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Three reasons why I like Stuffcool's Ecolo sustainable USB-C cables

That's always a good thing in my book, and the durability of the Ecolo cables combined with the fact that they work with the 65W USB PD standard makes these charging cables an easy recommendation.
Three reasons why I like Stuffcool's Ecolo sustainable USB-C cables

We have a lot of recommendations if you're looking for the best USB-C cables for your phones and accessories. And while you'll find plenty of great options if you want durable charges that deliver up to a 100W charge consistently, the one area where we haven't seen much progress is sustainable cables.

That's why I was intrigued when Indian accessory maker Stuffcool announced that it was launching eco-friendly USB-C cables made out of recycled plastic. These cables are designed for data transfer and charging phones and notebooks, and go up to 65W over USB PD. I've had the cables plugged into the Stuffcool Centurion for the last month, and in that time I used them to charge phones, wireless earbuds, power banks, and other accessories. Here are three reasons why the Stuffcool Ecolo cables are a great choice for Indian users.
Stuffcool Ecolo cables work with the 65W USB PD charging protocol

Like most charging cables designed to work with the USB PD protocol, the Ecolo cables have auto-detect IC that intelligently assigns power based on the source device. So if you're charging a phone or notebook that charges over 65W, it will send the requisite power to the device. But if you're charging earbuds, it will throttle the charge accordingly.

These cables are ideally suited for phones and notebooks. In the month I used the Ecolo series, I connected the cables to the Galaxy S21 FE, OnePlus 9 Pro, and OnePlus 9RT, and they worked without any issues.

I was able to get 25W over the Centurion, and I switched over to OnePlus's wall charger to test the efficacy of these cables with the 65W Warp Charge standard, and they held a steady charge. They don't charge quite as fast as the bundled cable you get with the 9RT as they're limited to 3A — OnePlus's charging tech goes up to 6A initially — but there isn't too much of a differential.

Ecolo cables are sold in two variants: USB-C to USB-C and USB-C to Micro-USB, so if you're using an older phone that connects over Micro-USB, you can pick up the latter option. As for data transfer, they're able to deliver up to 480Mbps.
Stuffcool Ecolo cables are good for the environment

The marquee feature with these cables is that they're made out of 96% post consumer recycled plastic, with the other 4% made up of polyester. The packaging is 100% plastic free as well, and the net result is that these cables have a negative carbon footprint.

And although these cables are designed to be eco-friendly, I didn't notice any difference in durability. They seem just as durable as nylon-braided cables I've used in the past, and after a month of use, I don't see any wear on these cables.
Stuffcool Ecolo costs just as much as standard USB-C cables

The best part about the Ecolo cables is the cost: the 1.5 meter USB-C to USB-C cable costs just ($6.6), and the USB-C to Micro-USB variant is available for ($7). That's on par with standard USB-C cables in the market, so you're not paying a premium for the sustainable design.

Google has announced plans to strengthen user privacy on Android with a new initiative that will put an end to cross-app tracking on Android over the next two years, making it more difficult for advertisers to track users across other apps.

In a blog post, Google announced a multi-year project named "Privacy Sandbox" that introduces "more private advertising solutions" for mobile apps. The cornerstone of Privacy Sandbox will limit data shared with other third-party apps, making it more difficult for advertisers to build a profile of users for targeted advertising purposes.

Today, we're announcing a multi-year initiative to build the Privacy Sandbox on Android, with the goal of introducing new, more private advertising solutions. Specifically, these solutions will limit sharing of user data with third parties and operate without cross-app identifiers, including advertising ID.

The new initiative will draw similarities with Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework (ATT) that launched with iOS 14.5 last year. Unlike Apple's ATT, which requires all apps to ask for user consent before tracking them across other apps and websites, however, Google's Privacy Sandbox will limit app ability as default while also looking for new privacy-preserving ways to enable mobile advertising.

Announcing Privacy Sandbox today, Google seemingly took aim at Apple's ATT framework, saying "blunt approaches are proving ineffective" and that "other platforms have taken a different approach to ads privacy, bluntly restricting existing technologies used by developers and advertisers." The goal with Privacy Sandbox is for "users [to] know their information is protected, and developers and businesses have the tools to succeed on mobile," according to Google.

Soon after Apple previewed ATT and following its launch with iOS 14.5 last year, Facebook, now renamed to Meta, became vocal about its displeasure with the new requirement amid fears it would significantly impact its advertising business. Its fears seemingly became true, with the social media giant saying ATT will cost it $10 billion in lost revenue this year.

Google's approach is striking a different tone, with Snapchat, who had previously said ATT presented a "risk" to its business, saying in a statement that it is "excited to collaborate with Google to develop new privacy-preserving standards for Android." Google said it would receive input across the industry as it builds Privacy Sandbox over the next two years.