What if your cable could stick magnetically on one’s ownMaking a neat coil that doesn’t get all floppy and tangled in your drawers and bags? What if they were also good cables capable of charging and syncing everything over USB-C, Lightning, etc.?
OK… now you can buy USB cables that do this first part! And they’re good enough that I really wish the cable makers would figure out the rest of the mess.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been testing out some seriously nifty USB cables that can actually do the magnetic coiling snake trick. Originally brought to the attention of the English-speaking world by a brand called Supercala, they are now sold by a whole bunch of unnamed brands on the likes of Amazon and Alibaba. And they’re incredible fidget toys, just like Supercella’s Indiegogo campaign promised two years ago:
Image: Supercala
As you can see in my picture below, they coil up perfectly like GIFs! They’re not exactly “self-winding” the way some sellers claim, but the six-foot ones are certainly easier to wrap.
Your coil can be longer or wider depending on how many magnets per circle – but only these six-foot cables give you enough to do the job.
Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge
They work by stringing magnetic beads and silicone sleeves onto a thin cable, such as:
Look, when you pull the silicone sleeve away it’s just a magnetic bead. Both float independently on the cable.
Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge
They can also cling to themselves in other ways:
You can make the cable double back by itself.
Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge
And, of course, you can attach them to all kinds of other ferrous metal objects and pay for as much cable as you need. I’ve got one of these cables hanging from my metal microphone stand right now, another hanging from the corner of my wall, and another that travels neatly to the edge of my keyboard while I’m charging my phone:
Magnets stick to the steel deck of my Razer keyboard. This will not work with Apple keyboards, as they are made of aluminum.
Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge
Ready to Catch? I bought four different types of these cables, and they all suck big time (this is a technical term) on data transfer, charging or both.
This one, which also has its own built-in blue LED light and magnetic swappable tips for USB-C, Micro-USB, and Lightning, won’t charge most of my USB-C gadgets at all, but I was able to sling from an external drive. Some files charge at low USB 2.0 speeds and my iPhone over Lightning. It’s also got super weak coiling magnets and felt cheaper than the rest.
magnet on magnet
It was good enough charging a USB-C to USB-C one, giving me 65W of USB-C PD power And The best of the bunch was the magnet – but it wouldn’t connect to the Pixel 4a phone or my USB-C external drive at all. They weren’t showing up on my desktop!
This USB-A to USB-C cable was the worst. Simply moving it will disconnect anything I have plugged in, and it tops out at 10W of charging – not the 15–18W I typically see with my Pixel.
In the end, this USB-A to Lightning appears to be a Supercell cable, which appears in the “Original Supercell” box, even though it’s sold by a brand called “Tech.” Slow charging, slow data, but at least it seems to be connected reliably to my iPhone so far.
But they aren’t the only style of magnetic no-tangle cable I found. I also bought this neat accordion-style, which is probably the best of the bunch: I got 15W of charging, and it seems to be better built than the rest.
The accordion cable may twist when you take it apart.
Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge
But it’s less fun to play with, the magnets aren’t as strong, and it gets a little weird shaped when fully extended because the joints will always be out. Plus, it tops out at USB 2.0 speeds of 480Mbps (or about 42MB/s in practice). I couldn’t find a C-to-C or Lightning version.
I’d pay good money for a solid, reliable six-foot USB-C to USB-C easy-coil cable with strong magnets, 100W USB-C PD charging, and at least 10Gbps USB 3.x bandwidth.
However, the flexible ribbon and joints feel durable.
Photo by Sean Hollister/The Verge
Or, if I’m really dreaming, how about 40Gbps for USB 4? Let’s break down and make the final cable – give it a built-in power meter while you’re at it.
Right now, I’ve found these to be cheap-o, $10 novelty cables, and that’s a real shame. Magnet design deserves better, and so do we.
