ⓘ Vogatiki / Kickstarter

Anyone who has been closely following the development of power adapters and other chargers in recent months will quickly notice that an increasing number of devices are adopting integrated displays. Take the recently introduced Ugreen power adapters, for example. Now, a new product on Kickstarter is looking for backers, proving that it doesn't necessarily have to be the charger itself that features the screen.

Instead, this project offers a charging cable equipped with an integrated display. During the charging process, this screen is designed to show the current charging power, voltage, and amperage. This ensures that the connected device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, is genuinely being charged as quickly as possible. To achieve this, the cable supports "PD 3.1 Fast Charging" with a maximum charging power of 240 watts.

In addition, data transfer rates of up to 80 Gbps are reportedly possible via the USB4 standard. While this definitely makes the cable future-proof, maxing out such data rates with commercially available electronic devices won't become the standard for several years. Furthermore, the creators promise that the cable supports video transmission at up to 16K@60Hz. While it's a nice gimmick on the spec sheet that the cable supports this, it won't play a role in practice anytime soon either. For context: displays with a 16K resolution currently cost in the mid to high millions, and such devices are nowhere to be found in the consumer market anyway.

The charging cable is currently only available by backing the Kickstarter campaign. As part of the "Super Early Bird" offer, a single unit costs the equivalent of $27, plus around $5 for shipping. Delivery is scheduled to start in November.

It is important to note that this is not a traditional purchase, but rather the backing of a crowdfunding campaign. This involves a certain level of risk, theoretically up to the total loss of the invested money. Still, in the video embedded below, the manufacturer shows that they have already developed a working prototype.

If you don't want to wait that long, prefer not to take any risks, and want to save some money on top of it, you can alternatively opt for an already available cable with an integrated display. Take the Ugreen model, for example, which is available on Amazon for $15 to $20, depending on the desired length. It also features a maximum charging power of 240 watts, but the data transfer rate is limited to 480 Mbps. Another limitation: The Ugreen cable is not suitable for video output.