UNO Cross Device Magnetic Cable Review

If your home or office is anything like mine, you will no doubt have a multitude of devices which have either a Micro USB, Lightning or USB C connection for charging or data transfer. It can be frustrating finding or keeping the right cables on hand when needed. Sydney based consumer electronics brand, Chargeasap are looking to solve that issue and end the frustration of needing so many cables.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, their UNO Cross-Device USB C cable is now available on Indiegogo InDemand with shipping starting this month.

Chargeasap have been kind enough to send us a review sample ahead of time and we have been using it for the last couple of weeks to see how it performed.

If you were a fan of the Magsafe connections on the old Macbooks then you are going to love this cable.

What’s in the box?

The kit that was sent to us included the braided cable with a USB C connection and three magnetic tips. One for USB C, one for Lightning and one for Micro USB. Also included is a little plastic tool to assist with removing the tips from your devices and a small USB C to USB A connector for the non-magnetic end.

The Cable

The braid of the cable gives it a nice quality feel when you pick it up. It is soft to touch and easy to unravel. It feels like it will stand up to a lot of abuse and will have no problem surviving the rough and tumble of a backpack when you are on the go.

The cable and the tips feature two N52 grade neodymium magnets. Chargeasap makes the claim that these magnets are strong enough to lift a 437g iPad Air. We only had iPad Pros to hand and while it couldn’t lift them, it was starting to just before the connection let go. While it’s a nice catchline, in reality, it means that the connection between the cable and the tip is solid.

Any type of sideward motion will break the connection so if someone tugs on the cable it will break away and hopefully leave your device in situ.

With the magnets being so strong it makes connecting the cable really easy. You basically only have to point the cable in the direction of the tip and the magnetic force snaps them together.

When connected, there is a small blue LED indicator on the magnet end of the cable. The cable is compatible with QC4.0 and Apple fast charge and can achieve USB 2.0 data transfer speeds.

The Tips

The tips feel well made and are as small as possible. They basically are just a connector and a magnet. As their size is so small they will work with many cases and also don’t protrude from the device too much.

If you are an admirer of clean lines on your devices, the tips do interrupt the aesthetics a little, but I think most people will forgive that for the benefit that comes from using them.

At the moment on Indiegogo, tips have to be bought alongside a cable but hopefully, you will be able to buy the tips on their own once supply increases.

Conclusion

I think the UNO cable is excellent. It saves a lot of fumbling with Micro USB cables and overall makes it simple to connect a cable no matter what device you are using.

The cable should stand the test of time and as it’s available for $22, it makes it a worthwhile buy in our eyes. We’d love to see faster data speeds being possible for USB C devices in the future, but for now, we are happy with the ease it brings to charging devices.

Head over to Indiegogo InDemand for purchasing and shipping information.