I could not find many Lemmy posts about USB or video cable recommendations, please let me know if there are!
I will be moving soon, and I want get some good, quality cables that are certified by their respective thing (e.g. USB-IF for USB cables, VESA for DP cables I think) and compliant with relevant standards, since the drawer of unlabelled mystery cables is not a solution that I want to continue with. I would rather that the cables be compliant with relevant standards and preferably have clear labeling/indication of spec (but most unfortunately don’t have that).
What are the best:
- USB-C 240W charging cables?
- USB-C 40Gbps data transfer cables? (USB4 or TB3/4)
- DisplayPort cables?
- HDMI cables?
On Reddit, I see hundreds of posts gushing over Anker as the holy grail of USB cables, but then there are conflicting reports of people unhappy with Anker (bad customer service, they broke the cable, sub-brand Eufy leaking security cam footage, etc.) and preferring other brands instead. For DisplayPort cables, lots of people seem to like Club3D and Cable Matters, the latter is also recommended for HDMI cables. Many random Amazon brands are also thrown around, but those look like they’re from bots.
It’s hard to tell whether any one if made by a person or a not. Anker bots are definitely out there, I found a thread talking about how good quality the, as far as I can tell, nonexistent Anker magsafe 3 (as in the one used in macbooks, not the wireless charging puck!) to USB-C cables are. I’m also sure that other companies use bots, like Ugreen, but Anker’s are the most obvious.
For the cables that I have bought myself, Anker’s “Powerline Flow” series of cables are really nice, they don’t tangle and are made of super soft silicone. Pretty expensive for a cable that only does charging though. I have also previously bought a 2m Baseus charging cable (which does have a 240W label, which is nice!), it seem durable enough, just a little stiff, and it works fine for my laptop at 65W.
Anker owns Eufy, a security camera company. A few years ago people were able to access footage remotely, even thpugh Eufy claimed it was only stored locally. Anker, as the parent company, doubled-down and responded poorly at first.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/anker-admit-eufy-security-issues/
Now, that does not impact stuff like cables or battery banks at all. In 2024 when I was shopping for new battery banks, Anker had the best value so I bought Anker. But the corporate response is kind of sketchy so I’m never in a hurry to buy from them anymore. And I woudk never buy anything where security or privacy could be an issue.
Yep! Anker has been making the rounds as a reliable company over the past few years. But they got something sketch about them.
I bought a dozen Anker products during the pandemic because they were reliable and affordable. But after the eufy thing, I dug deeper and my tin foil hat is on.