USB Cable Tester with 2.4" Color Screen for eMarker Reading, PD 3.0/3.1 Detection, Resistor and Continuity Check, Compatible with Lightning, Type-C, Micro-B 2.0/3.0, and Mini-B Cables

Like most people I have a pile of USB-C cables - and by this I mean cables that have a USB-C connector on one end and more or less any connector on the other end. But there's no way to tell by looking at the cable what the maximum data rate is that it can support or how much power (watts) it can transmit.Sadly, the USB committee never came up with some sort of labeling standard that would allow one to determine what a cable was capable of. As time moves forward more things are using USB-C as the power supply connector which is a good thing. The bad thing is that some of them require more than the 5 volt, 3 amp capability supposedly supported by every cable. Try charging your computer with a generic gas station cable and see how that works.This was the best solution I could find which gives a clear and quick analysis of what you have. Supports lots of different kinds of connectors. Easy to understand the display. There are more expensive solutions on Amazon so this is the best value I could find. There are also cheaper ones that are hard to use which are just a bunch of LEDs without much in the way of telling what they mean. And those don't read the e-marker chip so they are much less useful.I also like the face that it tells the resistance of the cable. All other things being equal, a lower resistance is always better for a charging situation. I do wish that the little selector button the side was slightly larger. It's functional but kind of tiny.

I am not going to repeat what other reviewers said. To me it does the emarker reading and continuity tests.It lacks a very critical function though.When you test a USB-A to USB-C cable, the presence of 56k Ohm resistor from CC(1 or 2) to VBUS is important to signal legacy port is on the other end to the USB-C device.Unfortunately this device does not check this resistor value, or at least it does not report it. It has a test for "power transmission" however I cannot verify anywhere that this actually tests the pull up resistor. If I have time I will make a 'bad' cable and test.Frankly, if it shows power transmission "OK" without a 56k Ohm pull-up resistor, this will be straightforwardly a misleading test. I may return at that point. Because those cables can damage ports.

I bought this specifically to test lightning and USB-C cables. When testing the first cable, a chunk of the housing surrounding the lightning port fell off keeping the cable from seating properly. Why is the port made of plastic?

This is a handy little tester that helps you determine the properties of a cable, which often aren't obvious just by looking at the cable. It's very easy to use and although the display is fairly small, it is easy to read because the information is presented in an organized fashion.This tester supports cables with USB A or USSB C on one end, and either USB C, Micro USB, Mini USB, or Micro USB "3.0". Unfortunately it does not support USB B ("printer style") connections or USB B 3.0 style cables. Since those connectors are larger, I believe it would require the tester to be thicker. Additionally, this tester does not support lightning cables.There are 4 "screens" of information which you cycle through by pressing a (very) small button. The first screen is an overshowing if the cable can transmit data and power, and which type(s). The second screen shows the actual wire connections and their status. The third screen shows the cable resistance and can estimate the cable length, and the 4th screen will show the details of an active chip if there is one in the cable.Every computer technician or enthusiast should have one of these in their bag!PROS:* Small and easy to use* Gives you all of the details you need to know about a cable* Flexible and supports a number of common cable types and configurationsCONS:* Does not support USB B, USB B 3.0, or lightning* Button to move between screens is a bit small

Finally, a cable tester that's easy to use that doesn't look like a kit someone put together. I have an older version made by this same company, but this model is far and away the best I have ever seen. I also like that it uses a standard AAA battery and is not rechargeable. This will make it easier to sort out cables that are charge only and many other uses.

It's somewhat expensive for its functionality. It can't directly test USB power source information and mainly seems to serve as a USB cord tester. The best aspect of this device is that it includes nearly all types of USB ports.

I have so many USB-C cables, some bundled with my iPhones and other products, others bought because they promised high data rates. A few are marked with the "Thunderbolt" and seem high end but this tester brought ground truth to the mix. The USB cable tester did what I couldn't do with other testers (primarily line continuity) and instead really spelled out both USB version, Power version, what the eMarker claimed the cable was capable of, etc. As a result, I found most of my cables are straight USB-2 and regardless of fancy wrapper, not even PD 3.0 or 3.1. I now have identified which cables are good for 5Gbps, 10Gbps or 40Gbps+ as well as high power capability (PD 3.1). I wish I had this years ago - it would have made weeding out the multitude of cables much easier. It's a great value - you need this!

This is exactly what I needed. It is easy to use and gives the info I need about all the different cables except Apple.