Friday, February 16, 2018

Lightning Cables Review – Apple vs Five Below vs Anker

If you have an iPhone or any portable Apple device, chances are you are familiar with the Lightning USB cable used for charging and data transfer. I started out with the stock Lightning cable that came with it. It was good for a while but one day the phone dropped from about 2 feet up while the cable was plugged into the phone. It landed in a way that bent the tip of the cable and cracked the plastic casing.

Luckily the cable still worked, that was until months later when it dropped again in the same way and bent the cable even more. This time it must have damaged the cable enough because it did not work anymore. So I had to find a replacement cable.

I did have an extra cable on hand because I had previously purchased a Lightning cable to go with a car charger to use in the car. Lightning cables tend to be pretty expensive, for example the stock cable sells for about $20. You can find them cheaper made by other companies. I ended up finding one at the store Five Below for $5. This was about as cheap as I could find them.

The Lightning cable from Five Below is a couple inches shorter than the Apple cable. The one I got has a woven texture and it is thicker compared to the Apple cable which is more of a rubber like plastic and thin. They also have the traditional rubber plastic cable option. The ends of the cables are similar in construction and size. After using the Five Below cable only a few times, I noticed the casing on the ends started to separate. The cable still works and they are still in place, but I have to be careful unplugging it because the plastic can slide off. The cable was cheap so I guess you get what you pay for, but I would have expected it to be a bit more durable than that.

I still wanted a replacement for the stock Lightning cable to use as my main charging cable inside so I could keep the Five Below cable in the car. After doing some research, I decided to go with the Anker PowerLine Lightning cable. I had purchased a battery from Anker a while back and was pleased with it so I thought I would give the cable a try.

The Anker PowerLine cable was about $8 so it was a little more than the Five Below cable but less than it would cost to buy a replacement cable from Apple. It is about 6 inches shorter than the Apple cable which is not great but it is still usable. The PowerLine series is one of the better cables from Anker and you can tell by the build quality. The cable itself is thicker than the Apple cable and the end parts are more significant and have a sturdy feel. They make it easy to grasps the ends of the cable to make easy to handle and unplug.

So far I have only been using the Anker cable for a short time but it seems to be charging fine. I was worried the larger end parts of the cable would cause an issue when trying to plug it into the phone with a case, but it fit perfectly even with the case. I will update this article if there are any changes over long term use.

If you are looking for a cheap cable, the Five Below will work in a pinch, but don't expect it to be the most durable over time. The Anker seems to be have a good combination of quality and reasonable price so I would recommend checking it out in case you are in need of a replacement lightning cable. 
 
Update 2-3-21:
Just an update to this review, after a few years the 5 Below cable no longer works. For some reason when I plug it in now, the phone will not accept it and it refuses to charge. 
 
The Anker cable is still working good. In this case, it looks like it is worth spending a bit more for a better quality cable that will last longer.
 

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