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If you've been keeping up with Cool Stuff over the last couple of weeks, you'll know that we're big fans of Anker's simple, upscale consumer electronics. In fact, you can check out previous reviews of their products, all of which I love.
RELATED: Anker's PowerPort Speed can charge basically all of your devices at the same time.
RELATED: The PowerCore II 20000 from Anker is a sleek portable power pack with enormous capacity.
Another one of their products that I love is their PowerLine+ lightning cable, which I have been using to charge my iPhone. It is like the normal lightning cable you get with any new phone, but with two key improvements. First, it is six feet long, meaning that you no longer have to reach down to wherever you wall socket is to plug your phone in (it also comes in three and ten foot lengths, also as a USB C for Android phones). Second, it comes double-braided in nylon, in your choice of red, grey, white or gold, making it nearly indestructable. It also comes with a small felt pouch that you can use to wrap excess cable up.
By "nearly indestructable" I mean you can't break it with the normal amount of force a human body can exert. I violently rotated the end of the cord around the connector end to see if the cord would fray at all, and it didn't (the ports are laser-welded to the cord). I wrapped it around my wrists, then put the length of the cord against my heel and pushed to try to snap it with force, and it dug into my heel. It can bear up to 175 pounds of weight, and it comes with a lifetime guarantee.
That's the review! If you want a lightning cable that'll last as long as lightning cables are the technology we use to charge phones, the PowerLine+ is your cord. I want one of these for my car, because my car's USB output connects through the center console, which means the lid on it is always partially closed on the cord, putting pressure on it. If you've ever had a cord fray or break on you due to regular use, replace it with one that won't.
(Cool Stuff is a new feature at Willamette Week where we feature product reviews, roundups, sales and other commerce and shopping-oriented content. All Cool Stuff reviews are editorially independent, meaning we provide honest reviews and aren't paid by the brands we write about. If you do choose to purchase something after following one of our links, Willamette Week may receive a commission, which helps fund our journalism.)