Nylon-braided cables are a safe bet
It's been a few years now since I bought my first nylon-braided cable and never looked back. There's always a place in my toolkit for them. And, generally speaking, I fancy the idea of having nylon-braided cables. Firstly, because they're so much more resistant 1; and secondly, because I simply like the idea of bringing common knowledge tested for years and years into the world of technology (how many millions of households have used - and tested - steam irons with similar wires?).
From experience, nylon-braided cables are always a safe bet!
A very looooonnng cable
This 6 ft (1.82m) Anker cable is quite a long one. It might not be convenient for leaving it on a desk, but it's brilliant for connecting devices to electrical sockets or USB plugs that are miles away from the equipment to be connected… A typical scenario would be hotel rooms that inevitably have only a couple of plugs and are all far away from the resting area (a.k.a. bed) 2.
Also, for a long time, I was an enthusiast of using short cables to charge my phone with a portable charger. I thought this solution would allow me to keep the charger next to the phone and forget about clutter. However, this approach proved itself to be too messy, and I soon found out that there are better ways of doing it. As you might have guessed, using long cables is one. Nowadays I just leave the charger in my backpack or pocket and let the cable pop out to let me make calls or surf the web while the phone is charging.
Anker ships this cable together with their warranty booklet in one of their cute blue-and-white boxes. To keep the cable untangled, it also comes with a useful little velcro strap (or, hook-and-loop strap as Anker calls it) 3.
As mentioned above, the cable itself is nylon protected which makes it more robust and flexible. It is great when working on a laptop and, simultaneously, charging a phone. The cable bends to the shape of the laptop leaving more room and an uncluttered desk to work on.
But it's not only the double braided nylon that deserves mention in this review. The connectors are also of excellent quality. Anker reports them to be laser-welded connectors. I'm not a cable engineer but having used many in the past, I can tell that this one is well built and robust.
The cable charged my devices as quickly as any other Apple wires. Anker does an excellent work meeting Apple standards.
Finally, I wanted to push this cable a little bit further 4. So I packed a 30Kg suitcase and lifted it with the cable. It passed the test, and the cable still works.
Conclusion
In summary, this is a reliable and durable cable. It's long enough to allow devices to connect at a reasonable distance. And, on top of a great product, there is an 18-month warranty. I'd like the felt pouch to be standard on all models, but that's an aside. Overall, it gets a thumbs up.
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Yep! the first one I got is still in use despite the number of miles travelled in my backpack. ↩
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I wonder why does this happen in virtually any hotel room! ↩
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Some models are also shipped with a felt carry pouch to store the cable in, which is not the case for this particular one. ↩
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I decided to leave hydraulic press tests to others though. ↩
