Nomad Battery Cable

If you are a regular Apple Tech Talk reader, you know that we often introduce products that make it easier to be a road warrior.  Whether it’s a wall charger that doubles as a battery pack, like the Tattu 2-in-1 Charger (read our review here), or the wiTraveler Apple Watch Charger (read our review here), we are always looking for ways to lighten the load of things to pack and carry with you.  We now will add the Nomad Battery Cable to our list.

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Nomad Battery Cable – Specifications

Even as just a Lightning cable, the Nomad Battery Cable has some pretty impressive.

It starts with a 20AWG cable wrapped in a 4X Polyamide Central Core.  That is then wrapped in 2X RF shield, which supports Fast Charging.  There is another 2X Thick Moisture Barrier.  Finally, that is all wrapped in a heavy duty 500D Braided Ballistic Nylon outer shell.

The cable has been flex tested 10,000 times and still survives.

Finally, Nomad includes an integrated Liquid Silicone Cable Tie to help with cable management and prevent the Nomad Battery Cable from getting tangled when not in use.

At 5 feet long (1.5M) the Nomad Battery Cable has just enough extra length to add some extra convenience.

If we were to stop there, we would say that the Nomad cable was a well-made heavy duty Lightning cable that was worth your consideration. But there is so much more.

Built into the cable is a 2,800mAh battery that provide enough reserve power to charge your iPhone 7, iPhone 8 or iPhone X once.

The cable supports pass through charging of your iPhone so you can charge you phone while you top off the battery. The cable charges your phone before it charges the internal battery.

The circular design of the battery is a nice compliment to the overall design although it is not centered in the cord and is positioned closer to the Lightning connector side of the cable.

Nomad Battery Cable – How It Works

Nomad recommends that you charge the cable overnight before its first use.

The battery has a single LED and a single button at the USB side of the battery.  When the battery is charging, the LED will slowly flash orange and then will turn solid white when fully charged.

To check the level of charge, you can push the button.  A solid white LED means there is a 30% to 100%.  A solid orange LED indicates a Low Charge and a flashing orange means a very low charge.

While we like the fact that you can get a rough idea of the battery’s power level, we think the range of 30% to 100% is too broad and potentially leaves you with no enough battery power. We also don’t know what low charge vs. very low charge means.  Granted, with that information you probably just need to know that anything less than a solid white LED means you need to charge the cable.

There is no need to turn the Nomad Battery Cable on.  It will automatically start charging your iPhone when you connect the Lightning plug into your iPhone.

There is no “off” switch for the battery as it will automatically go into “sleep mode” when it is not in use.

Nomad Battery Cable – Test Results

There is not a lot we can do to test the Nomad Battery Cable other than to say it works as advertised and works well.

While the construction of the cable supports fast charging, the battery is rated for output of 5V at 1A, so charging time will be about the same as using the standard Apple power brick.

Beyond that, we found the Nomad Charging Cable worked well.  We had no issues with error messages or the charging function dropping during our testing.

The Nomad Battery Cable carries the Made for iPhone designation so you can feel comfortable that it is a quality product.

The Bottom Line

While the Nomad Battery Cable probably won’t stop you from packing a portable power pack or charging brick, we can think of any number of situations where you might want to charge your iPhone and either can’t find an electrical outlet or are in a situation where “plugging in” just won’t work.

While the built-in battery adds some bulk and weight to the overall cable, the extra length from the standard Apple Lightning Cable and the ability to charge your iPhone anytime and anywhere make the Nomad Battery Cable more versatile.

You may not want to put the Nomad Battery Cable in your pocket but if you are using a backpack, purse or any type of carrier, the Nomad Battery Cable is a “no-brainer” to add to your list of must have items.

The Nomad Battery Cable has an MSRP of $49.95 and is available from Amazon.

We would like to thanks the folks at Nomad for providing the Nomad Battery Cable for our testing and review.

What do you pack when you hot the road?  Why not join the conversation and leave your comments below.

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