Press Play Products Review: 9.8ft Flat Micro-USB Cable and Micro-USB Flex Cable

You might not have heard of Press Play Products before, but we were able to meet with them at CES 2014 and they provided us with some pretty interesting gear which we’re going to take a look at today, namely their 9.8ft flat micro-USB cable and their microUSB Flex Cable.

The 9.8ft flat micro-USB cable

The standard micro-USB cable is about 1 metre long, which for many people who love to plug in to charge and take their Android device with them to their bed or sit on the couch, is simple not long enough. In comes Press Play Products’ 9.8 foot, or 3 metre, cable which should eliminate quite a few frustrating moments when you’ve run out of cable.

The fact that the cable is also a flat cable means that, among other things, it’s quite compact to store and when it’s fully unfurled, it has less of a footprint in the area you’re using it in. Many suppliers of micro-USB cables are moving towards using flat cables due to the minor, though important, advantages over conventional round cables it has such as cable interference and flexibility.

There’s not much else to be said about the cable: it looks to be well made, and it works as intended. If you’re in need of a longer cable, this is definitely one option you should look into. This 9.8ft flat micro-USB cable is available from the Press Play Products website now for $14.99 and is available in the pictured red, but also black, white, blue and pink; check out the product page here. As a side note, the Press Play Store also offers free shipping within the US and international shipping is $19.

The micro-USB Flex Cable

The easiest way to describe the Flex Cable would be to tell you to imagine Doc Oct of Spiderman fame crossed with a micro-USB cable. Still sound a bit weird? Well, it’s probably easier just to show you exactly what the Flex Cable can do:

Yes, the Flex Cable is able to support the full weight of a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 by itself. The Flex Cable is made from a very solid metal structure which allows it to be bent into quite a few different positions while maintaining the ability to stay firmly in that position during operation. That makes it quite useful if you’re plugging into a laptop or a wall plug and you want to prop up your device in the portrait position so you can still use and see what’s happening on the screen, and even if you’re not charging your device, you can simply use the cable as a flexible stand. Check out Press Play Products’ video to see a bit more of what it can do:

The cable is very high quality and even if you manage to scratch through the plastic outer layer, you’re unlikely to damage the cable or the structure of the Flex Cable at all. It’s also quite heavy, as you might expect from being made almost purely of metal, which might discourage some from using it as a travel accessory. Furthermore, the inherent nature of the cable means that you won’t be able to make the cable terribly small, at least, not small enough to store in your pocket.

While the Flex Cable itself is going to be more durable than any cable you’ve ever seen, as with all micro-USB cables, the weakest point of the cable is always going to be the micro-USB connection itself, and while the Flex Cable will instil you with the confidence to attempt things like this:

You should probably be even more careful seeing as you can put your Android devices into more unusual positions than usual; and yes, that is a Nexus 7 balancing on the Flex Cable. Just as a disclaimer, Press Play Products does put a note in the box that says the Flex Cable does not support devices with screen sizes over 5-inches, but you definitely get a sense of just how strong it is when you can still attach a Nexus 7 to it.

The micro-USB Flex Cable is available on the Press Play Products website now for $29.99, and is available in the black that we demoed here as well as white and chrome finish. For more details, check out the product page here. You might be thinking that it might be a bit expensive for a cable, but if you think of it both as a cable and a stand, you begin to see that the Flex Cable is actually quite good value for how useful it is.

Conclusion

So there you have it: two very different cables with very different purposes, but both with significant advantages for the Android users that are currently having frustrations with their very ordinary micro-USB cables.

If you are interested in picking up either (or both) cables, Press Play Products is very generously giving AndroidStory readers a coupon code to get 25% off the price of the cables as well as making international shipping a flat rate of $10. Simply enter the code “Spin25” when purchasing to redeem the deal. Note that the coupon is only applicable to the two cables featured in this review and will only be available for a limited time, so get in quick!

For more information about Press Play Products and their products, you can check them out at www. pressplayproducts.com.