Ventev is a company that sells accessories to consumers for mobile devices. This last week, I’ve had the opportunity to try out a couple of their cables, and a charging unit, in my vehicle. I rely on my phone for things such as GPS navigation, music, and more while driving, so trying out this gear was a good fit for how I get around.
I was sent several items, which I’m breaking up into two different reviews. For this one, I tried out a car charger, two different USB cables, and an auxillery cable, since they all work together for how I have it set up. I was also sent a portable battery, but that’ll be reviewed at a later time, in the near future. When I first opened up the boxes, I have to admit that I noticed the packaging of the cables, and in a positive way, no less. All of their packages are in clear plastic boxes, cuboid in shape. All of them had labelling that is dark gray and orange, and just looked snappy. Don’t get me wrong, packaging doesn’t necessarily denote quality, and really only lasts until it’s opened and disposed of, but I’d be lying if I were to say that I didn’t notice it.
The auxiliary cable is designed to connect a phone, or really anything else that has a 3.5mm headphone jack to pump out audio, and connect it to something else that one would like to hear the audio through; in this case, it was used to allow my podcasts and tunes on my phone to be heard through my car speakers. The chord has the same jack on both ends, so most relatively new vehicles should be able to take advantage of this. I plugged it in to the port and the phone, and I was off to the races. Now I’ve used these aux cables in the past, and found this to peform like the others: to wit, well enough. It didn’t wow me, nor did it disappoint me. What was different with this cable though, compared to others I’ve used, was its protective outer layer. Others I’ve used were either nearly identical to traditional headphones, or ever so slightly thicker, but otherwise the same. This cable uses a flatter, and slightly stiffer material, to prevent kinking and tangling. Without a doubt, this held to be true. While it retained a slight inclination to coil, due to being coiled so tightly in the small container, it otherwise doesn’t appear to get all knotted or kinked up.
There were two different USB cables that I also used. Regarding their level of conductivity, it was par for the course. Nothing stood out to me comparatively, either between the two that Ventev sent me, nor did they stand out compared to other charging cables I’ve used. What did stand out was the cable’s exterior materials. One was comprised of the same flat, semi-stiff material, and it had an identical feel, and resistance to knotting; no surprise there. The second one I used had a different exterior coating. While it doesn’t explicitly state what it’s made of, their website refers to it as a “high tensile” exterior. It’s noticeably thick, and appears to have multiple layers to create something quite stiff and resilient. If the flat USB cable was tough (in a manner of speaking), this is tougher. I’d like to note something else here, while discussing both the USB cables, as well as the aux cable, since they all have some sort of anti-kinking exterior. I’ve gone through a few other aux cables in my time. I’m not sure if the nasty winters we have in the northeastern US, along with sitting in the car all day during summer and getting baked in the heat contributes to the problems I’ve had, but inevitably the cables cease working properly. They fray or split near the ends, or they just outright stop working in one or both channels. I don’t know in the long run if having these no-tangle exteriors will fare any better, as that could take a year or two for me to know for sure. But if my initial impressions are any indicator, I have more confidence in that type of cable, especially the high tensile one, to hold up for a longer period. Frankly, it’s the first thing that hit me when I plugged them in, in my car. I have a higher confidence in them, than I’ve had in cheaper models that I’ve bought in the past. All three cables also seemed to fit quite snugly into the micro USB port on my phone. I’m not sure if that’ll be the same experience for everyone else (as the saying goes, your mileage may vary), but take that for whatever it’s worth to you.
Lastly, I also used a USB charging port, that fits into the cigarette lighters that vehicles have been equipped with for decades. It isn’t very large, perhaps the size of one’s thumb. It’s colored after the fashion of the company’s packaging, so the charger is a dark gray with orange trim. Considering its diminutive size and the typical location it gets plugged into though, the exterior isn’t all that important. As for peformance, the little charger pushes out a solid 2.4 amps, and was (slightly) capped by the performance of the USB cables, which currently tolerates 2.1 amps; in my previous reviews of chargers, I noticed scant difference in the lost amperage, so don’t worry about that here. What I found to be a nice touch was the pair of LEDs located on opposite sides of the USB port, to assist in finding it should the plug be located in the dark underbelly of one’s dash, which was true in my case. On the whole, it performed well, keeping my phone nicely charged while I listened to tunes or podcasts, while using Google Maps at the same time. In the end, my device always received a net charge.
In the end, these devices all worked as one would expect, with the added benefit of either a more durable exterior casing, or the lights to assist in find the port when placed in a location with low lighting. Both are nice touches. In a vacuum, these are solid products that I can recommend unequivocally. But for people to have them, they need to be paid for, and I have to admit that Ventev’s asking prices gave me a little bit of “sticker shock”, especially the high tensile cable that rings in at $29.99. So if you are a person who as a very specific need for one of these, I don’t think they’ll disappoint. But at their asking price, I can’t recommend this for connecting your phone to a wall charger or computer, I just don’t see a value proposition there. So it’s use-case specific quality that’s offset by the pricing that might have otherwise driven me away, had I not tried them first. In the end, I have to give the charger and the high tensile cable each a five in my attempt to balance their apparent quality with a higher asking price, and the flat, rubbery cables a 6. I think the latter cables will also hold up for quite some time, and can be purchased half the cost of the high tensile one. While more durable, I have a difficult time with that price, considering the other options; same goes for the charger.
Aux cable $14.99: https://mobileaccessories.ventev.com/products/connection/aux-cables
Charge Sync Alloy $29.99: https://mobileaccessories.ventev.com/products/connection/chargesync-alloy-cables
Flat charging Cable $14.99: https://mobileaccessories.ventev.com/products/connection/cables
USB Charger $24.99: https://mobileaccessories.ventev.com/products/power/dashport-chargers/3372471__Ventev-USB-dashport-r1240-mini-Vehicle-Charger
