Rolling Square inCharge XL 6-in-1 charging cable review: One cable to rule them all

Price When Reviewed

From $34.90

Best Prices Today: Rolling Square inCharge XL 6-in-1 charging cable

We all have too many cables in the house… until you suddenly need one, and then they all mysteriously morph into the ones you don’t need: why did I even keep a USB-A to USB-A cable??

The Rolling Square inCharge XL might be all you need, and it shouldn’t be easy to lose.

Charge them all

This is a 6-in-1 cable claims to have it all: two inputs (USB-C and USB-A) and three outputs (USB-C, Lightning and MicroUSB), giving you the following charging solutions:

• USB-C to USB-C (100W)
• USB-C to Lightning (27W)
• USB-C to MicroUSB (10W)
• USB-A to USB-C (18W)
• USB-A to Lightning (18W)
• USB-A to Micro USB (10W)

E.U. law and common sense means we should all soon do all our wired connections via USB-C, but while older devices remain on older connection standards such as USB-A and Apple’s Lightning plus the hated but cockroach-like MicroUSB, we must reply on multiple cables or a catch-all such as this.

The older adapters slide from the USB-C connectors, and are protected when not in use by a protective tied cap. The custom nylon cable itself is braided with reinforced. The 6.6ft and 10ft cables come with a rubber travel pouch and a desk support that is the most likely thing to go missing, unless your colleagues are known cable thieves in which case watch out as they’ll seek out the InCharge XL in numbers.

The clever part is that the Lightning connector also works as the MicroUSB adapter. Remarkably, it stays reversible unlike the ultra-fiddly MicroUSB.0

It can charge to 100W using the base USB-C to USB-C configuration, which is enough to fast-charge all but the 16-inch MacBook Pro. 100W is fine for the 16-inch but you need 140W (PD 3.1) for fast charging that particular model.

This config is also recommended for charging any version 15 or later iPhone or recent iPad, and can fast-charge those models.

Older iPhones and iPads should be charged with USB-C at the charger end and Lightning to the iPhone. At 27W this can fast-charge all those iPhones, too.

If you still own a USB-A wall charger, (1) use the USB-A to Lightning, or (2) dispose of it and buy a USB-C wall charger or (3) suffer slower charging times. USB-A to Lightning will never fast-charge anything, and here is pegged to 18W max.

USB-A to USB-C is an unlikely configuration, but it’s there if you need it. Indeed, the inCharge XL should celebrate its own redundancy when no one needs USB-A, Lightning or MicroUSB ever again. Sadly, unless you have forked out on all new gear, many of have at least a Lightning AirPods case. There are even some MicroUSB LED lights in use in my house, because I haven’t yet found a suitable USB-C solution.

Data less able

Thunderbolt and some USB-C cables can carry a high charge and speedily transfer data too. The InCharge XL is a charging master to 100W, but has a USB 2.0 data-transfer speed of 480Mbps, which is 92% slower than Gen 1 USB’s 5Gbps and 166 times slower than Thunderbolt 5’s 80Gbps. It will work but make sure you have something to read while it’s doing it.

Price

There are three cable lengths available (1ft/30cm, 6.6ft/2m and 10ft/3m) each in three colors: Urban Black, Glacier White, and Summit Yellow. You can also buy a pocketable version, the 0.5ft (15cm) InCharge XL Pocket, which is aptly named except for the XL part.

• InCharge XL 1ft (30cm): $29.99 / £29.99
• InCharge XL 6.6ft (2m): $34.90 / £34.90
• InCharge XL 10ft (3m): $39.99 / £39.99
• InCharge XL Pocket 0.5ft (15cm): $29.99 / £29.99

The pouch and desk support are for the 6.6ft and 10ft cables only.

The inCharge XL Pocket is one for your bag, while the others can replace the snake from your cable drawer.

Should you buy the Rolling Square inCharge XL 6-in-1 charging cable?

The inCharge XL a well-built cable that charges nearly everything as fast as is possible, is simple to use, and easy to keep protected with its tied cap and travel pouch.

Unless you are fortunate enough to own only products that charge via USB-C, having one cable that charges everything is very convenient, and may allow you the pleasure of retiring a bunch of your older cables or at least banishing them to the bottom of a rarely used cupboard.