Where can I buy Durable, Good Quality USB connectors?

[salil]

I feel like it's hit and miss depending on where I buy USB connectors, but for the most part they tend to be kind of weak except when I find them in certain overpriced commercial products.  Even in some 3rd party commercially available USB chargers (many of which are USA companies), I've had ports become loose, pins getting bent, etc after less than a year of regular usage.  I still have (and regularly make use of) an original Apple iPhone USB charger from 2007 and the USB port on it still provides a very solid connection.

Where (or what brand?) can I reliably get durable USB connectors for regular usage like this in small quantities?  Has anyone done an evaluation/comparison of different manufacturers' usb connectors?  Right now I'm specifically looking for through-hole USB A female connectors.  Any leads are greatly appreciated.

[Psi]

digikey, invert sort by price  ?

[salil]

How do you determine the durability of the different model connectors on Digikey?

I don't need heavy duty water sealed connectors or anything like that, just reasonably solid ones that aren't ultra weak.

[zapta]

I feel like it's hit and miss depending on where I buy USB connectors, but for the most part they tend to be kind of weak ...

What brands didn't work for you?

[tszaboo]

My experience, that 90% of the job is the enclosure design. Some manufacturers, like TE conn. have industrial grade USB connectors (haha, what a joke). Other than that TH verson seems to be more durable.

[pinkman]

I assume you're looking for standard A connectors.

Most USB connectors have a durability rating, which gives you an idea of how many connection cycles the connector can withstand before the electrical/mechanical specs fall out of datasheet parameters.

You are looking for a connector rated for 10,000 cycles or more.  You should also shy away from the connectors which have surface mount mounting tabs - Use only the thru hole versions as you will pull these SMD tabs off sooner or later if you're hard on the connector.