review

Asap UNO USB-C Cable With Detachable Magnetic Tips

Thursday, May 30, 2019

USB ports on smartphones are incredibly fragile so repeatedly inserting and unplugging a USB charging cable inevitably pulls the phone's USB port from its PCB board which eventually renders the USB port useless! Fortunately, USB cables with magnetic connector tips like the Asap UNO cable solve this problem by allowing the connector tip to remain in the phone.
The Asap UNO cable consists of one standard USB-C connector plug and a 5-pin magnetic plug on the other end for attaching the included detachable connector tips (micro USB, USB-C and Lightning). There are a total of two neodymium magnets, one on the plug and the other one on the connector plug itself which also integrates a circuit board and a small 0.6mm diameter led light. Both connector plugs are made of aluminium.
Because the connector tip is detachable, it means it can remain inside your phone's USB port perfectly safe without the magnet in the tip having any negative impact on the internal components of the phone (i.e. compass, accelerometer, etc).
UNO's magnetic connection is strong enough to hold a weighty device (up to 400 grams) even when shaking it up and down. UNO's magnetic connection is a strong but easily to break at the same time with your fingers.

The actual UNO tip stays securely inserted but can be easily removed with your fingers unless the USB port of the device is recessed like in the case of some tablets and most action cameras. Luckily, a handy removal tool is included which solves the problem.
The length of the UNO cable is 1.5 meters which could have been longer but then again, a longer USB cable would lower the charging speed because of increased resistance. The sweet spot seems to be around 1.5-2 meters long.

Like all USB cables, the Asap UNO cable also has a power wire and a data wire; hence you can use the UNO cable to transfer files from a USB-C computer (i.e. Macbook) to any micro USB smartphone and USB-C smartphone.
The makers of UNO state that data transfer isn't supported between Macbooks and iPhones and suggest using AirDrop which is Apple's version of Android Beam that lets you share files wirelessly with people nearby.
While AirDrop wireless file transfer is fast, it is still possible to use a USB connection to transfer photos and videos from an iPhone to a Mac by using the ImageCapture application in the Macbook and ticking "Keep Originals" from your iPhone settings. This hack works with the new USB-C Macbook and older Macbooks with USB ports (i.e. 13-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch Macbook Air). When using the a USB-C only Macbook you will need to use a USB-C to USB adapter.
As well as data transfers, the UNO cable supports tethering, meaning you can use the UNO cable to connect your smartphone to a USB-C laptop (or desktop PC with USB-C ports) to create an internet connection for your PC using your smartphone's internet connection.
Talking about wires, the UNO cable benefits from 28/24 AWG wires so the UNO cable has a standard size 28 gauge data wire and a 24 gauge power wire which is thicker than the standard 28 gauge power wire you find in most USB cables.
With a thicker power wire, the UNO cable is able to support Qualcomm quick charge (QC3.0 and QC4.0), as well as Apple fast charge so you can fast charge the latest iPhone up to 50% in just half an hour.
In order to benefit from quick charge and fast charge using the UNO cable, you will need to use a USB-C wall charger, car charger or power bank that can output at least 18 watts.
While the UNO cable is able to handle the maximum charging speed of most smartphones it is limited to 9.75W (9V/1.65A) so it cannot handle smartphones that use USB C Power Delivery. this includes the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, the latest iPhones (iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone XS, XS Max  and iPhone XR) and the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S8. The UNO magnetic cable comes with a 10 year warranty that covers faulty cables so you can get free replacement cables shipped out to you but you'll have to pay a fee to get it shipped to you.

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