Cables aren’t exciting, and for the most part, neither are extended battery packs. Useful, absolutely; but not really something overly desirable. Nomad, the smartphone accessory manufacturer with an eye for cool design, has come up with a combination product that is simple enough to make you wonder why it hasn’t been made before, and cool enough that you’ll want to own one. It’s called the Battery Cable: A super tough cable with a sleek, inline battery pack.
It’s the solution to a pretty common problem. Many battery packs require you to have a cable with you to use, while if you can find a handy USB socket it’s great to charge up your phone directly, for which you need to have a compatible cable with you. Nomad’s Battery Cable deals with both scenarios in one gadget. The 1.5 meter cable has a Lightning connector at one end, so it’s specific to the iPhone, and has a Kevlar core, a PVC jacket, and a nylon covering. It feels like rope, meets military standards, and it’s not going to break any time soon.
The sausage-like battery pack, which is the length of two AA cells, has a 2.350mAh capacity. That’s not huge, but it’s enough to fully charge an iPhone from flat, or almost completely top up an iPhone Plus model. It has an activation button that turns the power off, if you don’t want to use it up. Cleverly, when charging your iPhone through a wall socket, the battery pack gives the phone priority, making sure it’s full before charging the pack itself. If you’re worried about using a third party charger, it’s not an issue here, this is a Made For iPhone certified product.
If there’s a downside to the Battery Cable, it’s the cable itself, which obviously hangs around when it’s plugged into the phone. There’s a hefty silicone strap that keeps it together, but it still manages to take up more space than a compact battery pack. In addition to the Battery Cable, Nomad has also released a universal charging cable that comes with attachments for connecting Lightning devices, those with MicroUSB ports, or USB Type-C connectors. It also has the same super thick and strong cable.
Nomad has put the Battery Cable on sale today for $40, while the universal cable is $35.
