The British one. It has a switch and a fuse, and later versions have age-verification so your kids can no longer plug in your adult toys.

I really think we should give japan more shit for this. Type A is terrible on it's own merits, they don't even polarize it. But then they have the gall to use two different frequencies with the divide in the middle of Honshu (the big island with the major cities). And unlike reasonable people they don't do a "50 hz gets this plug, but 60 gets a non compatible one". No, both use the plug that North America phased out over safety concerns.

But to answer the question, type B is nice and homey, but types I and N feel a fun mix of weird and foreign but close enough to be interesting. Most of the rest just feel like various "yeah it's a circle with two circular prongs all right"

Type K. I mean how can you say no to that face?

In my opinion it's Type-F

Because:

• It's bi-directional
• It's grounded and ungrounded plugs use the same socket
• It's already widespread (50+ countries) source
• Your fingers can't touch the live wire as you're plugging in a wire
• It's recessed
• Low footprint
• Accepts Type-C

I defer to Technology Connections

They're all functional, but the UK's Type G plug is the best of all plugs out there IMHO. I'm a Yankee and our plugs are fine, but the shutter design and built in fused plugs of the Type G are just.......chef's kiss.

I'm quite the Type F fan:

• The plug is recessed, so half-plugged plugs have their pins inaccessible.
• Most modern Type F plugs are Type E compatible, as well as Europlug compatible, which means that if the plug doesn't need to be bulky, it won't be.
• Most modern installations have shutters in the pin holes, which both need to be pushed aside, making it impossible to plug in a foreign object. This unlike the Type G, where you only need to plug in the ground pin to reveal the live & neutral.
• The plug is symmetrical, making it easier to plug in a device in a way that makes the cable work for the user. Besides, having live & neutral plugged into specific sides of a device is not that important for daily use by the average Joe, and if it is, you can just flip the plug.
• The plug is inclined to land on its side, so if you drop one and then step on it, while it still won't be comfortable, it at least won't be as painful as stepping onto a Type G.

Oh, a list of things each identified by a different letter, better put them in a completely random order.

any of the ones with a ground, i'd say

Even tho I live where type F/C is common, I know that type G is the best. Reason is that ground pin always connects first and disconnects last. This is an ultimate way to make ground pin.

Also, type F/C and some other types sometimes doesn't have ground. There is literally not a single type G plug/socket without a ground. Simply safer.

Type I

Earth pin doesn't cause the plug to murder your feet like the UK plug.
Angled pins to prevent cross polarisation.
Localised power switch per socket so you can turn something on or off with your toe and not bend down to unplug it.
Looks like a ghost face and when in the double gang formation the switches when on looks like the plate is high.

It's obviously the one in the country I live in. All the others that I have had zero experience with are from Satan.

why are the flags so shitty compared to the map? why even include them if they're gonna be so inaccurate

edit, wow i really fuckin hate whoever designed this

G.

The plugs are shuttered, so they're protected from being stabby-stabbed. The plug's prongs are sheathed so live metal is never exposed, negating the need for recessed sockets. Compared to recessed plugs, it takes less force to insert/remove them, but the oversized prongs and their triangular arrangement means it can safely withstand more lateral stress than any other plugs. Every plug has a fuse appropriate to the appliance so every device has appropriate protection while also allowing any device to be used on any outlet - no need for dedicated outlets for tumble dryers. And the plugs are traditionally right-angled, so once they're plugged in they only protrude about a centimeter, making it easy to plug things in behind furniture.

The whole 'every plug has a switch' thing is bullshit, though. That's just weird.

As someone who lived in the UK, the British one is far too chunky, especially in an age where most devices don’t use the mandatory earth pin (which is mechanically necessary to open the shutters in the socket). The one place it has an advantage over Europlug is in aeroplane seat sockets and such, where it stays in more firmly.

Having said that, the Swiss and Brazilian ones manage to get earthed connections into a slender footprint (the Swiss is compatible with unearthed Europlug, not sure about the Brazilian though it may be smaller). Apparently the Brazilian socket was proposed as an international standard by the IEC, though only Brazil adopted it.

Easy. Type G. For safety. If you're worried about night-time attacks from ninja you can leave a few plugs by your bedroom door and windows with the pins upward. They will rue the day they entered that room in the dark!

I would argue that neither of the plugs shown in the picture nor those mentioned by others are the best.

Ignoring current adoption, I think that IEC 60906-1 is the best plug. It is very similar to the Swiss plug and was intended to, at least in the EU, replace other plugs. It has quite a few advantages over the other plugs. It is rated at 16 A, has a compact form factor, is polarised, and has almost all the common protections except fuses (which are pretty much useless anyway). Currently it only is used in South Africa without major changes to the plug.

Compared to the Schuko (Type F):

• Much smaller. You can fit three plugs in the same space as a single Schuko plug (similar to Swiss triple outlets).
• It takes less force to plug in. Above 2.5A, Schuko plugs require a lot of force to plug in and pull out. To some extent, this is actually good for safety, but I would argue that, in the case of Schuko plugs at least, it's too much
• It is also easier to plug in without seeing the plug since it isn't round. Everyone who has tried to plug in a Schuko plug without seeing the holes knows how difficult it is
• It's polarised/directional. In some very specific cases, there is a security advantage to using a polarised plug, but I think it's also a hassle to only be able to plug in a plug one direction. It also fits Europlugs (the thin, small plugs with only two pins that are very common in Europe, e.g. on phone chargers)

Compared to (Typ G)):

• Wayyy smaller
• Not a stepping hazard
• Rated for 16A (instead of 13 A)

• No Fuse (Again, pretty unecessary)

Regarding three-phase power, I would argue that Swiss type 15 (10A) and type 25 (16A) plugs are the best. These are really cool because while beeing the same size as Schuko (Typ F) plugs, they can transfer three-phase power (so 11 kW; 230 V / 16A on all three phases). They also fit standard Swiss single-phase and Euro plugs. This makes plugging in large appliances like electric stoves much easier than in other countries.

I would find it quite cool if most countries switched to one common plug, and I think IEC 60906-1 would be best for that. It would also be possible to build hybrid sockets for many common plugs during the transition phase.

fuck's happenin in italy

The UK plug is nice. Very robust, it connects to ground before it reaches the power line and has a switch but it's clunky.

This is the most definitive argument that type J is superior to all others:

Image showing an arrangement of 3 swiss plugs in the same footprint as one french one

Swiss Type J, because you can have three of them, taking up no more space than one German or French plug.

I have a strong preference for the German and Swiss types, but I think we can all agree that Japan massively fucked up. They took the already shitty American plug and just forgot about the ground.

Appreciating the UK's plug (type G) is the closest I get to feeling patriotic.

Type I.

ElectroBoom (Youtube) made some points about Australia's Type I. Seems it was very hard for him to electrocute himself. Lots of breakers on the outlets. I mean he did electrocute himself, but he was always going to.

All outlets should just be replaced with IEC C13. Robust and compact.

Type J is superior in every aspect.

• compact, you can fit 3 plugs into an outlet while Type F only fits one for example.
• robust.
• cannot reverse polarity.
• no fuse required as the law requires proper fuses in every electric installation with law enforced periodical checks.
• round pins that cannot puncture your skin if you step on them. It's hard to face the pins upwards anyway.

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type I look sexy so that is the best

Well the answer is obviously the UK plug some of those others are just plain bad. The question is are they all made largely obsolete by USB C ? and is that the closest we are likely to get to a universal plug and socket?