It's not the first time I've seen this opinion shared among the 'maker' crowd. I'm still not really sure why, but between type B which is very large and micro, which is fragile and awful, it was a good middle ground. The lack of adoption is probably the biggest pain point for usb mini, that and type c is now available, though type c has its own pain points.
Maybe it's just easy to work with? I know for quite a while a lot of ergonomic keyboard designs featured mini usb as well.
USB Mini also had a design flaw which caused the port to wear out prematurely (after only about 1,000 insertions), which was why the industry transitioned to USB Micro so quickly (which is rated for about 10,000 insertions).
According to the link, the 1000 number is related to the initial USB mini design with flat sides. It got changed to the kinked sides which we all know and which has... 5000 insertions. Still not a lot, so the argument is the same.
I've snapped more micro-usb connectors than any other type that I can think of, which might be why i view them as not being very durable, but I've also used quite a few more devices that use micro-usb than mini, so it's not exactly a fair comparison.
In either case, USB type C seems to be mostly better than either.
The main thing is that without any strain relief like on a bare PCB like this, USB mini seems to hold up better for almost psychological reasons. The shape makes you tend to plug it in straight and put less pressure at an up/down angle.
I actually love USB-C for similar reasons, but sending USB 2.0 signals and power over USB-C feels weirdly misleading and janky nowadays.
That being said, I’m literally the guy whose semi-fringe opinions about USB ports you’re discussing, so I have a clear bias.
Yeah, that's my impression anyway. The Mini connector is a comfortable size to work with, particularly considering DIY electronics at home was usually a through-hole affair a decade or so ago. Type B is large enough to get in the way (although it being so chonky is rather satisfying) and micro wasn't significantly smaller in general terms but was fiddly for soldering or probing etc. I'm not sure if USB Micro connectors were even generally available as through-hole?
Appendage:
> for quite a while a lot of ergonomic keyboard designs featured mini usb as well.
Thinking about it, a lot of them probably used off the shelf Arduino Nano(?) based boards, which most commonly featured the USB Mini connector.
Also, I like that I can clearly see which way it's supposed to plug in.
And if there's a genuine Arduino Nano on the top headers, it's kinda weird to have 2 different ports on the same board. Obviously there are tons of compatible boards with different plugs.
That being said, these are just excuses to back up my emotional decision. I just really like USB Mini.
And I know most people don't have USB Mini cables laying around so I provide a hand painted and glittered pink cable with these.
Maybe it's just easy to work with? I know for quite a while a lot of ergonomic keyboard designs featured mini usb as well.