Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and your official Lightning cable breaking within three months. This has been a glaring issue since the introduction of the Lightning port in 2012. The official Lightning cable has a dismal one star rating out of 1065 reviews. The 1000+ one star reviews all echo the same complaint: my cable broke. This is why I haven’t bought an official Lightning cable in two years. I’ll use the cable that comes with my new phone until it breaks and look to find a quality third-party replacement.
There are only two things I look for in a third-party charging cable: quality and durability. Quality is important because you don’t want to fry your phone with a cheap knockoff cable. It can be a daunting task to sift through the endless Lightning cables out there. I would look for an Apple MFi certified charging cable. It is a program where Apple makes sure third-party products meet its performance standards.
Durability is pretty obvious. You don’t want to keep dishing out money replacing broken cables. iPhones have smaller batteries compared to other flagship phones. This sad reality results in charging your iPhone more than other phones. The increased use will lead to a higher chance of a cable breaking, which is why durability trumps price.
AmazonBasics nylon braided Lightning cable is one of the most popular third-party cables on Amazon. This Lightning cable boasts a solid 4.4 stars out of 2,090 customer reviews. Is it worth your money? Let’s find out.
Quality
This is a good-looking cable. I know that’s a weird thing to say about a charging cable, but this cable gives off a premium feel. It’s as if the aesthetics were tailored for the iPhone. The AmazonBasics cable even has the same color options as the iPhone.
I chose the rose gold option to pair with my space gray. It’s an interesting color combination, but I needed something different in a sea of black and white tech products that I own. It’s also an easy way to figure out if one of my roommates stole my cable. I do this with my clothes hangers as well going with only pink colored hangers.
I always go with the longest cable available. You never know how far an outlet will be and the 6 feet will you give enough length in case you want to charge your phone and lay in your bed at the same time. The Lightning cable gets the job done when it comes to charging my iPhone. There is no difference in how fast my phone is charged, but that is expected. Someone on the customer question section asked if a longer cable will cause their phone to charge slower. This might be the first time I have ever seen anyone ask this question. If this is you, the answer is no. Also, the Lightning cable head is small enough to fit in any iPhone regardless of what case you have on it.
Durability
Durability is why I chose the nylon braided option instead of AmazonBasics cheaper Lightning cable. In my opinion, durability should always trump price. If you’re continually buying cheap cables, you’re going to save money in the long run by paying the higher cost upfront on a durable cable.
The nylon braid gives it a sturdy design that ensures confidence that the cable will not snap when yanked. The high-tensile nylon braid gives some flexibility and is even waterproof. I would not recommend charging your phone next to water. That is just asking for something bad to happen.
The ends of the Lightning cable have additional layer of silicone protection. The grooves on these ends provide flexibility and prevent fraying. Amazon claims that every cable is tested to be bent 95 degrees over 4,000 times. I feel confident that my Lightning cable is not going to break at the ends due to the extra reinforcement. I’m pretty rough with my charging cables. I twist and turn in my bed a lot to get comfortable. In the process, the charging cable gets twisted and bent in different ways. In the past couple of months using this cable, I’ve seen no signs of deterioration and it still looks brand new.
Overall
The AmazonBasics nylon braided Lightning cable is an excellent third-party option and gets the deTeched thumbs up of approval. The cable is relatively inexpensive at $9.99 for the 3 feet option or $11.99 for the 6 feet option. This is an absolute steal of a price. Like all AmazonBasics options, this item qualifies for free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members. This Lightning cable meets both the quality and durability requirement and is infinitely times better than the stock cable. Grab one that matches your iPhone!
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