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This 'Swiss Army Knife' of cables puts an end to desktop mess
The inCharge XL.
If you're like me, you have too many cables on your desk. USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to Lightning, USB-A to USB-C, USB-A to microUSB -- and they're always in a tangle when you need them. Sound familiar? Then the inCharge XL by Rolling Square might be the solution to your woes.
A few weeks ago I looked at the inCharge X, a portable charging cable with six charging options and support for 100W USB-C power transfer and Apple's 18W fast charge. This is small enough to clip onto your keyring so you always have a charging cable with you.
The inCharge XL builds on this in one small, but very useful way. It comes with longer cable options!
inCharge XL cables come in 3 different lengths:
- 30cm (0,9ft)
- 200cm (6.5ft)
- 300cm (6.5ft)
These are available in three different colors: black, yellow and white.
As far as connections go, you get the same connectors and power carrying capacities with the inCharge XL as the inCharge X offered:
Input | Output | Power |
USB-A | USB-C | 9V 2A / 5V 3A |
Lightning | 9V 2A / 5V 3A | |
Micro USB | 5V 2A / 5V 1A | |
USB-C | USB-C | 20V 5A / 9V 2A / 5V 3A |
Lightning | 9V 2A / 5V 3A | |
Micro USB | 5V 2A / 5V 1A |
On top of this, the cable supports data transfer speeds of 480 Mbps and 60 Mbps, depending on whether you're using USB-A or USB-C.
Protecting the connectors is a cap that is attached to the cable, which means that you can lose it -- a nice touch (because otherwise I'd lose the cap within minutes!).
Protective cap is attached, making it harder to lose
The longer length of flat ribbon cable allows me to take a closer look at this.
The cable is high quality, very abrasion resistant, yet soft and flexible. I'd expected it to be quite stiff and unyielding, but it's not. It doesn't flow as well as say Anker's PowerLine III Flow cables, but it's still quite flexible.
I have yet to get these cables into a tangle, and that's saying something.
High quality cable
The longer inCharge XL cables come with a little plastic clamp with a reusable sticky pad to help with routing and cable management. A nice touch!
Cable clamp
If you want to take thee cables out and about with you, the longer of the two come with silicone sleeves.
Silicone sleeves for the longer cables
I like that the cables come in eco packaging -- just cardboard. No plastic to get rid of.
Eco-friendly packaging
A lot of cables claim to bring something new to the table, and in my experience, most are little more than disappointing gimmicks. The inCharge XL actually delivers on what it promises, offering a true "Swiss Army Knife" of cables where one cable can replaces a whole bunch of your existing cables.