USB-C or barrel connector? Why some laptops in 2026 still rely on two charging ports

[Redaktion]

Fortunately, most laptops now support Power Delivery, making it much more convenient not having to carry a different power brick for every device. Some laptops like the Schenker Connect 15, however, still include an additional barrel-style power connector alongside USB-C charging. At first glance this may feel outdated, but in practice it can still offer real advantages.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/USB-C-or-barrel-connector-Why-some-laptops-in-2026-still-rely-on-two-charging-ports.1324356.0.html

[Stewart Bruce]

Not only laptops, don't forget all those desktop monitors that require a brick and a barrel charger.

[anan]

While the connector is standardized, the underlying protocols and power profiles are not.

This is not true. Power delivery is by itself a standard. Smartphones have more charging standards (QC, Vooc, etc.) but laptops only use PD.
I have not seen a laptop with a PD at 240W. Anything that needs more than 140W uses a barrel connector. It is likely due to the need to drop the higher voltage of anything > 100W to the mostly standardized 20V. A barrel connector can just push more AMPs at the more common 20V.

[Raggar]

USB-Cs are prone to break loose from morherboard. Also, many costly cables and connectors are rather weak and last for 1..2 years. Oldschool barrels last forever.

[Wang Hung]

USB-Cs are prone to break loose from morherboard. Also, many costly cables and connectors are rather weak and last for 1..2 years. Oldschool barrels last forever.

Exactly. It is not designed to be as rugged as barrel plugs that have been perfected over decades of mobile computing. Our IT shop replaces laptops all the time because of damaged USB-C ports.

[Dario]

I own a Lenovo T25.

I modded a T480 to accept a T25 keyboard.  It has a USB-C charge port and Thunderbolt, both can be used for charging.  The USB-C broke few months ago, the TB one started giving me disconnects just yesterday.  And this is after me babying the thing by folding the usb-c cable under the body to remove any stress from the connector.

I will be going back to my 7th gen i7 T25 it looks like because it seems like so many people are having issues with dead USB-C ports.  Meanwhile my 20 year old Thinkpads, which were not babied as I worked as a sysadmin in a datacenter, still power up fine and reliably.