Quick Read: After a day of adventure, not only are you drained of energy but all your gears too. You returned back to the hotel only to have to deal with all the entangled cables before you settle all your charging needs. Sounds familiar? Yeah, that’s what most of us felt. But SuperCalla is here to help fix that for you!
If you’ve travelled enough, especially to faraway destinations, you would know what I’m talking about when it comes to travel cables.
One word, frustrating.
All the entanglements, different types of connecting ends, hubs or adapters to expand your single power point if it can even support, etc. You get it. Here’s my experience. I generally carry a small amount of digital gears that require charging or connecting ports. From digital cameras, laptops, iPhone, goPro to battery chargers, LED lights, remote controls, you have it.
You wouldn’t believe just how many unique cables and adapters the above gears would require. It’s crazy. I do pack them neatly in a travel bag but still, because of the sheer quantity they still get entangled here and there. But my biggest issue isn’t on the wire. It’s the size and shape of each adapter!
Nowadays, I would’ve to travel with 2 bags of wires and adapters packed for 2 pax. It’s not too bad obviously, as compared to all the professionals or travellers that carry way more digital gears than I do. But the exasperation of handling all of those, scales upwards as you carry more.
What’s this product SuperCalla?
Simply put, it’s a product that adopts a smart way of packing and uncluttering your travel kit. By using magnetic points along the cable length, you can easily and neatly curl up the entire length into a roll that doesn’t entangle with any other cables.
And because it comes with a USB-C port, that means it will have enough power to hook up your hub or split multiple connecting points with no trouble. Covneniently, if you need to project it through an HDMI port, there’s also no need to worry about having a separate cable or adapter.
Tip: There are many different combination available for you to choose, but I personally think that you’re better off selecting USB-C to USB-C for greater functionality, flexibility and future-proof. But that’s just my opinion.
Enough said, here take a look at the product and see for yourself.
Saw something similar in the product elsewhere? You’re not wrong wondering about that. I can’t say for sure nor am I here to judge who came out the with the idea first, but I do know that I pledge for the campaign a very long time ago (I’m talking about since early 2020-ish?).
And somewhere around mid last year, I started seeing a few similar ones popping up in online platforms such as Lazada, Shoppee and the likes. Obviously, all these products went for much cheaper price than SuperCalla. Are they just as good? Well, you be the judge for yourself.
Design & Visual – Taking a closer look at SuperCalla
I was particularly taken into how it looks when I first saw it on Kickstarter. Wrapped in a soft and smooth silicon that also serves to protect the wiring within, SuperCalla’s intuitive design not only helps keep entangling problems away, but it’s also super safe to stash it away together with all your other belongings.
You have a choice to choose between black and white, and from a practicality point of view I would’ve to go with black.
I bought the SuperCalla primarily for travel purposes. And that means you will be using it in some unconventional places outside of your hotel. I can’t imagine having a white version and having to clean it up all the time to maintain its pristine look.
The one advantage you have with the white version, is that it comes with a slight translucent look. The black one, not so much. So if you’re going for looks, sure the white does look better.
For the product design and visual, I personally would rate it an 8/10. I really do like how it looks. The build and quality just looks real solid.
Functionality & Practicality – How well does it work and is it really that much more useful?
It’s magic. It works like wonders. Am I exaggerating?
Absolutely not. Here’s a couple of samples on how I used it for the past few months since I received it.
And you can probably think of a bunch more other ways to use it. Seriously, it made me wonder why no one had thought of this back then?
By simply having the magnetic strips along the cable, makes it so much easier to keep it away from dangling in mid-air, or potentially becoming a hazard when pulled on.
With many desks nowadays made with at least some metal parts, it’s hard to say no to the magnetic help here.
For the functionality and practicality, I must say that I’m very tempted to give full marks here. But as we all know, there’s no perfection in this world. One of it’s downside for me is how much bigger the connecting point is, as compared to other standard USB-C cables.
Why does it matter? Well, in tight corners it makes it that much harder to try to tilt/twist/rotate it to connect to your port. It REALLY can be a little frustrating.
So keeping that in mind, I’m going to rate it a 9/10 here.
Price & Durability – How does it fare against other types of quality cables?
Here comes the subjective topic and preferences. But because I’ve used it for a few months now, I must say that I would almost certainly prefer SuperCalla over the normal cables. For one clear reason – Durability.
A quick look at your normal cable against SuperCalla, it becomes obvious that the cable itself does not get bent in shape due to overtime seasoning when curled up or tied up in any way. SuperCalla’s thick cable wraps and protects the inner wiring and retains its shape even with prolonged usage.
Another good comparison that I’ve purchased myself as well. This is a much better quality USB-C cable that has metallic wrapping that, similarly, protects the inner wiring and retains the shape. However, one small downside of this is its rigidity as compared to SuperCalla.
Because SuperCalla is made with softer material and between each magnetic coil there’s ample distance for maximum flexibility, you can really bend and curl the cable however shape you want to fit your needs.
The metallic version, not quite as much. While it perhaps may have the highest durability in retaining shape and overtime usage, its rigidity does make it hard to use at times. More importantly, not quite as versatile for travel purposes.
The only concern I have over SuperCalla, is also indeed because of the softer material used to protect the inner wiring. While the team claims that its super long lasting, the brutality in the way we usually use our cables will tell in time.
So in this department for Durability, I would score it a 9/10.
But all of these comes at a price. And in this aspect, I will say that in comparison it is indeed much pricier than you would want to pay for. After all, we would all tell ourselves that “it’s just a cable for charging. Why pay that much?”
Indeed. I can’t and wouldn’t shift your mind into thinking that it’s worth it, because ultimately this is all subjective to how much you’re willing to pay. However, I will share my perspective and my reasons why I pay for 2 of this.
Travellers like ourselves travel a lot. We put a lot of stress and strains on our gears. And I do think that one of the most common replacements are indeed the cables. They wear out really quick. Investing in a right and proper one may very well last us long enough before we even consider replacing it.
Oh, and also it’s longer. Much longer. That’s a big plus for me too.
Note: While the price point hovers around just $19 for single, remember – That’s in USD and not including shipping costs. All in all, each SuperCalla cable will end up costing you near a whooping SGD 30 or more!
But being non-bias to my wants and needs, in general I do think the price can be a little steep for most of us. So I would give it a rating of just 7/10. Definitely could do better if people were to really consider getting SuperCalla.
What’s my final thoughts and verdict for the SuperCalla product?
At the end of the day, travel products can be very personal and preferential. Each of our wants and needs differ from the way we travel, the way we use and the situation we’re in.
In my very own ways, SuperCalla had been a saviour and resolved a lot of my past travel problems. I can’t wait to really bring it out with me when I travel next time!
Perhaps until then, I may even do another review with more examples of its application when traveling.
But the million dollar question here is, will I buy it again? I just might. But not for 2, perhaps 1 will do. In the past few months that I try, I haven’t found myself a situation where I needed both at the same time.
Largely because the power USB-C can deliver, is substantially enough to charge my equipments overnight.
My final verdict? I would rate it a 8/10. There’s really only 2 dislike points from me if you’d noticed. But hey, that’s me. What about you?
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