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Fast Charge Micro-USB High Speed Charging Cable $1.25US + Free Shipping @ FastTech

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Fast Charge Micro-USB High Speed Charging Cable $1.25US + Free Shipping @ FastTech
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PAusbargain007 on 07/01/2014 - 23:39 fasttech.com (828 clicks)
Last edited 08/01/2014 - 00:59 by 1 other user

Details:

All four pins inside are used to deliver power
Works with most Android devices supporting the 4-pin high speed charging protocol
Charges twice as fast as regular micro-USB cables
Compatible with most Android based devices featuring fast charge / quick charge capabilities

Cannot be used to sync or transfer data

Supports the following devices (excluding custom kernel/hardware variations):

HTC 8X, Droid DNA, Evo 4G LTE, One S, One VX, One SV
LG Escape, Mach, Motion 4G, Nexus 4, Optimus G, Spectrum 2, Optimus Regard
Motorola Atrix HD LTE, Droid RAZR HD, Droid RAZR M, Electrify M, Photon Q 4G LTE, Droid RAZR Maxx HD
Pantech Flex
Nokia Lumia 820, 822, 920, 1020
ZTE/Sprint Flash
Samsung Galaxy Express, Rugby Pro, Galaxy S Relay 4G, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Victory 4G, Galaxy Tab 2   10.1 LTE, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 LTE,
Galaxy Tab 7.7 Plus
Sony Xperia TL
Blackberry Q5, Q10, Z10, Z30, Bold.
and more..
Mobile USB Cable

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closed Comments

  • kimzie on 07/01/2014 - 23:57

    anyone knows if the kogan cable is better than the one posted here. needing one to charge the Samsung phones.
    http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/micro-usb-to-usb-cable-1m/

  • CyberMurning on 08/01/2014 - 00:01

    Cannot be used to sync or transfer data
    strange???

    • alebox on 08/01/2014 - 00:03
      +2

      I think the idea is that it uses up all the connections to purely charge hence it is faster. I don't know enough to know if this works or not

      • MagicTsukai on 08/01/2014 - 00:05

        can anyone confirm this theory?

      • CyberMurning on 08/01/2014 - 00:07

        will it also charge faster when the source is USB? i might buy one and keep it in office.
        also, faster charging is not damaging our phone, right? (im with note II)

    • rifter on 08/01/2014 - 00:04
      +3

      So where do you think the fast charging came from, magic?

    • Jooniar on 08/01/2014 - 00:09
      +1

      The USB spec uses 4 wires/connectors (each has a positive and negative line). In traditional cables it's two for data (the communication between your PC and your phone) and two for power (to power your phone during communication and to charge it).

      What this does is delivers your phone twice the amount of current (read: charging speed) that a traditional cable does. So if a regular cable is rated at 1A then this cable would allow 2A through the cable (1A on each set of connectors).

      The only catch is that your phone has to be able to take the 2A that is being delivered to it, unfortunately I don't know enough about how the USB data inputs on a phone are rated or wired to comment on the feasibility.

      • dazweeja on 08/01/2014 - 09:47
        +3

        Regarding your last paragraph, 2A isn't being "delivered" to the device, the device will only "pull" what it needs. You need to be right on the money with volts, but as far as amps, over is fine, under can cause problems. As an example, USB ports on PCs are rated at 500mA but there's no problem connecting a mouse rated at 100mA.

    • soupiejr on 08/01/2014 - 01:20
      +8

      Normal USB cables have 4 pins, 2 for power and 2 for data. Quick charge cables have the data pins shorted (the negative cable is connected directly to the positive cable). When a USB port on either a computer or a charger senses that the data pins are shorted, it means the cable is capable of a special charging mode called Quick Charge. This gives the charger the permission to send through more power through the 2 charging pins, provided the charger is capable of doing so. This could be the difference between sending through 500 mA of power or 2100 mA of power.

