Macenstein

If you’ve been a loyal Apple supporter/upgrader, odds are by now you have probably owned 4-5 Apple devices that utilize a Lightning cable to charge. And if you are a SMART Apple user, you have never ONCE paid the $19.00 (formerly $25) Apple charges for its cables, when dozens of 3rd party accessory makers sell theirs for about half that.

As overpriced as Apple’s cables are, I’m about to go against every cheap bone in my body and recommend you consider dropping $19 on a lightning cable from Scosche. Their flatOUT™ LED Lightning cable has a couple neat features that may actually justify its approx. $20 price tag, or at least make Apple’s cables look like an even worse deal than they already do.

So first, as the name suggest, this thing has FRICKIN’ LASERS in it. Well, LEDs anyway. Located near the tip (the end that goes into your phone) the bright LED light pulses RED when the phone is charging, and turns BLUE when it is fully charged, allowing you to know at a glance if your phone is juiced or not. This feature is both cool and sort of useless, but ultimately falls in the “fun” category. And who doesn’t want their Lightning cables to be FUN?! (Apple, that’s who!).

Well, if the LED lights didn’t grab you, perhaps the not-whiteness of the cable WILL. Yes, unlike Apple’s boring, 1980’s bachelor pad-inspired cables, the flatOUT comes in 4 flavors – black, pink, blue, and boring white if you are a purist.

OK, still not convinced? Well, the flatOUT’s got one more trick your regular Apple cable can’t do, and that’s be FLAT. The flat cable design has proven to be one of the most tangle-free designs a cable can enjoy, and I love my flat-cabled headphones for just that reason. You really have to WANT to tangle these cables for them to get tangled.

Finally, I like that the tip of the cable is pretty thin (not quite as thin as Apple’s, but thinner than many other 3rd party lightning cables) and it has fit in the charging port hole of every case I have used with it.

Issues

I love this cable, as much as you can love a cable, which isn’t a lot, but its more than my hatred of Apple’s cable. Actually, I only hate Apple’s cable when compared to this cable, sort of like how you love your kid, but then see a kid on the news who is raising money for charity or started their own business at the age of 12 and you’re like “Why can’t you be more like HIM?”

Anyway, the only issue I have with the flatOut is that it doesn’t make a great bed-time charging cable, since the LED is pretty bright when in a darkened room. But perhaps you need a nightlight or just want a cool blue light to sleep by. Also, right when the cable tops off your iPhone, it may flash back and forth from red to blue and back a bit as it tries to decide if it’s REALLY fully charged your phone.

Conclusion

Available in 4 colors, and 3 lengths (10inch, 3-foot, and 6-foot), the flatOUT™ LED Lightning by Scosche is a sturdy and “fun” cable to charge your iPhone or iPad with. And isn’t having fun what charging your phone is really all about?