Okay so let’s get this out of the way.  Ben had high praise for Fuse Chicken’s products.  You can read his review here. So I bought me one for my new HTC U11.  I’m not going to lie, not gonna sugar coat it.  Fuse has knocked it out of the park! They stepped on your lawn, and took the water hose!

From the moment I opened the box and pulled out the Armour Charge C, I knew that Ben had been correct in his assessments.

But let’s not get a head of ourselves here.  Because you know that I’m not going to give them high praise without dunking their heads in the water. And I’ll get to that in a moment.

So let’s go over what makes this thing so freaking awesome.

Make up

Here’s how it’s layered.  Starting from the very center, the core.

1. Kevlar Reinforcement – So the center is already stiff.
2. Power and Data wire conduits – So this is what makes it all happen in so far as bringing you the juice!
3. Anti-Interference Mylar Wrap – Gotta keep the juice from the bad stuff.
4. Conforming wire protection – So nice of them to practice safe coupling.
5. Woven Stainless steel wrap – That’s doubling up on the strength right there!
6. High-Strength Strain Relief – Because it reduces strain….
7. High Strength Polymer Core for the connector – Strong and stiff
8. Strengthened Aluminum Sleeve – Houses it all.
9. High Quality connector – Because a low quality one, would defeat the purpose here.

So what you have is a very stiff, structurally strong and bendable cable.  I am very impressed with it so far.  But, and you knew there was going to be one, it’s stiffness is also one of it’s faults.  Yes it’s bendable, and you can coil it.  But I routinely had an issue with being able to put my phone right where I wanted it.  I had to move it so that it conformed to what the cable wanted, and not what I wanted.

Is that one thing a deal breaker?  Oh hell no!  That’s like when you get french fries on the same plate as your hamburger and you wanted them on a separate plate.  You get over it in about 1.5 seconds.

The experience

The only reason I’m talking about the experience of buying here is because it’s well done. I have bought a lot of crap, junk, cool stuff, stupid stuff, and just down right money wasters.  But very few of those buying experiences are memorable.  Very few make me think about what all it took on a business level to make it happen.  And Fuse Chicken have done just that.

The website was easy to navigate.  It was very up to date and relevant to the design language of today.  It wasn’t set back in the 1990’s.  Nor does it look like it was designed by a blind mouse on a Thursday.

Once I made my order, I got a confirmation email.  Standard stuff there. But, what came next was surprising.  I got an email with my tracing number, but it was also an email from the founder Jon Fawcett.  now I know it’s a canned email.  I know that it is just part of a templet.  But, it’s a nice touch.  One that isn’t done a lot.  I’ve copied it below so that you can read it for yourself.

E-mail

Hello Byron Doss,

My name is Jon and I’m the founder of Fuse Chicken. I just wanted to personally drop in and thank you for your order and to let you know that we’ve shipped it. You can find your tracking link below.

We are a small company that is passionate about making the coolest iPhone accessories you can find. While we think you’ll love it, we know that there is no perfect product – mistakes and accidents can sometimes happen. That’s why all of our products come with a warranty and our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with both the product you purchased and the service you have received. If there is any reason at all that you wouldn’t rate this as a 5-star experience, please let me know personally and I will make sure we do everything we can to make it right. You can email me directly at jon@fusechicken.com.

Usage

I found that no matter which end I used, the USB-A or USB-C, both connectors held tight and felt like they were will placed within their appropriate holes.  I found the connectors very stiff and at sometimes hard to pull out.  I know that this will change a bit over time, but for right now, that is okay.  Most definitely not a detractor to having one.  And since they were so stiff and connected well, when my phone did accidentally slide off my desk, it didn’t even think about touching the floor.  The cable held it in place and just dangled like a limb from a tree.

The Cost

At $30 ,not including shipping, it’s not cheap.  You had better be ready to commit if you want to go down this path.  But once you do, you will never look back.  I find myself making sure I have it in my bag, or in my car.  Sure I have the one that came with my HTC U11, but that really just stays in one place in the house, plugged into a socket.  I use the Armour Charge C for every where else.

Final thoughts

I read Ben’s article and then I spoke with him.  The man had such high praise that I bought it.  I will not look into buying another cable for anything without going to Fuse Chicken first.  PERIOD!  I know that this cable and the subsequent others that I buy will stand up to the test of time and usage  I highly recommend to everyone to go buy one of these.  It’s not only worth the money, but it’s also one of those things that will probably outlast what ever device your coupling it to… Go get you some of that!