      You can also get the same effect with other micro USB cables, plus something like a Fast Charging Adapter that can short the data pins on demand.

      The real question you should be asking yourself is what the AWG (American Wire Gauge) rating of the cable is. It shows the thickness of electrically-conducting wires in the cable, which is directly related to how much current can flow through the cable. An AWG rating of 26 is usually good enough to deliver up to 2.1A of power through to your devices. Tikbro on eBay has some pretty good charging cables. Even their 3m ones are capable of delivering close to 2A of power, thus fast-charging my phones and tablets.

      A final word of warning, quick charging your devices WILL shorten the life of your devices' batteries. If there's no urgency, I'd recommend sticking to slow charging instead.

      • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 01:37
        +2

        Thanks soupiejr for posting a reply regarding exactly how USB fast-charging works. Their claim that 'All four pins inside are used to deliver power' isn't accurate, but two of the pins will be shorted to allow the phone to fast-charge. Some devices NEED these cables, as they use more than 500mA (standard USB current) to operate. Most devices will still charge if switched off, albeit rather slowly.

        A real-life example, when my friend tried using his Samsung Galaxy S4 as a GPS in his car, it always went flat despite him plugging it into his car's USB port. The phone shows it is charging, but if you go into Phone Status you'll notice it says 'USB Charging.' His car's USB port doesn't have the middle pins shorted out, so it only draws 500mA maximum from the charging socket. The phone uses more than 500mA of power when using the screen and GPS at the same time, so it runs flat and has no spare juice to charge the battery. I made him up a USB charging cable with nice thick wires and the two middle pins shorted out, so now the thing runs beautifully. When plugged into his car with the special cable, it now shows up as 'AC Charging' (the phone thinks it's charging from a wall-powered AC charger.)

        Many people who comment on cables saying 'this cable seems to charge my phone faster than other cables' often think it's because the wires are thicker. It's often just because it's wired as a charging cable. Sometimes people put negative comments on cables saying 'This only works with my old mobile but won't charge my new mobile!' - that's probably because their new phone REQUIRES a cable like this, or a properly wired high-output charger. Mind you, plenty of dodgy cables out there have extremely high resistance, so they won't charge (or even work properly for data) no matter how they are wired.

        • soupiejr on 08/01/2014 - 02:08
          +1

          Thanks for the kind words, greenie4242. I have done a lot of research after countless hours of futile searching on the net. I thought I should try and dispel the gossips and rumours, with real facts about cables and chargers. They really should do better with the standards, it's too confusing to the common users.

        • eug on 08/01/2014 - 02:50

          Many people who comment on cables saying 'this cable seems to charge my phone faster than other cables' often think it's because the wires are thicker.

          And they would be correct - if they're using the same fast charger and were only swapping around the cables.

          That's because it is the charger that is meant to have the data pins shorted, not the USB cable. The stock Samsung charger have the pins shorted.

          In fact, all fast chargers will have the data pins shorted, as it is in the USB Battery Charging Specification for dedicated charging ports (DCP). Charging downstream ports (CDP) which you find on computers (and cars unless they're labelled as a charging port) are limited to 900mA, but the port has to be designed to negotiate with the device to provide more unit loads.

          A USB cable should never have the data pins shorted as people might try to use them as a normal USB cable, plugged in to their computer. The shorting of the data pins shouldn't cause permanent damage (hopefully!), but it would not work for data transfer. Of course if you made a cable for a friend and specifically told him it is for charging only, that's fine.

          That said, you mentioned you made him a usb cable with nice thick wires. How do you know what's allowing the fast charge? Is it the thick wires or the shorted pins? Did you check his car's d+/d- pins for continuity?

