5 cords and cables our readers purchased most this 12 months (and none are from Anker or Apple)

Chubby Cable is ZDNET’s most bought cable in 2026 to this point. Reviewer Adrian Kingsley-Hughes says he loves this cable for charging his iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch. 

Additionally: This 3-in-1 USB-C cable changed each different cable in my journey bag – right here’s why

“The ChubbyCable is constructed like a tank. It’s 4.1 toes lengthy and fabricated from a delicate, tangle-free, siliconized materials that feels extra like a high-end audio cable. There are two USB-C ends, one which helps 100W charging and information switch at 480 Mbps, and one other that may deal with 12.5W quick charging. There’s additionally a 2.5W Apple Watch charging puck, which can also be suitable with AirPods instances that help wi-fi charging,” Kingsley-Hughes wrote in his evaluation.

Our second-best-selling wire is that this teeny possibility from Amazon. It prices $8 and could be added to any keychain or keyring. Skilled Adrian Kingsley-Hughes mentioned this cable is suitable with Thunderbolt 4, 240W energy, and 40Gbps information switch, and is nice for on-the-go. Nonetheless, he finds it might be too quick for some customers or use instances. 

Additionally: Essentially the most helpful factor in my tech bag prices simply $7 – and it’s a cable

The Amazon Fundamentals Excessive-Velocity HDMI Cable affords twin HDMI and Ethernet connections to help 3D and 4K video, making it our total decide for the greatest HDMI cable and ZDNET readers’ third most-purchased wire. This male-to-male cable measures six toes lengthy and comes with a lifetime guarantee for higher peace of thoughts. It’s suitable with a variety of gadgets, together with laptops, private computer systems, gaming consoles, and TVs or projectors you might have at house or within the workplace. It might deal with bandwidths as much as 18 Gbps and is supposed for indoor use.  

Desire a cable that may pack itself away tidily when not in use? The Statik MagStack Professional makes use of the magic energy of magnets to simply curl itself away when not in use. It’s a private favourite of each gadget professional Adrian Kingsley-Hughes and me. 

Additionally: That is the one charging cable you’ll ever must keep away from a tangling mess (and it’s low-cost)

On prime of its trick of maintaining itself tidy, it may well carry as much as 100W of energy, the connectors are sturdy and have excellent pressure reduction, and it’s nylon braided, so it resists snagging. Kingsley-Hughes says to notice that the cable’s most pace is 480MB/s, so you need to keep away from utilizing it to hook up with high-speed storage drives.

Rounding out our prime 5 most bought cords and cables by readers is this selection from Plugable. We’re so used to utilizing USB-C for charging that we frequently overlook it’s additionally a completely featured information port, and hackers can use folks’s desperation to discover a charger for his or her telephone or laptop computer to their benefit.

Additionally: This $15 USB-C cable is the very best safety funding I’ve made for my devices

Gadget professional Adrian Kingsley-Hughes says that although individuals who solely ever cost at house, on the workplace, or of their vehicles don’t want a data-blocking cable, those that frequently cost at communal factors at airports, trains, buses, and random charging kiosks will profit from safety in opposition to assaults often called Juice jacking. These Plugable cables all function an E-Marker chip and help charging as much as 240W (48V/5A), however as a result of they lack information traces, all communication between the charger and the gadget being charged is blocked.