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$1 Chinese USB Cables - Are they worth it?

Snickerzz
By Snickerzz
in Member Reviews
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USB Keychain

 

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Preamble: After seeing Linus' review on the Nomad Key in Handy Tech Under $100 Ep.2 I thought I would go along great with my new battery bank. The price for it wasn't great though, retailing at $20 for the Micro USB version and $25 for the Lightning cable version. I decided to do some digging and found a similar item for $9 from the company inCharge but the price still didn't seem right and having the cable on a keychain I didn't like how it relied on magnets. Through the power of Ebay I was able to find $1 USB keychains that used clips to stay together so I ordered a couple. 

 

Performance: To test the transfer speeds I decided to use my 2013 Nexus 7 with no background apps running. I transferred a Windows 7 SP1 64bit ISO file (3.09GB) to and from the Nexus once with the USB keychain and with the stock cable that came with the Nexus. 

Stock to device: 6m55s

Stock from device: 3m11s

Keychain to device: 8m05s

Keychain from device: 3m27s

From my very light testing the transfer speeds don't seem that different, though it you plan on using the cable for transferring a lot you may want to get a higher quality cable. 

 

Quality: The cable sheathing doesn't feel bad and the Micro USB end doesn't have much wiggle in the port. The USB end does though but it was expected as it's half the size as normal. 

 

Where to buy?: There are many sellers on Ebay selling the same cables. They all use the same stock images with their own watermark so I just went with the seller that had the best feedback and looked like the easiest to deal with in case I needed a refund. I'll list a few sellers below (not sure if this is allowed though?)

excellbay

4seasonstores

sunnyshop06

peoplemarketing

 

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>$1

>chinese

Do the two sound like they go together

This is a review -_-

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Those are sexy, are there longer ones?

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Those are sexy, are there longer ones?

These look pretty similar http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-Flat-Regular-Micro-USB-Data-Sync-Cable-Cord-3-5-10FT-for-Samsung-Galaxy-b321-/391087938047?var=660468563939&hash=item5b0ea859ff

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TL;DR? I'm tired, please and thank you :D

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Awesome, I'll pick some up at the end of the month.

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You'll get what you pay for.

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You'll get what you pay for.

But how could USB cables possibly cost 20 dollars to make?

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I wouldn't say $20 is reasonable either. But I'll pay some premium for trusted companies like Belkin.

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most cables you get/buy for premium price probably made from the same factory

 

doesn't matter

 

everything is made in china anyway

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I wouldn't say $20 is reasonable either. But I'll pay some premium for trusted companies like Belkin.

Belkin probably make stuff for nearly the same price

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I wouldn't say $20 is reasonable either. But I'll pay some premium for trusted companies like Belkin.

Dajum son. At least no trust from my side. To shitty wireless sticks and a shitty router at a friends house. That is enough.

Anyway.I just fail to see what you can do wrong about sodering plugs to cables to plugs and wrapping some insulation around them. Seems simple right.

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Cables are cables...

 

Always confused me why people would buy £900 "Hi-Fi cables" for their home cinema.

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>$1

>chinese

Do the two sound like they go together

Yeah cheap and Chinese always go together.

American and poor quality also goes together

 

 

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Cables are cables...

 

Always confused me why people would buy £900 "Hi-Fi cables" for their home cinema.

^-This. Even if it was analogic stuff hundreds for a 1m cable is a robbery

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Just a heads up. These cheap cables are fine for data transfer but please don't use these for anything more than 500mA. Any higher and you could risk burning up the thin wires inside.

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