The 8 Best USB-C Cables and Adapters for 2025
USB-C cables for charging phones, tablets, and laptops
Lisen’s 240W USB C to USB C Cable typically ranks high in Amazon search results due to its killer price of $8 for a pack of two, but while we appreciated its slim, woven design, it’s missing an E-Marker chip, which helps safely negotiate power between device and charger. We also found errors with this cable’s DC resistance, signal integrity, and continuity, and when we connected it to an M3 MacBook Pro via a power meter, the connection occasionally dropped off.
The $30 Apple 240W USB-C Charge Cable offers luxuriously thick, woven braiding, but it’s too bulky for phone charging and makes sense only for MacBooks.
Our former pick, Belkin’s BoostCharge USB-C to USB-C cable, can’t match the design of our new pick from Anker.
We found the Amazon Basics USB-C to USB-C 2.0 Fast Charger Cable too flimsy.
Conversely, the Cable Matters 240W USB-C Cable is overly stiff for a basic charging cable and lacks the nicer woven design of our top pick.
Anker’s 240 W Bio-Braided USB-C Cable is also a lot stiffer than our top pick, though it is cheaper.
The magnetic coiling of Scosche’s MagStack cables is less elegant than retractable cables, and it supports 60W charging only, which isn’t indicated anywhere on its product page. While Scosche advertises “rapid data transfer,” its cable has the same slow USB 2.0 speeds as every other basic charging cable.
Baseus offers a 6.6-foot retractable cable, but the longer cable length is undone by the heavy coil enclosure, which is liable to pull your phone off a nightstand. And our Total Phase testing revealed E-Marker and signal integrity errors.
Cable Matters’ Retractable USB C Cable is too tangle-prone to recommend — you have to pull both ends together, otherwise one side bunches up — and it supports 60W charging only.
USB-C cables for transferring data and displaying video
There’s no reason to buy USB 3.1 Gen 2 cables anymore now that USB4 cable pricing has come down, so that rules out Anker’s PowerLine II USB-C to USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 Cable, the Amazon Basics USB-C to USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 Fast Charging Cable, and our former Cable Matters pick.
We disqualified 20 Gbps data-transfer cables from Elfesoul and Rampow after finding significant DC-resistance and signal-integrity errors in our testing.
Anker’s USB4 Data Cable and Cable Matters’ 3.3-foot USB4 cable are both stiffer than our top pick, and the former is much more expensive at $30 (though it does come with a cable tie).
Ugreen’s USB4 cable is also pricier than our top pick, and while we like its woven design, it produced continuity and DC resistance errors in our Total Phase testing.
USB-C cables with Thunderbolt
We appreciated the thick, woven braiding on the Apple Thunderbolt 4 Cable but not the high price; it provides no other benefits over our top pick.
Anker’s USB-C to USB-C Thunderbolt 4 100W Cable couldn’t match the value of our pick, and we preferred our pick’s design over that of the Cable Matters Thunderbolt 4 Cable. The 6-foot Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Cable produced DC-resistance and continuity errors in our Total Phase tests, and the cost of active 6-foot Thunderbolt 4 cables is still considerably higher than that of 3-foot alternatives.
OWC’s 1M Thunderbolt 5 Cable and Cable Matters’ Thunderbolt 5 Cable have nearly identical designs (and, strangely, they show the same vendor, “Lintes Technology,” in our Total Phase testing). But both are more rigid and have bulkier connectors than our recommended Thunderbolt 4 cable from OWC. They’re not faster, either, since Thunderbolt 4 cables can achieve Thunderbolt 5 speeds when connected to compatible computers and accessories, so they’re not worth the added expense.
Lightning–to–USB-C cables
Apple’s USB-C to Lightning Cable is thinner than the competition, but at $19 it’s much pricier than our pick. The braided-nylon Amazon Basics USB-C to Lightning Charger Cable was slightly thicker and pricier than our pick.
USB-C–to–USB-A cables
We found one Jsaux USB C Cable to be overly thick and stiff. Our previous pick in this category, Belkin’s BoostCharge USB-C Cable, couldn’t match the value of our current winner.
Three-in-one (USB-C, Micro-USB, Lightning) cables
Anker’s PowerLine II 3-in-1 Cable has the same length and pricing as our pick but lacks that model’s clever attachment hooks for each adapter.
We liked the idea behind Onlytang’s 3-in-1 Multi Charging Cable, which splits off into three separate cables instead of using snap-on adapters, but our testing revealed errors with signal integrity, DC resistance, and continuity. DC-resistance errors also arose with the Kobilar 3 in 1 Cable we tested.
USB-C–to–USB-A adapters
The Amazon Basics USB Type-C to USB 3.1 Gen1 adapter has a slightly shorter cable than our pick and comes only as a single piece, not in a multi-pack. And while some folks may prefer an adapter with no extension cable, we found the Syntech USB C to USB Adapter too easy to lose, and the connection a tad too tight.
This guide was edited by Signe Brewster and Caitlin McGarry.
