A better USB cable – 28/24 AWG and Gold plated connectors
Posted By RichC on July 31, 2014
A couple of days ago I whined about my failed or failing charging/sync cables used on phones, tablets and electronic devices. I then started searching for the replacements but was discouraged with the delayed shipping for non-branded cables from China. Then after reading about the cheap quality, I revisited Amazon decide to find out if there were better cables. Usually I ignore the “words” used in marketing … like “gold plated” and “premium” … but perhaps some “premium” cables are better? Check out the post earlier this year in Lifehacker.
Cables Can Significantly Impact the Charging
Speed of Your USB Device … by Adam DachisUSB chargers can impact how fast your device’s battery gets back to 100%, but they’re not the only determining factor. The wrong cable can slow down charging speeds as well. Redditor Esteef explains.
USB cables have a data wire and a charging wire within the cable itself. Most USB cables, probably over 99+% are 28/28. Buying after market micro USB cables will pretty much always result in getting cheap quality 28/28 cables and your device will barely break 500mah when it charges, maybe even less. This isn’t the only issue though. After you use a cable for a while it pushes slight stresses on the micro USB connector itself and compresses it. This causes poor connectivity between your device and the wire. This is why it seems like your device port feels like it’s getting loose and you think something is wrong. It’s most likely the cable being slowly damaged over time. Solution? Get a 28/24 gauge cable. 24 gauge is ~ 60% larger and can handle 2amps. This is what is usually sent when you buy a tablet or large phone device. Your wire slowly gets damaged over time or may even stop working entirely. You order a cheap cable off Amazon or eBay and it never appears to charge at the correct speed anymore.
I previously noticed this problem awhile back when I bought a bunch of cheap USB cables on Amazon. I got 12 for $5, and the reviews noted that charging speeds were very slow. I figured it was worth the risk for $5, so I went with it. It turned out they were right. Now I only use these cables in my overnight charging drawer where the speed is irrelevant. So, if you need a cable that charges at an adequate speed, heed the advice of Esteef and go with 28/24 gauge USB cables.
Monoprice is known to make quality cables … check their USB cables out.
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