Give your gear the Kick it needs with the KickPOWER Type-C cable.
I know I am not alone in the desire for USB-A to go the way of the floppy disk. When the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro traded up for the superior USB-C standard, I excitedly hoped the iPhone and AirPods/AirPods Pro would soon follow suit. Unfortunately, they have not yet made the transition. Thus, many of us must carry a USB-A to USB-micro, USB-A to Lightning, USB-A to USB-C, and USB-C to USB-C cables. When I travel for work or leisure, I carry a pair of each of those cables and at least one of the plethora of dongles within my BUBM organizer. As I prepared for Scout Camp with my son, I packed a few new cables from KickPOWER to keep my tech at the ready.
The Kick Power Type-C CABLE arrived in a visually appealing 4 inches tall by 2 3/4 inches wide by 7/8 inches thick retail hanging package. Like the KickPOWER Lightning cable, the main panel provided the “KICK POWER” title along the top right of the panel and a slightly raised, glossy image of the TYPE-C cable. Comparing the two packages, the TYPE-C packaging displayed both ends of the USB cable, and provided an icon that detailed the 3ft cable length. Opposite of the USB-A packaging, the TYPE-C Cable utilized red accents instead of green. I enjoyed the artistic black-on-white color scheme, the red-colored accents, and that the images wrapped around the sides, top, and bottom panels. The black/red right-side panel detailed the 3ft length, the bottom panel listed the Kick Power title, and the left side panel provided a white/black background with the product title and www.kickpower.com address. The rear panel of the packaging, like the USB-A cable, proved to be the most useful panel of the product. Across the top of the panel, you will find the product title. Beneath this, you will find a 1 1/2 inch square clear window showing the USB-A and USB-C ends. Lastly, you will find a product specification section (Connector Type CM to CM PVC overmolding, USB speed, and current 5G/3A, With E-mark IC, USB Version USB3.1 Gen 1, Length 3ft), contact information, manufacturing labels, and a product SKU barcode.
I lifted the top lid, slid the clear plastic tray out from within the outer packaging, and then removed the 24gram, 39 1/2-inches long USB-A to USB-C cable. Similar to the USB-A to Lightning cable, both Type-C/USB-A ends were securely embedded within a 1-inch long rubberized plastic neck section. Thanks to the design of the neck section, Kick Power drastically reduced the chances of breaking the cable at that point. To test the strength of the neck sections, I gripped the Type-C end and bent it forward and backward 50 times and then from side to side 50 times. I repeated this process with the USB-A end and found the cable design to be quite flexible. Lastly, the company included a 5/16 inches thick Velcro cable retention strap. This system allowed me to adjust the cable coil to the desired length, tighten the Velcro strap, and ultimately enjoy a managed cable system. I found the USB-A and USB-C ends fit snuggly within the USB-A port of my charger and the USB-C port of my iPad Pro 11″. Using a Klein Tools USB-A/USB-C multimeter, I plugged the Klein Tools USB-A prong into my BESTEK POWER CUBE and then the USB-A end of the KickPOWER cable into the multimeter. When I plugged the USB-C end of the cable into my iPad Pro, the multimeter read 5.01V/1.42A. I also utilized the same cable setup to charge a pair of SCENDO earbuds (to be reviewed soon) and found the multimeter read 5.10V/0.31A. Lastly, I plugged the cable into my MacBook Pro and found the multimeter read 5.0V/1.56A.
To ensure that I was testing the cable and not the limitations of the BESTEK hub, I plugged a KickPOWER Quick Charger (review coming soon) into a standard Type-B wall socket. The multimeter read 5.12V/1.77A for my Macbook Pro 15″, 5.17V/0.31A for the Scendo earbuds/case, and 5.13V/1.42A for my iPad Pro 11″. With modern USB-C devices capable of ~20x charging speeds over USB-A, speeds up to 15W via USB-C 1.2, 18W with QC3.0, and 100W Power Delivery (PD), it makes sense that the newer charging technologies will become more frequented/abundant. Until then, we will need ways to connect our newer devices to older charging tech. For that purpose, consider picking up the USB-A to USB-C cable from KickPOWER.
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