r/UsbCHardware•
kierumcak

My Anker "240W" Anker Nano USB-C cables survived less than 6 months.... They never worked great, but have thoroughly degraded. What do I need to know to make a better purchasing decision?

Question

I am looking for 6FT cables with maximum W delivery to go with my

  • Anker Prime Charger,160W 3-Port Compact GaN USB-C Charger
  • NIU 27000mAh Power Bank, High Capacity 140W Laptop Portable Charger

Charging my MacBook Pro.

These cables do go through a lot as they are in and out of my bag. I loosely coil them frequently. If this is something no cable can withstand, let me know, and let me know if there is a way to compactly stow cables in a backpack without damaging them.

The first sign of trouble was when the battery pack couldn't deliver 120W to my MacBook using these Anker cables. With Anker Cables, the battery pack tops out at 80W. The cable INIU included had no issues. I thought maybe something proprietary was going on until the Anker cables started behaving poorly as well.

I have two of the Anker Nano USB-C 240W cables. Just last week, my cables started failing. It would go up to a high wattage before completely cutting out (the Mac briefly stopped charging), and today the second one started behaving similarly, except power never cuts out completely.

I can't tell if this is a matter of any of the following factors:

  1. I shouldn't expect a USB-C cable longer than 1m to deliver 120W
  2. Gently coiling will damage even the best-constructed cable
  3. The Anker Nano USB-C Cables do not use the latest and greatest USB-C standards necessary for sustained 120W delivery
  4. The Anker Nano USB-C Cables have a faulty E-Marker chip
  5. Something else?

And would really like to know what brands' cable I should try next. Frustrating that these did not work as advertised and that they failed so quickly. Looks like Anker no longer directly makes these, though.

I checked the wiki, and either it's outdated OR cables that market themselves as delivering over 100W are lying somehow?

Posted Apr 28, 2026, 7:04 PM UTC

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