          Mind you, plenty of dodgy cables out there have extremely high resistance, so they won't charge

          Extremely high resistance is caused by thin cables. That's why thick cables and a fast charger (which will have the data pins shorted) are the only way to get a fast charge. Shorting a usb cable and plugging it into a DCP fast charger won't speed anything up.

          p.s. your friend can use this app to check the charging current:
          https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abmantis.g…

        • eug on 08/01/2014 - 04:01

          correction: standard downstream port (SDP), not charging downstream port! CDP is on newer motherboards though, dunno about cars.

        • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 12:11

          And they would be correct - if they're using the same fast charger and were only swapping around the cables."
          That's because it is the charger that is meant to have the data pins shorted, not the USB cable. The stock Samsung charger have the pins shorted.
          In fact, all fast chargers will have the data pins shorted, as it is in the USB Battery Charging Specification for dedicated charging ports (DCP).

          That simply is NOT TRUE! Apple iPad/iPhone chargers are ALL fast chargers, but NONE of them have shorted middle pins. I also have two Kodak and an LG charger that can supply 2 amps but are not shorted out. The devices they were supplied with sense the current capacity of the charger, but do not short the pins in the charger. These chargers will not work with other devices unless used with a Fast Charging cable or adapter.

          A USB cable should never have the data pins shorted as people might try to use them as a normal USB cable, plugged in to their computer. The shorting of the data pins shouldn't cause permanent damage (hopefully!), but it would not work for data transfer. Of course if you made a cable for a friend and specifically told him it is for charging only, that's fine.

          If only everybody followed the 'standards' this wouldn't be a problem but they are less standards than gentlemen's aggreements. The 'standard' for USB fast-charging is fairly recent so doesn't cover most older devices and some currently sold older design devices, and manufacturers like Apple don't follow it anyway.

          That said, you mentioned you made him a usb cable with nice thick wires. How do you know what's allowing the fast charge? Is it the thick wires or the shorted pins? Did you check his car's d+/d- pins for continuity?

          No need to check data pins for continuity. The car can read MP3 files from USB sticks, so it uses the data lines. Definitely not shorted out. Using the cable that came with his phone still had a slow charge. So I had to make him a new cable with the middle pins shorted out. I used thick wires so they won't break when he man-handles them in the car, and they get heated to blazes while sitting on the dashboard. I could have used thin wires, but why bother? It'll just break and tangle faster.

          Extremely high resistance is caused by thin cables. That's why thick cables and a fast charger (which will have the data pins shorted) are the only way to get a fast charge. Shorting a usb cable and plugging it into a DCP fast charger won't speed anything up.

          High resistance can be caused by too thin cables, poor solder joints, poor quality connectors, corroded connectors, dodgy wiring, wires that are made too long for the thickness, people actually putting resistors in the circuit to limit charging voltage (yes, I've seen it in dodgy $1 eBay chargers!) so take your pick. A VERY thin cable can work well with a fast charger as long as the thin wires aren't high resistance. Apple laptop chargers use VERY thin wires but can supply 2.5 amps, as they use good quality wires. However some USB chargers I tested had very thick tin wires inside the attached cables, yet couldn't supply more than 300mA. After cutting off the cables and resoldering decent wires to the circuit board, they work well though I only use them for USB lighting, as they are not well voltage regulated.

          I found all this out after playing USB charger roulette for way too long. After going on a holiday thinking "I'll just take two fast-chargers and charge everything with them" I found I couldn't charge ANYTHING properly with them! The 2.1 Amp fast-chargers worked beautifully with our tablets (which we left at home) but didn't actually charge my iPod, and only allowed show charging on my wifes's Samsung or my Nokia, or the USB camera. I had taken an iPod charger adapter (which provides the correct voltages on the data pins to allow Apple devices to charge with a non-standard charger) which worked OK on the Apple devices but just assumed everything else would charge OK. It didn't. Then when I came home, found that some USB cables didn't work with some chargers, and some devices didn't work with some cables. It was ridiculous, so I just made my own cables, and labeled them 'charging' or 'data' cables. Problem sorted!

