Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Eddie asked us:
What makes a USB cable charge much more quickly than others? I’ve purchased a “quick charging” cable from a local retailer, and it took forever to get a percent. I then used an OEM phone cable and got several percent in just a few minutes. Why is that?
As it turns out, there is such a thing as a “quick charging” cable… or maybe we should say there is such a thing as a slow charging cable, which is probably what you got.
Cables come in different gauges, different gauges have different resistance values, that means that some of the power or the data you’re sending through the cable may be lost along the length of it.
Most 3rd party cables are 28/28 gauge cables, while OEM cables are more likely to be 28/24 cables, that means that using the same charger the OEM cable you just bought is probably better able to transfer more charge quickly than the 3rd party cable. Cheap 3rd party cables also often have cheaper connectors and after several cycles of plugging them in and unplugging them, they can get slightly compressed and degrade their performance even further.
using the same charger the OEM cable you just bought is probably better able to transfer more charge quickly than the 3rd party cable
Most cables perform well enough that users don’t see a difference, but if you’re buying especially long cables, or very cheap ones you may very well notice.
If what you’re looking for is just speed, it’s likely that the OEM cable will get you the best speeds, as long as they have a good enough charger and battery to handle fast charging, manufacturers are unlikely to bundle in a cheap cable that won’t let the rest of their tech perform as well as it can.