Have you ever stopped to think about the quality of all those charging cables you have lying around at home? I hadn’t. Then I tried this little gizmo called the qualMeter. Amazing stuff.
This $40 gadget will tell you if your charging port is working ok, and if cables are up to scratch, rating their performance from Best down to Worst in quality.
I thought I’d test it first on a power bank battery. This is a solid Comsol 5V 2A battery pack, and it passed with flying colours.
Then I dug into my box of cables.
Yeah, I’ve got a few. I looked for something unbranded, probably old. And was not let down. First cable, not a good result.
Next I found a cable that showed a much better result but also indicated the shielded nature of the cable too.
To get right to the point, I got an Apple lightning cable directly from the iPhone box. Flying colours.
Belkin’s new Kevlar cable – flying colours.
Interestingly and I think refreshingly, the VOOC fast charge cable from Oppo which should be top-notch given it’s taking all the current for fast charging- excellent result.
So, time to test those cables and get rid of the dangerous ones.
I’d love to have the time to duck out and buy one of those $1 cables and see how it goes – my tip is it would fail dismally.
The qualMeter is available online for $39.95 from SimTech Technology
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts two popular podcasts, EFTM and Two Blokes Talking Tech. He also appears on over 50 radio stations across Australia weekly, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show each day and appears regularly on A Current Affair.
Father of three, he is often found down in his Man Cave.