        • eug on 08/01/2014 - 15:22
          +1

          That simply is NOT TRUE! Apple iPad/iPhone chargers are ALL fast chargers, but NONE of them have shorted middle pins.

          You're right, and I should have mentioned it here as well instead of the other post below. Apple do not follow the USB standard for fast charging.

          I also have two Kodak and an LG charger that can supply 2 amps but are not shorted out.

          That's right too, I also have an old HP Palm charger that's nonstandard. But the vast majority of new fast chargers follow the official USB standard and short the pins, presumably because Android phones are so popular now.

          If only everybody followed the 'standards' this wouldn't be a problem but they are less standards than gentlemen's aggreements.

          Only in the case of a few manufacturers. If you measured any non-apple-compatible fast charger, there's a very high chance it will follow the USB standards. Even the Logitech USB charger for my mouse have the pins shorted. Huawei pocket wifi chargers are shorted as well, and so are Samsung and HTC chargers. My generic car charger is shorted too, along with my branded ones.

          The 'standard' for USB fast-charging is fairly recent so doesn't cover most older devices and some currently sold older design devices,

          Well… the standard has been around since 2007 (the year the iPhone was launched and Nokia was still king) so it's not that new. It was the year before the first Android phone, the HTC Dream/G1, was released. :)

          and manufacturers like Apple don't follow it anyway.

          Yup, and they're one of just a few companies who don't follow it. Fortunately most of them do.

          High resistance can be caused by too thin cables, poor solder joints, poor quality connectors, corroded connectors, dodgy wiring, wires that are made too long for the thickness,

          Yes there are those factors too, but you could have the most perfect solder joints, best-quality gold connectors and perfect wiring, but if the cables are too thin, it doesn't matter - you still will not be able to fast-charge.

          A VERY thin cable can work well with a fast charger as long as the thin wires aren't high resistance.

          You are limited by the resistance of copper - 0.1339ohms/m at 26 AWG, resulting in the charge rates I mentioned earlier.

          Wires that are made of silver have lower resistance, but nobody does it as the cost would be astronomical.

          Apple laptop chargers use VERY thin wires but can supply 2.5 amps, as they use good quality wires.

          Don't forget only two wires are needed in that one power cable, so they can be thicker - looks to be about 17AWG. They use a coaxial construction to save space as well - two round conductors side-by-side results in wasted space.

          They could use silver-plated copper since the charger costs a lot and the cable has to carry a lot of power, but you'd be hard-pressed to find silver-plated copper USB cables.

          "I'll just take two fast-chargers and charge everything with them" I found I couldn't charge ANYTHING properly with them!

          What brand were they?

          didn't actually charge my iPod

          Apple devices .. yeah.

          worked OK on the Apple devices but just assumed everything else would charge OK

          Apple… once again!

          Then when I came home, found that some USB cables didn't work with some chargers, and some devices didn't work with some cables. It was ridiculous, so I just made my own cables, and labeled them 'charging' or 'data' cables. Problem sorted!

          That's one way to do it. My preferred way is to use a proper fast charger like the one that came with my phone, and good-quality normal USB cables.

          They've always worked for me on all my trips with all my equipment. And I mean all of them - multiple cameras, multiple brands of phones, tablets (both Android and Win8), handheld GPS, portable USB battery chargers, mice, etc.

          All my cables work with any of my devices both to charge and sync data, all thanks to the fact that my charger follows USB specs. I don't have iDevices though - that would require a dedicated apple charger or a charging adaptor.

      • daydream on 08/01/2014 - 01:58

        Does charging via the powerpoint vs USB also shorten the life of the device's battery? My phone seems to charge faster via the powerpoint so I assume there is higher current involved?

        • Jooniar on 08/01/2014 - 03:05
          +1

          Most USB ports on a PC are have a limited output of 500mA (note: this can be altered) whereas your typical phone AC charger is rated at 1A so yes, charging via the wall is generally faster.

