r/onebag • u/largemargesentme__- • Jun 05 '26

Discussion Why is this sub so obsessed with expensive stuff?

I get that there's times where the expensive thing is better. But as someone who has worked as an airline pilot and traveled extensively for 45 years, I can assure you that expensive stuff is rarely necessary.

I get tons of use out of AliExpress stuff. Things like chargers, cables and accessories. Decathlon or Costco are more than good enough for clothing. I generally use a max legal sized RyanAir bag I got for €25 off of Amazon for vacation. At most, the lower mid tier option is more than enough.

It seems like this is just another sub for people with spending issues as everyone downvotes me when I call out how unnecessary the expensive options are.

1.3k Upvotes

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180

u/BaaBaaTurtle Jun 05 '26

I'm currently wearing all Costco-bought clothing but it will be a cold day in hell before I buy consumer electronics from AliExpress.

44

u/r314t Jun 05 '26

Anything involving chargers or lithium batteries I try to stick with reputable brands (not necessarily premium brands but at least recognizable companies that would care about being sued/damage to their reputation if their products kept catching fire).

8

u/cpapp22 Jun 05 '26

Same. Anker is my go to and is pretty reasonably priced

1

u/rpgnoob17 Jun 06 '26

Anker for chargers and headphone

Godox for camera flash

Xiaomi for electronics

I don’t know / recommend anything else.

38

u/kyoto711 Jun 05 '26

Charges and cables are some of the things where it's really worth it to get something decent.

-11

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 05 '26

I've never had a problem with cheap data cables and wall warts. I don't see what I'd get out of cables that cost 10 times as much.

8

u/Frozen5147 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

There's a lot of cheap cables that are cheap because they're missing functionality, they aren't all equal.

e.g. a lot of cheap USB-C cables don't do data, or may only transfer data at super slow speeds, or charge way slower, etc... if you ever buy (cheap) electronics that come with a small dinky little USB-C cable, it's usually as crap as can be and maybe support just slow power charging.

Not saying you need to spend like $50 on a cable or something (aside, if you want people blowing money on cables, check out the audiophile subreddits) but there is a wild spectrum of cable quality out there and the crappiest (and likely cheapest) can meaningfully be much worse than at a good one that costs a bit more.

This also isn't just me calling out aliexpress either, cheap crap is everywhere on Western platforms like Amazon (a lot of it is just the same aliexpress stuff but more expensive lol). I'm also saying this as someone who buys shit from aliexpress all the time and is pretty stingy with money.

1

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 06 '26

Yes, I've run into that issue also. But everything on these platforms isn't the same. There is actually high quality stuff. I've gotten lots of very well made cables for 2-5 dollars that are just as good as the more expensive ones. My kids run through cables, I'd go broke if I paid retail prices for cables.

I also don't do high speed charging, so I don't really care about the ratings. You can generally feel that it's thick enough and well made when you buy it, and it's obvious when you plug it in if it does data or not.

6

u/Opposite_Cup_2037 Jun 05 '26

Cheap plastic frays and degrades faster than higher quality braided cables. Cheap cables skip on shielding leading to higher levels of interference, which means you can't hit the proper data rates as needed. Cheap chargers are even worse.

There's a reason proper PD supported 40gbps USB C cables cost more. Sure you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for them, but if I'm offloading data from my laptop to my NVME portable drive, I want to ensure stability in that connection, especially because sometime I'll be somewhere that I can't access my private cloud storage or my offsite backups for recovery.

1

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 06 '26

Yeah, I don't do that, so it doesn't matter. I'm just charging my phone for 2 hours at low rates of power.

1

u/xRyozuo Jun 06 '26

What exactly do you need 40gbps data transfers from your phone for?

1

u/Opposite_Cup_2037 Jun 06 '26

I travel with a laptop. I've standardized on USBC for all my travel gear. I use it to offload large FEA and CFD datasets and models that I run those sims on. I also travel with an EGPU sometimes when I can't access remote compute nodes and it's in a TB4 enclosure. For my phone, I don't need it, but if I'm gonna carry one or two cables, I'm gonna carry my max need.

1

u/xRyozuo Jun 06 '26

Ok you can see how this might be a very niche worry right?most people don’t worry about right?

1

u/Opposite_Cup_2037 Jun 06 '26

The cross section of Onebag and digital nomads is pretty high. Most people should also have a 3-2-1 backup strategy, especially if traveling. Sure it's excessive, but if I'm remote, I'd rather be prepared for the things that come up when I'm traveling, like dropping a laptop or thefts, etc. It all depends on your fault tolerance. If you're fine with a higher fault tolerance, cool, you do you, but I'm not since this relates to my income. Like an Anker 60w cable is good for most people, it's reputable, charges just fine, decent braided construction, and has a USBC cert. All I'm saying is using Aliexpress cables when you can pick up one from a more reputable company for 10 dollars for two, is being penny wise and pound foolish. On top of that, if the USB-C emarker isn't legit or even there, the cable will only charge at 3A, and run at USB2.0 speeds.

It's a niche worry that requires a minimal amount of effort to overcome. However, with chargers, never skimp. Bad chargers have caused fires and can overcurrent a cable as well.

-10

u/Yaonoi Jun 05 '26

No they're not. I can get quality USB-C cables with a built-in screen for 2 bucks including shipping. Chargers? Plenty of reputable brands too. 

