Cables are a necessary evil in our modern world. Whether it’s the power cord for your phone, the cables jammed in the back of your TV or the wires connecting you to the internet, they’re everywhere.
And when you need a new one the options are almost limitless, with some costing as much as hundreds of pounds. But do you need to spend all that for a cable? Absolutely not. So here’s a quick guide to cables to help you avoid the overpriced.
You don’t need gold plated HDMI or optical cables
Gold connectors and high-quality copper used to make a big difference in the analogue world, but here in the digital 21 century it’s like lipstick on a pig.
Shiny gold connectors might look nice, but they make no difference. Digital is binary – it either works or it doesn’t. You won’t get a better picture from a gold cable.
Nylon braided or Kevlar reinforced
As much use as a Ferrari in a snowstorm, fancy Kevlar or nylon braided cables add nothing unless you’re working them hard. Most cables spend their life plugged in and left alone, but those taken on the road – here’s looking at you, phone cable – might last a bit longer with some strengthening.
Watch for HDMI cable specs
The materials don’t really matter for digital cables, but their specifications do. Most are mercifully straightforward.
HDMI – most commonly used to connect things to your TV – comes in various versions including 1.4, 2.0 and 2.1, which are backwards compatible, for example a 2.1 cable will work with anything earlier. Version 2.0 has been the main standard since 2013, meaning most HDMI cables sold over the last five or so years work with 2.0a/b.
In January 2017 HDMI 2.1 was released to support higher than 4K content, but very few devices actually use it and most existing cables already support the majority of the new features. Only if you’re trying to watch 4K at 120Hz (60Hz is standard) or 8K video do you need new “ultra high speed” HDMI 2.1 cables – an unlikely event for most consumers.
There are also HDMI cables that support ethernet connectivity, which are backwards compatible but as barely anything in the home actually uses the ethernet bit don’t spend extra on them.
A good quality high speed HDMI 2.0 cable should cost about £5.
Ethernet cables have categories
Speaking of ethernet, not all ethernet cables are born equal. While all the connectors are the same RJ45 jack, you commonly find cat5/5e or cat6 cables. The “cat” number indicates the quality of the materials and insulation within the cable, which affects its maximum transmission speed.
The cheaper cat5 can support speeds up to 1Gbps where cat6 supports up to 10Gbps – for reference the average UK broadband speed is just 55Mbps or 0.055Gbps. The actual speed you get is entirely dependent on what you’re connecting – a slow internet connection is not going to be made faster by a high spec cable – so unless you know you need to transfer data over 1Gbps don’t spend the extra on cat6 cables. You want “patch” cables if you’re connecting a computer or similar to a router. If you’re laying ethernet cable into walls or under the floor buy the best you can so you don’t have to rip it all up again in the future.
Cat5 ethernet cables cost as little as £1, while cat6 ethernet cables cost go from £4.
You don’t need your original phone cables to charge
Charging cables for phones are probably the most lost or broken cables around. The good news is that most phones support a variety of cables: you don’t need to use the one that came with it.
Apple’s iPhone uses the proprietary Lighting cable, but you don’t have to buy Apple’s £19 cable each time you break or lose it. Quality certified Lightning cables cost just £5 from Amazon. But if you want to charge your iPhone faster, you’ll need a Lightning to USB-C cable, which Apple charges £19 for 1m or £35 for 2m – but yours for just £12 on Amazon.
For Android phones you have a choice of the old microUSB or the new USB-C. Both cables are universal and available from a variety of third-party manufacturers, with quality versions costing as little as £6.
Some smartphones have proprietary fast charging standards, including OnePlus and Huawei, which need special cables to go with special chargers to hit their max charging speeds. But they will still fast charge with standard USB-C cables and third-party chargers.
Nor do you need your original phone charger
Just like cables, you don’t need to use the charger that came with your phone. There are many third-party chargers that can not only charge your phone faster but also have multiple ports for powering up more than one device at a time.
There are multiple charging standards, including Qualcomm’s Quick Charge, the standard USB-PD (Power Delivery) and special fast-charging tech such as OnePlus Warp Charge or Huawei SuperCharge. The good news is that most of them are cross compatible with USB-C chargers that use USB-PD, meaning you can fast charge almost any modern smartphone, tablet or laptop with a USB-C charger.
Apple, for instance, still ships its £999 iPhones with weak 5W USB chargers. With a USB-PD supporting 18W or greater and a USB-C to Lighting cable you can fast charge the iPhone 8 or later to 50% in 30 minutes.
Similarly, Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphones support Qualcomm QuickCharge 2, but can fast charge on any USB-PD power adapter.
USB-C chargers come in various shapes and sizes rated by wattage. 18W or higher will fast charge most phones, while 30W or higher will handle tablets and smaller laptops. Some laptops need 45W or higher, with high performance machines needing above 80W.
Quality USB-C chargers start at under £20. Look out for Anker, Aukey and RavPower brands at the cheaper end or Apple’s high-powered laptop chargers at the top end.
Ditch the cable and go wireless
It’s 2019 – you probably don’t need a cable at all to charge your top-end phone. Wireless charging is becoming a standard among phones. The good news is that most devices, including Apple, Samsung, Huawei and many others, use the Qi wireless charging standard meaning any Qi-compatible pad should work with a wireless charging phone, headphones or other devices.
Like cable power adapters, wireless charging is rated in watts, with 5W the default which is fairly slow, but fine for overnight charging. Faster wireless chargers are available including 10W and 15W. The iPhone will wirelessly charge at a maximum of 7.5W, but Huawei, Samsung and other manufacturers support up to 15W charging. Some phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 and the Huawei P30 Pro can even wirelessly charge other devices too.
Quality wireless chargers start at around £18.
USB-C adapters or cables
The brave new world of USB-C isn’t just about charging. Laptops, tablets and even some phones can now use USB-C to connect all sorts of things, from displays to flash drives.
If you need regular USB ports, dongles are the way forward costing from £6. But you can also get USB-C cables to replace most traditional cables. That includes USB-C to HDMI, DisplayPort, analogue audio sockets and many others.
Check for prices as some are more cost effective than buying adapters for your existing cables.
Most cables aren’t proprietary
Some cables that come with laptops, headphones and other devices look proprietary but aren’t, meaning you don’t have to buy them from the original manufacturer.
The classic example is the 2.5mm headphone jack, which is slightly smaller than the standard 3.5mm headphone jack people are used to. Bose and several other headphone manufacturers use this jack to plug into their phones via cable, but it’s a standard cable like any other and can be bought for a fraction of the cost when the original breaks.
Others include the round power adapter, which was commonly used on laptops and other equipment. It is just a standard DC plug that comes in a variety of different sizes. As long as you match the voltage and amperage, compatible chargers with multiple plugs can often be cheaper and more useful if your original breaks.
