Cables are like humans, more than one can imagine. Looks can be deceiving and it is what’s inside that matters. However, one can only perceive what one can see and hence the truth lies largely concealed. Thankfully, that is where the similarities end since marketing buzzwords like “gold plated”, “tinned copper”, “braided nylon” wouldn’t really work well as complements for humans.
My tryst for the holy grail of cables started some time back when I started off with the Flome 3-in-1 cable, which, for the record, left me thoroughly disappointed. I have resigned myself to the fact that as long as reputable brands don’t get in to the game, the possibility of expecting the ultimate phone charging cable to come from no-name brands in China is as large as catching the unicorn at the end of the rainbow. However, that hasn’t deterred me from trying.
Since my last look at charging cables, I have added a couple more 3-in-1 cables, one from Baseus and another from “Fake Mi”. The Baseus brand has proliferated quite a bit and I had my first go at it when I purchased a tempered glass for my iPhone. As it turned out, the mention of glass for the product was an euphemism but even then, the brand gets full marks for design and half for deception. I had a good experience with Mi’s 2-in-1 cable which I had received with the Mi Power Bank Pro and although there is no mention of a 3-in-1 cable on Mi China’s website, I went along for the ride by placing an order for the “Fake Mi” 3-in-1 cable. In this case, it was better to judge the cable by its cover since the package was branded as “Zaofeng” but the product could easily pass off as an official Mi one.
Along with these three “the last cable you will ever need” cables, I have roped in two “not so in name but in function” pseudo 3-in-1 cables in the form of the Mi 2-in-1 and the EasyAcc Micro USB cable. In case you are confused, then don’t be, as technically any Micro USB cable can be used as a Lightning or Type-C cable with the help of adapters. Sure, you don’t get the official certifications, but it can get the job done as far as charging is concerned. In this case, the adapters came from the cannibalisation of other cables. After all, all’s fair in love, war and charging.
Here’s the fate of the contenders after being put through the trial with an Anker PowerPort 4 charger.
It is easy to draw some quick observations/conclusions from the above.
- As expected, none of the 3-in-1 cables are up to much good, though the Baseus one seems to be the best of the lot. The finest option yet, as far as charging goes, is to get a good quality Micro USB cable and then use adapters to switch between devices.
- The adapter quality can affect charging as can be seen by the performance difference of the Lightning one between Flome and Zaofeng. They are available for a few cents and can be jerry-rigged to function like a 3-in-1, though I presume at some point someone will release adapters with clasps. Cannibalisation from existing cables is always an option.
- It is not a co-incidence that the shorter cables are usually the best. You should get a cable that is only as long as you need it to be. As I had mentioned previously, the longer they are, the easier they fail.
- While not visible in the table above, the iPhone current draw was markedly different from the Mi devices. While the Mi devices charged flat out at the same current level irrespective of usage, the iPhone switched between 0.9-1.7A depending on how the device was being utilised. I could draw the maximum current only by recording in 4K. This indicates that the iPhone maintains a preset charging rate for the battery while utilising additional current draw from the charger for on-screen activity. I guess these benefits come through the utilisation of much more expensive power management ICs.
