Accessories make charging devices much easier.
Sometimes the smallest accessories make the biggest differences with overall experience. One of my favorite desk accessories of all time was a small magnetic cable holder that would keep cables from slipping away off of the corner of my desk. After a while, it became worn and was no longer staying in place on my desk. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned that Silk had a similar product called the Cable Wrangler.
DETAILS
The Cable Wrangler is a magnetic cord organizer. Only about the size of a power adapter, Cable Wrangler holds an exceptionally strong magnet in its base. It’s advised that because of this magnet that you keep items that could be damaged by magnets — like credit cards, pacemakers, etc. — away from it. The organizer is covered with a stylish canvas fabric that comes in either No 2 Pencil Gray or Lightly Toasted Beige colors. The Cable Wrangler is designed to be universal and work with all types of cables. To ensure that you can use it with cables that don’t already have magnetic metal built into it, the wrangler ships with a few cable collars to make your non-magnetic cables compatible with the organizer.
In addition to the Cable Wrangler magnet base, the full charging kit includes a 6-foot Lightning cable and a 2-port wall charger. The Bolt 45 is an MFi-certified, fabric-wrapped Lightning cable. It’s reinforced for strength and because it’s fabric-wrapped, it won’t get tangled up. It’s compatible with iPhone X / 8 / 8 Plus / 7 / 7 Plus / 6 / 6 Plus / 5 / 5s / SE, and most modern iPads with a Lightning port.
The 2-port wall charger is cleverly named Volt 45. It supports fast charging and has a compact design (the prongs fold into itself). It is compatible with all devices that charge via USB. The adapter has a total output potential of 4.8A (2.4A from each port). It measures 1” x 1.3” and only weighs 2 ounces. It’s UL/FCC compliant and provides smart adaptive amperage to charging devices so that they don’t overcharge.
USER EXPERIENCE
One of the things I adore about Silk as a company is their carefree attitude about communication with their customers. They print things like “Magnets? More like magic!” on the product packaging. That sort of thing endeared me to this accessory company a couple of years ago when I first learned about them and the high-quality standards used to make their products are what makes me continue to advocate for them. The Cable Wrangler charging kit comes packaged with the Bolt 45 and Volt 45. It’s all stuck together and wrapped with plastic when it arrives.
On this surface, this is a pretty simple product. It’s a magnetic base to collect cables on so they don’t fall into places you can’t get too easily. That has always been a huge frustration of mine, which is why I love this simple gadget. It helps me with my cable clutter and a frequent loss of cables behind my desk. So, how well does it work? I would give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars as far as magnet attraction. It does seem to be very strong, but it’s only magnetic at the very peak of the base. This means that you can really only fit three cables on the Cable Wrangler at one time. I had two Lightning cables (one of which was the one from Silk) and one USB-C cable resting on it. The USB-C cable was non-magnetic so I used one of the cable collars to make sure it would stay in place. As it turns out, the cable collar helped, but the USB-C’s cable natural strength and weight kept pulling it off of the magnet base.
I love that you can purchase the Cable Wrangler by itself or with the Volt 45 and Bolt 45 as a packaged kit. I think the Lightning cable and wall adapter are solid accessories. I love that the cable doesn’t get tangled up and that it’s flexible. There are many fabric-covered cables that end up being quite stiff. That’s not the case with the Bolt 45. It’s easy to use and charges my phone and iPad just fine.
CONCLUSION
While it may not seem like a big deal, I think the frustration and stress that gets alleviated by using a gadget like the Cable Wrangler is worth the investment in the product. It’s a stylish object for your desk that also serves a purpose. I can easily recommend this product to others and hope that those who pick one up enjoy the Cable Wrangler as much as I do.
For more information, visit silksmartish.com.
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