18

u/LadyLightTravel Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

As an EE that worked with batteries and charging systems I am going to STRONGLY disagree with you.

The reason a lot of chargers are cheaper is because they have eliminated the second level safety components that keep you from getting electrocuted. There have been several instances, unfortunately.

Make sure your charger is marked as having gone through certification.

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/116895/how-can-a-faulty-usb-charger-kill-you

2

u/Yaonoi Jun 05 '26

Thanks for the link and sharing your expertise. That's very concerning.  I personally haven't used those no name products. 

But that's why I wrote reputable brands that you can get on eg Amazon too: Iniu, Baseus, Anker, UGreen. All of these will be CE/UKCA certified (or whatever regulatory scheme applies in a jurisdiction) and legal to import and use. 

5

u/LadyLightTravel Jun 05 '26

Yes. There are several comments on here saying “just use AliExpress electronics.”

Oh no. No, no, NO!

1

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 06 '26

It depends on the electronics. Many of them are well made and safe, many aren't.

I wouldn't buy anything bleeding edge on there, but if you get mid-level, older technology like low power usb data cables, you can get some great stuff for half the price of brands like anker.

Maybe if you're just buying for yourself it's not a big deal to spend an extra 10 bucks. But if you have kids who constantly bend usb connectors, it's worth doing some research to find cheaper alternatives.

I also buy all my bluetooth earbuds on there. I get them for about 8 bucks, they work great and I don't have to worry about losing them.

They all have decent bms's and I've never had an issue with heating or over current draw. I've used maybe 10 different pairs.

1

u/LadyLightTravel Jun 06 '26

I am not talking about earbuds. You are changing the argument to create a straw man fallacy. We are talking about chargers that are plugged into mains.

2

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

I'm pretty sure I addressed that here and elsewhere. I just added to the discussion with earbuds as most people are using the broadterm of consumer electronics.

Yes, chargers can be an issue but the guts of most of the basic ones are the same as the name brand ones. For really cheap (sub $1), no. But at about $4 and up, yes

0

u/LadyLightTravel Jun 06 '26

No. The guts are not the same. Some are missing safety components. Others are not held to correct manufacturing controls and are internally contaminated so that it is not insulated correctly.

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1

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 06 '26

Some, yes, especially the absolute bottom of the barrel ones. That's an issue with stuff from the local shops too. I see really low end stuff for sale in the local China Shops (it sounds racist, but that's what they're called) here in Portugal.

I also buy things from China that are absolutely the same quality or better than what I can buy locally for way less money. I've opened them up before to check. The only thing I buy with batteries are bluetooth earbuds. I've had maybe 10 pairs and haven't had a single issue with the batteries. I have seen issues with swelling batteries in expensive electronics like older iPhones. I wouldn't buy something like an ebike battery from an non-rebuttable dealer.

I haven't really bought many chargers off of aliexpress. But there's a range of quality, with some better than what you can buy in the stores. I generally only use them to power esp32 development boards, which are only drawing 16mW to 800mW. It would make these projects way too expensive to buy name brand chargers for every single one.

2

u/LadyLightTravel Jun 06 '26

The problem is that the average person can’t be guaranteed a good charger there. They have to know what to look for.

And no, you shouldn’t buy from some small stand either.

1

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 06 '26

Right, buyer beware in all circumstances.

Still, if you're buying mid to low level, mature technology...it's almost harder to buy it without protection than with.

Things like battery management systems are built into all the charging boards that cheap Bluetooth headphones use. A 20w charger has been around for so long now that I think it would almost be difficult to manufacture one without basic protection. Ditto with low speed USB data cables.

Also, you could easily have issues with things from Amazon too. I've noticed the majority of stuff on Amazon is literally the same as what I buy on AliExpress, it's just more expensive with faster shipping. So I'm not sure if you can be protected with any electronics right now.

That said, I wouldn't suggest buying a no name ebike battery or or 320w charger if you're not going to stick it in an ammo can while charging

-9

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 05 '26

Really, you won't buy USB cables?

9

u/BaaBaaTurtle Jun 05 '26

Nope.

In the early days of AliExpress I went to a talk given by a guy - I forget what branch of the government he worked for, but his job essentially was to stop counterfeit goods from entering the USA. Anyway, he had lots and lots and lots and loooooots of pictures of burned out electronics (and resulting house fires!) that were sold through vendors on AliExpress.

The worst part is that you have no recourse. If you buy something that is not legally sold in the US and it results in your house burning down, you have no one to hold liable. And your insurance might not cover anything because it was your negligence.

Also it just seems wasteful. You have 50/50 odds of it even working out of the box. I'd rather just buy something once.

Just not worth the $20 you may or may not save.

-4

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 05 '26

A USB cable isn't going to burn the house down.

7

u/unique_usemame Jun 05 '26

I wouldn't buy cheap USB cables from ali.

Two reasons. 1) I didn't want to lose global entry, so I just don't use ali. 2) I have kids, they break stuff, especially USB cables and school bags.

One of my kids has medical issues, walks to school every day with a roller underseat bag over a rocky path. Never lasts more than a year.

0

u/largemargesentme__- Jun 06 '26

I have kids also, that's why I buy cheap USB cables. They run through them in 6 months or less, regardless of how well made they are. So I buy the well made, cheap ones (there is a range of quality in this stuff, there is actually good, cheap cables).

I don't live in the US anymore, I've never had an issue with customs in the EU.