          RE: shortening of battery life - phones use a type of battery called a Lithium Ion battery. Each time you charge it a chemical reaction occurs where the lithium ions go from the battery's cathode to its graphite anode. With each charging and recharging cycle the cathode material degrades, meaning it's structure is altered so that some of the ions don't make the trip to the anode. This translates to a loss in battery capacity over a large number of charging cycles.

          So in short, irrelevant of where you charge it you will see a degradation in battery capacity.

        • eug on 08/01/2014 - 03:22
          +1

          Theoretically fast-charging will shorten the lifespan due to elevated temperatures, but whether or not you'll see a big difference over time, I'm not totally sure. The phone doesn't get that hot while charging anyway - I wouldn't worry about it!

      • eug on 08/01/2014 - 03:10

        An AWG rating of 26 is usually good enough to deliver up to 2.1A of power through to your devices.

        A 1M 26AWG cable at 5.3V 2A (stock Samsung charger) will result in a voltage drop of 0.54v giving you a charging voltage of 4.76V, which is right within spec.

        But a 2M 26AWG cable at 5.3V 2A will result in a voltage drop of 1.07V giving you a charging voltage of 4.23V which will not work. The device will charge at a lower current as a result.

        You really need 24AWG if you want to charge at 2A through more than 1.5 meters of cable.

        Even their 3m ones are capable of delivering close to 2A of power, thus fast-charging my phones and tablets.

        Are you sure you're getting 2A? At 26AWG, the voltage drop (down to 3.39V) is way too much for 2A charging. You need 22AWG for a 2A charge at 3 meters.

        • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 12:53

          @eug That would all be very nice if people only made cables out of pure copper, but in practice manufacturers sometimes cheap-out and use tin, aluminium, brass, even stretched steel. I've seen all sorts of things in dodgy USB cables. Copper is very expensive at the moment, so they're using whatever they can get away with to avoid it these days. If you can find melamine in baby formula, you can find tin in USB wires. Solid wires vs stranded wires can also make a difference. Often cheaply made stuff has such poorly soldered wires that half the strands aren't even soldered properly to the connector, so despite using thick wires the cable can only support a fraction of what it should. Or the stranded wire is so thin that bending it a bit breaks some of the strands, reducing cable capacity.

          You could design a circuit so it's perfect according to every engineering book and specification in the world, but it won't make any difference in the real world after a cheap manufacturer ruins it with under-spec parts.

        • eug on 08/01/2014 - 16:18

          @eug That would all be very nice if people only made cables out of pure copper,

          That's exactly why I said "good-quality" in the post below where I gave an example - Lindy Cromo cables.

          The Tikbro cables are also meant to be made of copper - it is specifically mentioned in the description, and I do actually get that charging current out of it.

  • lj87 on 08/01/2014 - 00:06
    +2

    Yes all 4 pins used for power transfer as opposed to 2 for data/sync and 2 for power in a more standard micro usb cable. I believe that's right. I'd be interested to see how this cable would go with the stock Nexus 7 wall adapter, wonder if it would really be that much faster.

    • xordis on 08/01/2014 - 00:16

      I don't believe this is right. All this cable is doing it using two of the pins if it senses that only the power pins are connected.
      At a guess I am thinking there is some interference issue if you try to do data and power (at a high) level over a normal cable.
      I would also think you phone would need to support this feature as USB will just deliver what is requested by the phone.

    • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 01:56
      +1

      @lj87, NO charger uses all four pins for power transfer. It's possible they use four wires inside this charger cable, two for + and two for - to provide extra current, but it would be smarter and cheaper and better to use only two thicker wires. All four pins will be used however, but they will (if wired correctly) simply be shorted out at the micro-USB connector end.

      If your Nexus 7 came with a high-power charger that is wired correctly, and used with the cable that it came with, it will already output the maximum power available. Using this cable will make no difference whatsoever. It would however allow you to charge a Nexus 7 faster if you tried to charge it with an Apple iPad charger, as Apple chargers are only wired up for 'slow charging' unless used with Apple devices.

