A while back I bought an openterface. It came with this incredible feeling silicone-like (more on this later) cable. Super flexible and satisfying to use, however it suffered from interference to the point that the TechxArtisan team decided to ship an extra nylon cable with the device. I loved the feeling of the cable but I suffered real world dropout of the connection when trying to use it for video streaming.
I typically have a zero tolerance for power-only or low quality cables (I immediately toss them), but this cable was so anti-tangle and satisfying it became permanently attached to my laptop power adapter.
For those of you who know me, you know I always carry a pinecil usb-c soldering iron with me. I had been using the openterface cable for my pinecil as well, assuming it would survive an accidental touch of my soldering iron, however recently I scraped it with the tip and it immediately began to burn and melt. This was enough to send me on a journey to buy way too many silicone cables.
This is why I called it silicone-like earlier. I expect genuine high quality silicone to be heat resistant enough to survive a nick from my soldering iron without immediately burning or melting.
The first cable I looked at was one that I saw my buddy Robert rocking while hanging at the Recurse Center. It was a Chillkit cable which looked as beautiful and satisfying as the openterface one, however it’s no longer available and only reports USB 2.0 speeds on the listing, so I decided to buy a few random ones and test them myself.
The first one I actually bought was from a brand named Grtoed (Amazon really messed up the trademark office…). I do not like this cable. It is silicone, passes my pinecil test, and is USB 3 SuperSpeed+, but it feels like plastic and does not bring me joy.
The next one I tried was from Thzzhnno. Initial impressions were slightly better than the Grtoed cable, it also feels rigid and plasticky, but has slightly nicer connectors. However, like the openterface cable, the Thzzhnno is definitely not heat resistant, and immediately melted under the tip of my soldering iron, but unlike the openterface cable it did not seem to burn, it just melted. The thicker cable seems to have better EMI shielding too and enumerates as genuine USB 3 SuperSpeed+, but I still can’t recommend it.
Next up was one from LISEN. This cable comes in 9 different colors and at the time of writing is the cheapest one yet at $11.99 for a 10ft cable. This cable feels great, it’s super soft, and passes my pinecil test. The cable is about twice as thick as the openterface cable and has quite thick usb ends, so if you are looking for a luxury feeling cable that feels like it will last and care mostly about power this one might be a good option. In my testing however, it seems to only be a usb 2.0 data cable.
The final one I’ve tried is from toocki. This cable is thin, feels great, and is the cheapest yet per cable at $13.99 for two. It passes the pinecil heat test, has normal sized ends, and is super packable, however it only enumerates as usb 2.0.
I am still on the hunt for the best usb-c cable that checks all my boxes. Genuinely heat resistant silicone, feels great, long (6-10ft), and is genuinely usb 3.1 or greater.
That said, there are partial winners. If you only care about speed and heat resistance, the Grtoed is the closest on paper, it just doesn’t feel great. If you mostly care about power and feel, get the LISEN, or the toocki if you want something thinner and more packable.
If you know of any cables that check all of these boxes please shoot me an email! I would love to update this article with a genuine recommendation.