In depth review of the best iPhone charger you can buy, a combination of the Nomad USB-C to Lightning 3m cable and the 20W USB-C Power Adapter.
Disclaimer: The folks at Nomad were kind enough to send this product free of charge but this review is based off my own thoughts. Nomad did not have any input on this review. Make sure you check out all of their other products at Nomad Goods.
Materials and Quality
The 20W USB-C Power Adapter is top notch. It’s made out of a soft plastic that has a metal-like finish and is almost the same size as the Apple 5W Power Adapter, but has 4x the amount of power. Nothing to complain about.
As for the USB-C to Lightning 3 meter cable, it’s fantastic. The cable is braided and made from Kevlar which makes it almost indestructible and I can guarantee it will outlast any Apple made cable. Most importantly is that the Lightning side of the cable is made out of thick plastic which ensures that it will not break, which seems to be a common issue with Apple cables (at least for me).The same applies for the USB-C end.
Coming at 3 meters / 10ft, this is the longest cable I have ever used. And it surely was a mistake. I can use this one cable for both my desk (2 meters wide) as well as in my bed which had been previously impossible using only a 2 meters cable. Plus its always handy and convenient to have some spare length in cables so that you don’t unplug your power adapter, a regular problem I suffered with 2 meter cables.
Charging with the Nomad 20W Power Adapter
Materials and quality are of little importance in a charger if it doesn’t do its primary job. The 18W top speed of the cable is more than enough to charge both my iPhone 8 Plus and iPad Air 2 when I need to quickly juice up. In any other situation I would be happy to use my Nomad Base Station and Base Station Hub chargers which although a bit slower, they provide a more convenient experience.
This combo of Nomad products can charge my iPhone from dead to 80% in 30 minutes.
Final thoughts
You can’t complain in anyway about this charger, both material and charging quality is top notch but it surely comes at a steep price when adding all up. The 20W USB-C Power Adapter comes relatively cheap at $18.95, the same as the Apple 20W Power Adapter but the Nomad one has a smaller footprint. Additionally, the 3 meters USB-C to Lightning Cable made from Kevlar comes at $44.95. The cable has fantastic build quality and is extremely long at 10ft but it’s still not cheap for a cable.
After saying that, I would still rather buy the 3m Nomad cable rather than some cheap knockoff from Amazon. I have learned from experience that “I am too poor to buy cheap” which in this case means that cheap cables might seem cheap, but you will have to replace them several times as they will stop working. I would prefer to simply use a higher quality cable during several years than switching from cheap to cheap and wasting time.
For anyone that has bought the new iPhone 13s (no charger), this is definitely the combo to get as it will even outlast your phone.