Cheap Charging Cables: The Hidden Dangers Revealed

We all need charging cables, and the costs can add up quickly. So it’s tempting to simply order the cheapest cables you can find and call it a day. However, saving a few dollars on charging cables can end up costing you much more than it saves you in the short term.

While it might not seem like a simple little thing like a charging cable can be trouble, there are a few risks you may never have considered.

6

Electrical Hazards

If a cable is incredibly cheap, well that means costs had to be cut somewhere. It’s not just dodging licensing fees that can help no-name charging cables come up with an unbelievably low price. There’s also the age-old tradition of skimping on everything.

Paper-thin insulation, barely enough copper conductor to handle the load, and flimsy connectors that might break off in your ports are just the start. The worst-case scenario is an honest-to-goodness fire; The best-case scenario is a cable that fails when you need it most.

5

Device Damage

Your phone or laptop expects clean, stable power. Knockoff cables often deliver inconsistent voltage and current, which wears down batteries over time. In the worst cases, they can fry charging circuits or shorten your device’s overall lifespan—making that “cheap” cable the most expensive purchase you’ve ever made.

Of course, modern devices are generally designed to protect themselves from overvolting and other glitches in the power supply, but when the cable itself isn’t playing along those measures can only go so far.

4

Slow or Unreliable Charging

If a cable isn’t properly built to the right specifications for its power delivery needs, then you’re not going to get a stable and reliable supply of power from it. In most cases, this means that your device will default to the lowest level of charging that works correctly, and that means trickle charging your device or just draining the battery a little more slowly than before.

3

Data Security Risks

What might be even worse is a seemingly nice cable selling for too little money. While there’s never been a credible example reported in the wild, the threat of “juice jacking” is very real and has been demonstrated by cybersecurity researchers. In theory, you could modify a charging cable to install malware on a phone just by plugging it in.

One fear I have with cheap cables with no clear providence and brand identity is that they could be used as a way to compromise devices and have the victims carry the cost of the operation. Again, there’s as yet no evidence that anyone has actually tried this, but it could already have happened without anyone knowing about the incident, and it’s far from a zero-percent chance that it never will. Certainly I’m not willing to take the chance just to save a handful of dollars.

2

Durability and Longevity Issues

Even if your cheap cable seems to charge things safely and at the right rate, there’s also the issue of durability. Now, to be completely fair, there have been plenty of fancy and expensive cables that were anything but durable. There was a time when Apple’s official charging cables would fray around the plug like clockwork.

The later braided cables are much better, and indeed, I tend to buy braided cables these days if I can, because they seem to take a beating with much more grace. That said, you’re not getting those nice thick braided or otherwise reinforced cables for bargain prices. This is a case of spending more in the long run because you keep buying new cheap cables to replace the ones that have failed.

1

Hidden Environmental Costs

Speaking of throwing away your old cables, since cheap cables are more likely to go in the bin, they’re contributing disproportionally to e-waste. Even worse, those cheap cables are less likely to meet the standards for recycling

---

I almost never throw cables away, in fact I have a very nice filing cabinet full of old cables, because wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I throw a cable away it turns out I need it again soon after.