      @xordis - there is no interference when using USB for data/charging. Many devices charge slowly when connected to a data cable (because they assume that a computer USB port won't be able to supply 2.1A) but charge fast when hooked up to their own charger, which shorts out the two middle pins as a notification that it's a charger, not a computer. Using a data cable with a fast charger often cripples it to slow-charger speeds.

      Some devices these days are smart enough to automatically detect if a USB port is capable of fast-charging, they keep drawing more current until the voltage drops below a certain level. These devices will allow data and fast-charging at the same time, but they are not very common yet. As USB charging chips become cheaper and more intelligent, this will become less of a problem in the future.

  • Ughhh on 08/01/2014 - 00:08

    Anyone find something equally as fast but can also sync/transfer data for a similar price?

    • jv on 08/01/2014 - 00:34
      -2

      no…

    • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 12:22

      @JLove, it's only possible to fast-charge with a data cable if your device specifically supports it. Some newer tablets and phones automatically detect fast-chargers by sensing voltage drop, so can charge from a high-current laptop or desktop USB port without problem while also transferring data. Older devices charge faster when plugged into their wall charger because the wall charger is wired to tell the phone to charge faster.

      Some rooted mobile phone firmware allows you to enable fast-charging, and I've read some phones have apps that allow you to fast-charge with non-standard chargers. They use software to direct the phone's hardware to turn on the fast-charging circuit. Many older devices have it hard-wired, so can't do this.

  • CyberMurning on 08/01/2014 - 00:10
    +1

    made yourself
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9-rfImR86g

  • freakitude on 08/01/2014 - 00:29
    +4

    go for Tikbro ones. Pretty fast too.

  • jv on 08/01/2014 - 00:32
    +2

    Do they have any where all four pins are used for data to allow for faster data transfers ?

    • oringal on 08/01/2014 - 01:36
      -1

      data transfer requires electricity?

      • KLoNe on 08/01/2014 - 07:48

        Do you think data transfer uses 'magic'?

    • endotherm on 08/01/2014 - 08:46

      Isn't that technically USB 3.0? :)

    • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 01:47
      +1

      This cable will work with ANY charger. If the charger is a high-speed charger (very few are labeled as such, but they will have 1A, or 1.5A, or 2.1A or similar written on them) this cable will allow a phone or tablet to use the excess current available. If your charger only supplies 500mA, or you're using a normal 500mA computer USB port, this cable won't make the device charge any faster. Some computers these days have special USB ports that supply more power than standard USB, so it may work with those USB ports.

      Many devices, if plugged into a fast-charger from a different manufacturer, have no way to detect that the charger is capable of high-speed charging. If you plug a Samsung Galaxy S4 into an iPad charger, it will charge very very slowly despite the iPad having a very high output. One of these cables though will fix that problem, and charge it at full power. It tricks the phone into thinking it's a generic high-speed charger, instead of an Apple charger with proprietary wiring.

      • eug on 08/01/2014 - 04:27
        -1

        Apple chargers are a special case. They don't follow USB specifications, instead they use pullup and pulldown resistors to tell the portable device how much current the charger can provide. This is when the cable here would be useful.

        Many devices, if plugged into a fast-charger from a different manufacturer, have no way to detect that the charger is capable of high-speed charging.

        As mentioned before, there is a way, and it's stated in the official USB specifications. No surprise, it calls for D+/D- to be shorted. All standard rapid chargers (like the stock Samsung charger) have the data pins shorted, so you can use a regular USB cable for a fast charge, as long as it's thick enough.

        • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 12:33

          As mentioned before, there is a way, and it's stated in the official USB specifications. No surprise, it calls for D+/D- to be shorted. All standard rapid chargers (like the stock Samsung charger) have the data pins shorted, so you can use a regular USB cable for a fast charge, as long as it's thick enough.

