Quick Review: Lightning/30-pin/Micro-USB 4-in-1 Charging cable does the job it’s paid to do

Charging/Synching iPhone 4, iPhone 5 and Nexus 4 simultaneously from one USB port

Update: now available at Amazon

We see a lot of cool stuff on 9to5Toys every day but one particular item seemed worth sharing today. I bought the Lightning/30-pin/MicroUSB 4-in-1 USB cable adapter last time it made the rounds (for slightly more money :\ ) and it is again available on Tanga.com for $7.

Tanga took about 2-3 days on delivery and it comes in a sealed plastic package similar to Apple’s own products. Taking it out of the plastic, it feels a little lighter than Apple’s own cables which is especially noteworthy since this is a ‘three-headed’ monster’ cable. Each lead is under a foot long which can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your needs. I like short cables personally.

How well does it work? Plug and play! All three cables ‘just work’ as they say, on Apple/Android phones. Although on the surface, this looks similar to Apple’s cables, the fit isn’t quite as good. I found plugging in 30-pin and lightning cables were a little snug the first time around.  MicroUSB fits like any other adapter I’ve used. At only $7, this clearly isn’t an Apple MFI-certified cable.

It isn’t all glory however. Because you are limited to the power output of your USB Port, you can’t plug in just any device to this cable and get three separate charges. Plug in an iPad (even a mini) and you can only charge two devices (though USB synching doesn’t seem to be affected). Plugging in a third will knock out power to all three and I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to get the quick charge your iPad deserves.  I however use it with lots of success to charge my iPad and my Zagg (big sale today btw!)/Logitech keyboards simultaneously from 1 USB port. It is also great for cars where you have a limited amount of ports.

The 4-in-1 USB to Lightning/30-pin/Micro-USB cable is available for $3.99+$2.99 shipping today only from Tanga.com [direct link]

For those wondering, the 4th port is ingeniously on the other side of the Apple 30-Pin adapter and it is a very similar Samsung tablet adapter if one of those should come into your life. I tried it and it works as well, though the same power caveats as the iPad apply above.