52 Things We 💙: Anker cables

Wirecutter picks that have withstood the test of time Michael Hession Anker’s [PowerLine cables]( cost less than the originals, last a lot longer, and look better. by Nick Guy Before Apple scrubbed product reviews from its online store, its Lightning cable had a paltry rating of 1.5 out of 5 stars, across 2,300 reviews. At $20, the cables are expensive, and they’re prone to fraying at the ends. Enter [Anker’s PowerLine cables]( perennial Wirecutter favorites, thanks to their lower prices and longer-lasting designs. A cable is essential to keeping your phone charged, especially on the go, so it’s important that you have one you can rely on. We’ve torn open dozens of charging cables and found they’re all pretty much the same on the inside. It’s the outside that makes the biggest difference in how long they’ll last. Anker cables stand up to wear and tear, and they are backed up by a lifetime warranty if something breaks. Versions of Anker’s PowerLine cables have been our favorites since 2016, when we named the [Lightning]( and [Micro-USB]( variants our top picks. The [USB-C cables]( came later and are equally great. These cables stand up to wear and tear, they’re backed up by a lifetime warranty if something breaks, and they’re cheaper than the flimsier cables your phone’s maker sells. I still have PowerLine cables I’ve been using since 2016 that work as well as the day I got them. Anker claims they’re designed to withstand tens of thousands of bends. Anker tested over 100 different materials to strengthen its first PowerLine cords. “Finally we settled on using the same material often used in bulletproof vests,” a fiber called [aramid]( said Alex Xiao, Anker senior product manager. Although we originally tested 3-foot cables, we very quickly found that we really loved the different lengths. The 10-footers, in particular, are extremely handy in a living room, so you can swipe away on your phone from the couch without being tightly anchored to the wall. Wirecutter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. [Learn more](. How it started [Steven Yang started Anker]( after he quit his job in software engineering at Google in 2011. I’ve been writing about gadgets since then, and I have seen the company go from being a small startup that sold good, but unremarkable, portable power banks on Amazon to being a near-default brand for charging accessories (though we always test to be sure). The company has since branched out, and it now offers everything from Bluetooth speakers and headphones to robot vacuums and security systems that are mostly well designed and affordable. When to buy Black Friday and Prime Day are always great times to pick up Anker cables at cheap prices, but we usually see pretty good deals throughout the year, depending on the cable type and length. The numbers [Anker PowerLine II USB-C-to-Lightning cable]( $18 Average street price for the 6-foot cable $12 Best price we’ve ever seen [Anker PowerLine Micro USB cable (5-pack)]( $16 Average street price $6 Best price we’ve ever seen Make it last To prolong the life of any cable, take two precautions: When removing it from a port or outlet, always grasp the plug, not the cable. And instead of folding or bending the cord for storage, loosely coil it. Copyright © 2020 Wirecutter, Inc., all rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our newsletters. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.‌ Our mailing address is: Wirecutter, Inc. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018‌ [View this email in your browser]( [Unsubscribe from this list]( | [Update subscription preferences‌](