Recently I reviewed a lot of micro-USB charging cables to see how well they would do during normal charging and using Qualcomm Quick Charge. So I thought I would review another micro-USB cable, this time with some cool lighting effects!
The cable
I bought the cable on Aliexpress, where I buy most of my smaller electronics and gadgets. You can find the cable by clicking here.
The cable costs about 5 dollars which is pretty cheap for the effect it delivers. It’s available in a few different colors with a few different light color options.
It can be a nice show piece for in the office or anywhere else you need a charging cable. So for that purpose, it’s a great little gadget!
AUKEY USB Charger Quick Charge 3.0 3-Port USB Wall Charger
Video review
I did a lengthy video review about the cable which you can find here. Be sure to watch it until the end to find out if I fry the cable or not! 😉
Voltage/Amperage graphs
As always I did my standard tests on these cables testing them with a varying range of voltage and amperage to see how well they hold up.
5v, No Quick Charge
At 5v this cable starts off very average. The voltage drop is pretty bad but if you take into account that it’s actually drawing some wattage to run the lights in the cable, I guess you could call it fair. Past the 2.0A point the voltage drops way too low though.
9v, Quick Charge 2.0
At 9v we see the same voltage drop. It actually ends up at 7.6v which is quite the drop from 9.0v! Not really recommendable.
The lighting also completely fried at this point and some burnt electronics smells reached my nose. The lights where never to be seen again and the adapter in the base plug got REALLY hot.
DO NOT use Quick Charge with this cable!
12v, Quick Charge 2.0
At 12v the picture is no different. Quite the voltage drop, even with the fried lighting electronics. The charging cable still functioned though. Just not that great.
Conclusion
Get a few to show off this nicely lit charging cable. But as far as charging cables go it’s not very special. Voltage drop is actually on the bad side and if you’re looking for a good charging cable, this isn’t it! Look at my previous article what to get.
But as a show piece, yeah, it’s ok. Just be sure to stick to 5v. Maybe nice to combine it with a wireless Qi charger for instance. That would prevent voltage going above 5v and thus preventing total lighting electronics melt down. 😉
Click here to get a few for 5$ with free shipping!