YUNSONG iPhone Charger Review

If you’re in the camp that believes you can never have enough spare Lightning cables, the YUNSONG iPhone Charger could be a great mix to your charging cable rotation. This nylon braided Lightning cable comes in a three-pack and offers more heavy-duty substance than the official charging cable that accompanies iPhones and other smaller iOS devices. If you want more of a solid feel from your cable, this could be the one for you. I used it as my primary charging cable for a couple of days and it delivered consistent charging speeds that match the Apple Lightning cable for my iPhone 6S.

Design and Durability: Utilitarian and substantial

The YUNSONG iPhone Charger is made of a braided-nylon cover that is 6-feet long. The package comes with three of these cords that the manufacturer claims are strong enough to withstand over 8,000 bends and are tough against splitting and breaking—supposedly more so than the standard iPhone charging cable. While I can’t speak to this over an extended period of time, over the several days I used this cord, it was much sturdier in feel than the proprietary Lightning cable. Even the charging heads were easier and sturdier to grip than on the official Lightning cable. 

There are reports from other customers about breakage of the charging heads or complete malfunction. But my experience with the YUNSONG cord was that it held up to bending and also folded up easily to store when not in use, despite the stiffer build.

Charging Speed: On par with the Apple Lighting cable

This charging cable is capable of charging at a maximum of 5 volts/2.1 amps. I tested this cord with a compatible Anker PowerPort USB wall charger and two iPhones. The charging results were consistent with the performance I see from the standard Apple Lightning cable. The iPhone 6S charged in approximately 2.5 hours and an iPhone 7 Plus took about 3.5 hours over several charging cycles. 

I didn’t notice any overheating or oddities with the charging process, so if you’re looking for a bargain Lightning cable replacement that rivals the charging performance of the original, this does do that job. I didn’t do any data transferring, but YUNSONG claims that data syncing is as fast as 480Mbps.

Price: A good bargain with a catch

The YUNSONG iPhone Charger comes in a three-pack and retails for about $10, which is an attractive price for extra or replacement Lightning cords. But there’s no outright claim that these are MFi certified, and there’s also no product warranty of any kind. If you’re using this as a backup cable in a pinch, this product won’t likely present any troubles. The proprietary 6-foot Apple iPhone Lightning cable does retail for about $29 MSRP, which isn’t insignificant, but that extra money does come with the assurance of Apple-backed quality and warranty protection. 

YUNSONG iPhone Charger vs. AmazonBasics Lightning to USB-A Cable

If you’d rather have the assurance of an Apple-certified product, the AmazonBasics Lightning to USB-A Cable does come with this badge of compatibility. A single 6-foot cord costs about $8.00, but you can snag a two-pack for about $15-$16. This could be an appealing alternative to shelling out $29 for the 6-foot Apple Lightning cable, and you’ll enjoy a 1-year warranty. Plus, you can verify that this charger is in fact in the MFi Licensed Accessories database.