1 day ago
7
Galvanox pet-proof USB-C cable
ZDNET's key takeaways
- Galvanox's pet-proof USB-C cable is $15 for the six-foot and $18 for the 10-foot.
- It's a tough, non-chewable cable with a small connector so you can still use it with phones in cases.
- Its heft makes it a bit unwieldy.
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I have to admit: charging cables are a lot better than they were a decade ago. I remember a time when "how to fix my charging cable" was a very hot topic. We have since moved on, and cables are a lot more robust. So much so that it's rare to come across a tatty cable.
Unless, that is, that it's been chewed by someone's furry friend.
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Yes, apparently dogs -- and more than a fair share of cats -- love testing the durability of cables. I have no idea why, but a quick internet search suggests that they're just nice and squishy to chew.
As a kid, I remember watching with wide-eyed wonderment as next-door's goat ate an entire 30 foot hose pipe. And despite the fact that modern cables are a marvel of polymer technology, wrapped in tough nylon braiding, they're still a easy delicacy as far as Luna or Charlie are concerned.
But I'd like to see your furry best friend chew this cable -- the Galvanox pet-proof USB-C to USB-C charge cable is durable enough for homes with dogs and cats with a taste for cables.
So what makes this cable pet-proof? Well, it's a USB-C cable where everything that can be clad in metal, has been. The cord itself is wrapped in a tough, double reinforced stainless steel jacket.
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It looks like a shower hose, and not only prevents the cable being chewed, but makes it highly abrasion-resistant, tangle-proof, and resistant to damage from bending. In fact, these Galvanox cables have been tested to withstand a minimum of 20,000 bends.
The connectors have also been armored, with all the easy, chewable polymer replaced with hard, tasteless alloy.
The stainless steel looks like a shower hose.
Where a lot of "tough" or "armored" cables are bulky, so much so that they don't fit into a lot of ports on smartphones that live in a case, the connectors on this Galvanox cable are svelte, and no bigger than regular USB-C connectors.
I didn't dare try chewing the cable, but I did try - unsuccessfully - cutting it.
The cable can handle up to 60W charging speeds and data transfer rates of 480MB/s. This makes this perfect as a smartphone/tablet charging cable, but not so suited for laptops, and definitely isn't built for any serious data transfer.
Ultimately, the cable's super-power is resisting your pet's desire to eat it.
ZDNET's buying advice
The alloy connectors on the Galvanox cable are tough yet regular sized.
The Galvanox Pet-Proof USB-C to USB-C cables come in 6-foot and 10-foot lengths at $15 and $18, respectively, and there are 2-packs of both the short and long cables for $20 and $25, respectively.
The only downside that I've come across -- apart from the power and data transfer limitations -- is that the longer one cable is a bit unwieldy and takes a bit of practice to learn to wrap properly. Even when wrapped up, it has a tendency to erupt chaotically. It's a cable that would benefit from a cable tie for storage.
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That aside, it's a wonderful cable. While my dentist doesn't recommend biting it, I have attacked it with knives and tools and it resisted my attempts to destroy it, so it definitely has applications outside of a home that's under the iron paw of a cat or dog.
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