Tips Review of Smiley and Mini-strap usb cables w/lots of pics!

This is a review of Smiley Luminescence usb cable: Wholesale Smile Luminescence Micro USB Data Sync Charge Cable for Samsung Galaxy S3 I9300 / S4 I9500 / N7100 / HTC / Sony - White - Samsung Cables & Adapters and Mini-digital Strap usb cable: Wholesale 3 in 1 Micro 5 Pin USB Charger + Data Transmission + Card Reader Mini Digital Strap for Samsung Sony HTC Etc. - Orange Strap - Card Reader & Adapter

Since I'm on a roll with reviews from my recent tvc-mall order, here is another unique one you all might appreciate and enjoy! A typical usb to micro-usb cable is a boring piece of wire, nothing to get excited about. It took me awhile to search and to find something unique and fun to share with everybody. And for about $1 plus change - it's also a great value from tvc-mall.

First one is a Smiley cable. Just one look at it and you realize where the name came from. Both usb and micro-usb connectors have a light-up embedded smiley faces on one side and a round dot on another side. It looks super cool and highly visible in the dark. So once you have usb side connected to wall or car charger, both ends light-up and you will not have any problem finding your phone's micro-usb port to connect the other side of the cable in the dark. Cable itself is a flat noodle design. Feels and looks very durable, and comes in a variety of close to a dozen of different colors. One thing I do have to mention, I checked it with Galaxy Charging current app, and found that you will not be able to get full 2A charging speed. Perhaps there is some loss with current being used to light up smiley faces or wires being thinner, but honestly for $1.19 this is going to be the coolest charging/data cable in your collection.

Here is how it looks.


















The other cable is a very short (a total of 4" end-to-end) multi-functional charging/data transfer cable which is equally unique. When you are traveling or on the go, dragging a spool of long cable often is not preferable. Finding the shortest cable is also a challenge because short cables are not as durable and often will not allow full speed charging. This one hits a mark in every aspect. It has a flat noodle design, dust caps on both of the usb and micro-usb connectors, and I confirmed it can charge your Note 2 at full 2A current!!! As a bonus, it has a unique built-in micro-sd card reader. The full usb connector has pins on both sides with one side supposedly being able to read data from micro-sd. OK, I tried it and even demonstrated in my pictures. I was NOT able to read micro-sd card, that didn't work for me. But who cares! For $1.32 you are getting one of the shortest and coolest looking charging and data cables which can take a full advantage of 2A charging. It even comes in 3 different color combinations. Definitely happy with this one as well, been using it with my extended battery for a few days now - very convenient to eliminate mess of long usb cables.

The pictures are below.

 

True, I use "2A" loosely as max charging speed, but it actually close to 1.8A due to efficiency loses. Regarding Galaxy Charging app, my experience has been relatively good and I've verified it by actual charging time vs charging percentage of the battery (to determine actual mAh increment versus h time). I know it will not be as accurate as Battery Monitor Widget, but it gives you a very quick result based on some internal current sensing monitor.

There are too many variables in charging equation. The wall charger and its aging (some will have a drop in efficiency over the time, even OEM ones). the cables and how thin/thick the wires (you will need 24AWG wire for a full 3A throughput), micro-usb connector pins and how good they are making a contact, even your wall outlet will make a difference if you have it shared with other wall outlets (from the same power branch) or if you have your wall charger connected directly to wall outlet or through extension chord, etc.

 

Rings Digital Weather Clock - my favorite!

 

Good question! The cap on micro-usb side has latching hooks so it's not easy to take it off. It's very secure. All this time I couldn't understand why they made it so hard to take it off, until you asked a question. Now it makes sense

I'm actually planning to order a few more of these cables just to make sure I didn't get one with a bad micro-sd connector. But in general, that micro-sd card reader is not a big deal for me. This is the shortest cable you can get, it's very portable and durable, and actually let's you charge Note 2 at full 2A charge speed. And micro-sd pocket could be used to store extra card.