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Clever cables for charging your phone (pictures)

Balking at the idea of paying Native Union Night Cable $40 to tie a knot in your smartphone charging cable? There are plenty of other charging cables available for less that you should also consider.

Justin Yu
Justin Yu covered headphones and peripherals for CNET.
Justin Yu
Native Union Night Cable
1 of 7 Native Union

The folks at Native Union have created a splash with the "why hasn't anyone done this already" Night Cable, a 10-foot USB charging cable with a weighted knot to keep it from slipping off the table when it's not connected. But at $40, it's pricey enough to send us seeking alternatives -- and looking for some other cool charging options, too.

Related article: Finally! The phone-charging cable you've been waiting for

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To be clear, the Night Cable isn't the first -- or only -- long charging cable available. ZeroLemon has made-for-iPhone-certified cables available in lengths of 10 and 16.5 feet for as little as $10 on Amazon, where they've garnered hundreds of positive user reviews. (The nylon model shown here costs a bit more.)

Related article: Finally! The phone-charging cable you've been waiting for

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This do-it-all Betrlyfe breakout cable set has Lightning, 30-pin, and micro-USB all connected by braided cable to ensure the utmost protection of your gear -- perfect for those who have old and new Apple gear, as well as Android phones or any other accessories.

Related article: Finally! The phone-charging cable you've been waiting for

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4 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

These AmazonBasics Lightning cables can be purchased in lengths as short as 4 inches and as long as 6 feet.

We tried these out and can recommend them -- they're much more reliable than some of the bargain-basement knockoff Lightning cables you can find on Amazon's site.

Just note that their somewhat large Lightning housing won't fit into thick iPhone/iPad cases.

Related article: Finally! The phone-charging cable you've been waiting for

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This Incipio dual car charger has a built-in Lightning cable with 2.4 amps of power (enough juice to charge an iPad), as well as an extra 1-amp USB port to charge phones or other small gadgets of any variety.

Related article: Finally! The phone-charging cable you've been waiting for

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6 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

The Nomad ChargeKey is a mobile keychain solution to your charging woes. It has an Apple Lightning cable on one end and a standard USB cable on the other end, and it's recently been updated to a stronger design shown here. Non-Apple users can also pick up the micro-USB model as well.

Related article: Finally! The phone-charging cable you've been waiting for

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7 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Looking for other cool tech accessories that won't break the bank? In addition to cables, we've got plenty of cool headphones, speakers, and other gadgets you can snag for under $25.

Read: Best tech accessories under $25

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