Out of power? Cable lets you steal juice from another device
The Samsung Power Sharing cable lets you donate power from one compatible mobile device to any other gadget that charges with a micro USB port.
How many times has this happened to you? You're out for the day with your tablet, smartphone (and maybe even your smartwatch) all set for a day of play with maybe the occasional check-in with work. As the end of the day approaches, however, your phone's battery is running pretty low thanks to all those selfies you've taken, texts you've sent and Spotify tracks you've streamed. Yet that tablet in your bag still has a nearly full charge. If only there was a way to get some of the juice out of the tablet and onto your phone.
Well, provided that tablet was one of the newer ones from Samsung, you'd be able to do just that, if you had the new cable the company just released.
Called simply "The Power Sharing Cable," the cord lets you share the power from a compatible Samsung device to any other device that has a micro USB port. The cable can send power out from the following devices: the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Tab S10.5, Galaxy Tab S8.4, Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy Avant and Galaxy Note 4. So, you'll need to be pretty up-to-date on at least one of your devices in the Samsung universe to make use of the cord.
The cable also has a companion app that lets you set how much juice you want to give away from one device to another, but the app runs on only a few Samsung devices. Samsung says, however, that even without the app, the charging will take place. And if you ever get confused about which way the power will flow, the cable has arrows printed on it to show you.
If you've got a compatible Samsung device, the cable seems like a no-brainer of an accessory to carry around with you, as it costs only $19.99. And really, what price can you put on looking like a True Hero of the Modern Age when your friend's phone runs out of juice and you offer to give them a transfusion from your own?
None, I say. None.