          You keep mentioning 'standard rapid chargers' but in practical terms there is NO standard charger in the real world. It might be a nice fantasy to think all chargers work the same, but in practice it's impossible to tell how a charger is wired. I have about twenty chargers sitting in a box here, some of which charge some devices, some of which don't. How can I tell if something is a 'standard' charger without using a multimeter? Also if the charger was made before June 2009 when the fast-charging standards were ratified, it may be a standard charger, just made to different standards. There are different standards for USB 1, USB 2, USB 3. They are all 'standard' but different. 'Standard' isn't a really useful word when you're using it to describe something that changes every few years.

          My TV set has USB ports. Are they 'standard'? I don't know. My friend's car has USB ports. It's probably made to 'standard' but it's an older car so it's not the fast-charging standard. It still charges things fast, but only when they directly support it, or a special cable is used.

          A 'standard' Apple charger won't fast-charge a non-Apple device, and a 'standard' charger won't charge an Apple device at all. This is real-world stuff. Electrical engineers aside, if something looks like a USB port, people will assume it can charge their mobile phone or tablet. They are disappointed when it won't. This fast-charge cable will give them more chance of having a working device with commonly available chargers.

        • eug on 08/01/2014 - 15:39

          You keep mentioning 'standard rapid chargers' but in practical terms there is NO standard charger in the real world.

          All my everyday fast chargers follow the standard. And as far as I know, all recent non-apple devices follow the standard too.

          Also if the charger was made before June 2009 when the fast-charging standards were ratified

          April 2007 - that's nearly seven years ago. That was the year the micro USB spec was released as well.

          If the charger more than ~5 years old, it might not have the data pins shorted. But I'm willing to bet most people will have a compliant fast charger now, e.g. the one that came with their latest non-apple tablet or phone.

          This fast-charge cable will give them more chance of having a working device with commonly available chargers.

          How will people know if the port can supply more than 500mA? A fast-charge cable will not make a non-rapid-charger charge at a higher rate.

          I think you just happen to have lots of noncompliant chargers, while I'm swimming in compliant chargers. I can certainly accept that there'll be a mix of chargers out there, but workarounds like this cable are only available because of very old chargers, and Apple who don't follow standards.

          The absolute easiest way to ensure a charger charges everything is to use a spec-compliant rapid charger (like the charger that comes with Samsung phones and tablets, for example), and any good-quality USB cable. That will work with pretty much any modern (non-apple) device, and people won't have to make sure they have a rapid charge cable on them as well as a data cable, since one cable will do both just fine.

        • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 20:22

          I just carry a 15cm charge-only cable in my wallet. Weighs almost nothing, works with everything (including the dreaded non-standard but extremely well engineered Apple power supplies) and I can almost always find a spare USB port hanging off something. TV set, set-top box, USB lighting, iPod charger, car dash board, MP3 stereo box, blu-ray player. I stopped carrying my own charger around as it's cumbersome, easy to forget and leave behind if plugged into an obscurely placed power point, I rarely used it despite carrying it everywhere, and nowadays it's easier to find a spare USB port than it is to find a spare power point.

  • shaun-o on 08/01/2014 - 01:42

    Better upgrade my slow charge cable…….

  • Aquilius on 08/01/2014 - 02:19

    anyone know a 2 metre fast charge cable? this cable is not long enough for me..

    • soupiejr on 08/01/2014 - 02:35

      This is what I use, and it's pretty good.

      • Aquilius on 08/01/2014 - 03:07
        +1

        I bought a tikbro 3m cable the other week, it doesnt connect properly, keeps coming out of the micro usb slot. very annoying, maybe i just got a dud one, but i will not buy a tikbro cable again even my cheapo $1 cables were better.

        I should ask for a refund or replacement, but it was only like $3

        • CodeXD on 08/01/2014 - 09:11
          +1

          The same thing happened to one of mine. I emailed them and they sent a replacement in 3 days.

