GTrusted
As reported in the review, I could only find one USB Type-C to Type-C cable (the j5create JUCX03 USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-C Cable) at a local Best Buy store.
After we reported problems with this cable, Nathan K was helpful enough to go to his local Best Buy (thanks to Nathan K for taking the photo above) and found they were selling two versions of the j5create JUCX03 USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-C Cable, the JUCX03-1A and JUCX03-2A with the JUCX03-2A having a serialized number. The JUCX03-2A has a serial number printed on the cable while the JUCX03-1A doesn't.
Nathan K also found e-marker problems on the JUCX03-2A in his review found here.
After taking a closer look at the cable that we had problems with, it was actually a JUCX03-3A model. The JUCX03-3A also has a label with a serial number like the JUCX03-2A.
It's interesting that Best Buy would be carrying (at least) three versions of the same j5create JUCX03 USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-C Cable. If you look here, you can see that 'Magic Control Technology Corp.' has also certified a product called JUCX03 but it's not clear what the differences are between these three versions.
Using USB Power Delivery software from Granite River Labs, we could take a closer look at the e-marker information of each of these three cable variants. The JUCX03-1A has a PID (product ID) of 0x901 while the JUCX03-2A and JUCX03-3A share a PID of 0x999. The JUCX03-2A and JUCX03-3A also show different firmware versions for the same PID.
The JUCX03-1A and JUCX03-2A declare themselves as support USB 3.1 Gen 1 while the JUCX03-3A supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 (perhaps this explains why the packaging says USB 3.1 Gen 1 support but j5create's website claims USB 3.1 Gen 2 support).
Below are the software screenshots for the JUCX03-1A.
Below are the software screenshots for the JUCX03-2A.
Below are the software screenshots for the JUCX03-3A.
What is also confusing is that the j5create JUCX01 USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-C Coaxial Cable clearly has the USB certification logo printed in front of the box and is also claimed on the j5create website. However, the j5create JUCX03 USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-C Cable, despite being similarly listed as certified, does not have the USB certification logo printed in front of the box nor is compliance claimed on the j5create website like the way it was with the JUCX01.
Perhaps there is good reason why j5create decided not to more clearly claim the j5create JUCX03 USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-C Cable as certified. In addition to the problems that Nathan K has found, we found the several electrical compliance failures with the JUCX03-1A and JUCX03-2A which are not seen with the JUCX03-3A and JUCX01.
The j5create JUCX03 USB 3.1 Type-C to Type-C Cable definitely seems to be a work in progress and having Best Buy carry different versions of this cable as its being developed increases the risk that the unsuspecting buyer will have a poor user experience with USB Type-C. Given Best Buy's huge retail presence and the fact that this is the only USB Type-C to Type-C cable found in Best Buy's retail stores right now has the potential to have a much wider impact.
