Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

--- Please see updates at the end of this review --- Cheap USB Type-C adapter cables have gotten some negative press recently with Benson Leung's compliance campaign and people damaging USB ports trying to charge their new phones from their laptops. The problem isn't that the market is flooded with defective cables, the problem is it is flooded with cheater cables. These cheater cables are being mass-produced for one purpose, and that is to boost MacBook charging speed. Which would be great, except that every one of them can cause permanent damage to non-Type-C USB ports on your laptop that will be very expensive to repair. It is impossible to tell whether a cable is compliant or not just by looking at it. Anker is making and selling cheater cables. Buyer beware. I took the adapter cable that comes with this battery to the lab and hooked it up to the multimeter. As you can see, the resistor connected to the CC pins is 10 Kohms. That tells USB Type-C devices that they can draw the allowed 3 A from the host. But this is an adapter cable for plugging into a Type-A host. So if the USB port on the host cannot handle a 3 amp load, poof goes your controller chip. Or it browns out and damages the USB port on the device. Or maybe you'll get lucky. If you own this kit, I urge you to discard the included adapter cable and buy a replacement from Benson's list. Anker didn't have to do this. If they had shipped a compliant adapter plus a Type-C to Type-C cable, they could have advertised MacBook charging without putting your electronics at risk. But instead they cut some corners and put their brand at risk to save money. And that is why, even though the battery itself is fantastic, I am giving the kit a two-star review. --- Update 2/25/2016 --- Please also read Anker's response to this review in the comments. It has come to my attention that several manufacturers who were producing compliant cables have started shipping cheater cables, so Benson's list is not as helpful as it used to be. My recommendation is to stick with Monoprice or Google for Type-C to Type-A adapter cables. Or if you have a Nexus 5X or 6P phone, use the CheckR app to test the cable yourself. --- Update 4/4/2016 --- Good news and more good news. First, I have heard from one customer who received a Type-C to Type-C cable and a compliant A-to-C adapter cable, which is what this kit should have included from the beginning. If you receive an adapter cable with the kit that passes the CheckR test, please let me know in the comments. Second, Amazon has banned non-compliant A-to-C adapter cables from the store. If you buy this kit and receive a defective cable, please contact Amazon to file a complaint against the seller. I will be happy to give this kit a better rating after Anker sends a recall notice to all customers affected by this issue.