    • eug on 08/01/2014 - 04:34

      My 2m Tikbro 26AWG cable does a fast charge (1.2A) on my Note 3 with the stock charger (5.3V 2A). The plug isn't very strong though.

      If you don't mind paying quite a bit more, the Lindy Cromo series are 26AWG. You can do a 1.2A fast charge on a 5.3V charger with a 2m cable, and 1A at 3m.

      https://www.lindy.com.au/online/arrshop.exe?af=440&ac=Q5&ai=…

  • lostn on 08/01/2014 - 02:42

    Will it work on devices not listed?

    • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 13:06

      If your device charges fast using its own charger but only charges very slowly using a different brand of charger, then this cable will probably work.

      Many people try to charge their mobile phones from their spare iPod charger at work, but find it charges so slowly that the phone isn't fully charged at the end of the day despite being plugged in for 8 hours. A cable like this one will allow it to charge at full speed (usually 1-2 hours) if the charger is powerful enough.

  • Obs on 08/01/2014 - 09:18

    Cable is pretty short at only 32cm. I already have so many microusb cables from the tikbro deals, eBay, meritline etc etc but another one won't hurt at this price. Soon, I'll have more microusb cables than my hdmi stash :)

  • xrep on 08/01/2014 - 12:03

    Ok, too much headache here. I'll just stick to my slow charging one don't wanna kill the battery fast.

  • hambuger on 08/01/2014 - 15:11
    +1

    Guess I will get one or two of these and look into tikbro as well. I don't care about fast charge at this point - I just need more than 1 cable to charge my Galaxy S3. Hardly any of my MicroUSB cables work at all. No charging OR data.

    • greenie4242 on 08/01/2014 - 23:56

      As you found out with your own phone, my wife's Galaxy S3 does NOT charge properly with 'slow' chargers. If your charger or cable are not wired for fast charging, it won't work well. Normal 'slow' chargers only supply about half the power it needs to operate and charge at the same time.

      If plugged into my Nokia USB charger, or my HTC charger, or an iPhone charger with a normal USB data cable, the Galaxy S3 just runs flat slower. After being plugged in all night, it starts beeping in the morning to say it's about to go completely flat. It charges if the phone is turned off, but slower than it would with the original charger, and won't be fully charged after charging all night. However, using a high speed charging cable like this deal makes it work well with ALL those chargers, as they all provide at least 1,000mA which is the same as the original charger it came with.

      This deal is cheap, but rather short at 32cm. Longer ones are available from other places, you can also find Fast Charging Adapters which make any decent quality cable work. I'd love to + this deal but really can't, as I've been burnt so many times by cheap (and even expensive) Micro USB cables. I don't trust any of them any more unless they came in the same box as a mobile phone or brand-name tablet. This might seem like a great cheap deal but it might disintegrate immediately, or it might last longer than any other cables. Who knows?

      • eug on 09/01/2014 - 03:10

        He said "no charging OR data". That doesn't look like it has anything to do with a fast-charge cable - it just looks like his micro usb cables are poor-quality or simply faulty.

        I would suggest getting a good-quality micro USB cable which will do a fast-charge just fine with his original charger as well as data, rather than a fast-charge cable that can only recharge.

        As mentioned earlier, Lindy sells high-quality micro USB cables.

        This one looks promising as the seller highlights the 26AWG/2C spec, which is usually paired with 28AWG/1P for data.
        http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Original-26AWG-2C-micro-USB-Cable…

        This is even better at 24AWG, great for tablets.
        http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3ft-USB-2-0-A-Male-to-Micro-5pin-…

        3m 28AWG/1P 24AWG/2C
        http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Black-10ft-USB-2-0-A-Male-to-Micr…

        Coincidentally I've been using the Nokia charger from my N97 as my main charger for all the phones I've had, and that includes the S3. They all rapid-charge just fine.

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