that isn't in constant use. But because every home can benefit from having a range of USB adapters on hand, our next focus was ensuring we provided plenty of connectivity options. Finding ways to adapt USB-A, USB-B, and USB-C devices to a number of other interfaces was paramount. We leaned on recognizable and reputable brand names where possible, and where more generic brands were all that was available, we leaned heavily on user reviews as a differentiator.