A 3.5mm audio cable provides an electrical path between an audio input device like your smartphone or MP3 player and a set of speakers like the ones in your car. They come in various lengths and are also commonly called aux cables. This buying guide will focus on providing you with the best 3.5mm audio cables that are used to connect consumer audio devices together worldwide. Full Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Buying through any of the links below will earn me a small commission at no extra charge to you. Last Updated: 2/12/2019 Anker is a rapidly-growing electronics company focusing primarily on chargers and power banks. They also have branches that focus on smart-home devices, robotic vacuums, dash cams, and consumer audio including 3.5mm audio cables. Anker was established to counter the high-priced accessories that smartphone suppliers commonly forced consumers into purchasing. Products designed and manufactured by the company are known for their quality and innovation, and their 3.5mm audio cables are no exception. Let’s look at some of the features. ♦ Gold contact material iXCC is another electronics company focusing on cables and chargers. Users report that this cable is very well built, and it’s even found it’s way into the pro audio field according to some reviews due to it’s dual shielding and durability. It is very durable and will withstand daily use for a long time without failure. At the time that this article was published, this cable had nearly 7500 5-star ratings. The only con to this cable I can see is the color scheme, which of course is subjective but may not match the interior of your car or your other audio devices. This cable is also backed by a 2-year warranty. ♦ Gold contact material iVanky is yet another electronics company focusing on cables and chargers. Their 3.5mm audio cable is one of the best for several reasons. First, this cable uses both Nylon and TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) for the jacket materials. TPE is a heat-resistant plastic – this cable will be ideal for connecting audio devices to your car stereo, especially if you live in a place with a hot climate. TPE and Nylon are also very abrasion-resistant, adding to the durability of this cable along with a 15,000 bend lifespan and lifetime warranty. The cable uses oxygen-free copper conductors, which, if you remember from before, makes no difference but does add to the price. The cable comes in two colors, red and black. The black audio cable has just a TPE jacket. The red cable has a dual TPE-Nylon jacket, but is slightly more expensive. Get a look at the full list of features: ♦ Gold contact material Amazon has become so big, that they now sell their own branded products under their AmazonBasics line. Part of their product listing is their 3.5mm audio cable, and it’s one of the best out there. Unfortunately, this cable only comes in an 8 ft length, so it may be a little too long for car stereo systems. It does have most of the standard features that you will find in the best 3.5mm audio cables, though. ♦ Gold contact material Another great choice is the 3.5mm audio cable from Mediabridge. One feature that makes this cable stand out from the rest is it’s strain-relief connector design. This will add to it’s reliability in the long run, since this is a very common failure point for audio cables. It also comes in a variety of lengths for many different applications, and utilizes 27 AWG conductors which are thicker than most other 3.5mm audio cables. ♦ Gold contact material Next up, we have some high-quality 3.5mm audio cables from Oldboytech. This company specializes in consumer audio cable, and since this is where their focus lies, they’re able to devote most of their resources to these products. As a result, their 3.5mm audio cables are some of the best. Their cables put a large emphasis on durability and reliability with features like their braided Nylon outer jacket. Nylon is more resistant to cuts and abrasion than PVC commonly found in other cables. Aside from solid build quality, they also utilize two noise shields and silver core conductors for pristine and crystal-clear signal transfer. As if that wasn’t enough, you get two cables for around the same cost as some others out there. Not a bad deal. Oldboytech stands behind their cables with a lifetime warranty. ♦ 24k gold contact material Last, but certainly not least, is one of the best 3.5mm audio cables available from a company called Syncwire. Syncwire specializes in a wide variety of consumer audio and electronics products ranging from smartphone protectors, to gaming headsets, to cables of all types and applications. Just like the Oldboytech cables above, these Syncwire cables use a durable Nylon jacket that is much more resistant to cuts and slices than PVC or PTE. Their stepped, gold-plated connector design will provide a highly-conductive, snug connection when plugged into most smartphone cases. But please keep in mind that they are still incompatible with Life proof Cases And Otter Box cases. Even so, this cable has tens of thousands of happy buyers from around the globe. Check out the full list of specs and features below. ♦ 24k gold contact material For consumers, 3.5mm audio cables are mainly used to connect audio output device to speakers. In professional audio, 3.5mm audio cables can be useful when listening to a new track on several different sound systems. For instance, lets say you just bounced part of your new track to .wav and you want to listen to what it’ll sound like on your home stereo system, in your car, in your friend’s car, and on your uncle’s club system. You’d transfer the file to your smartphone and then use a 3.5mm audio cable to connect to each of these audio systems. In this section we’ll run through what to look for when shopping for the best 3.5mm audio cable. It’s worth knowing that there can also be a good amount of clever marketing behind these cables, and this can add to the price without significantly increasing the quality. Lets take a look: FosPower 3.5mm audio cable with step-down connector. Of course, when we are choosing the best 3.5mm audio cable we should naturally be concerned with sound quality. The video below shows an interesting experiment that compares the sound quality of four different aux cables. As we can see and hear, the sound quality is indiscernible between the four cables. Keep in mind, however, that these cables were not exposed to high amounts of RF radiation during the test, so one with better shielding would perform better than one without shielding (homemade cable, we’re looking at you!) It also may be difficult to make a judgement due to the quality of the speaker being used in the experiment. Using a pair of studio monitors may tell a different story. And obviously just by looking at them, we can tell some will last much longer than others. The reality is, there are a lot of really great choices out there when it comes to choosing the best 3.5mm audio cable. This can sometimes make it difficult to make a decision! Paralysis by analysis, they say. That aside, there definitely are some things to look out for that set the best above the rest. There are also added things that aren’t 100% necessary and add to the cost of the cable without increasing quality. Here are some of the take-aways from this buying guide: We’re all done here. Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you make a great choice for your 3.5mm audio cable purchase!Best 3.5mm Audio Cable Choices
In a Hurry? Here’s Our Top 3
7 of the Best 3.5mm Audio Cables
Anker 3.5mm Premium Auxiliary Audio Cable
Features
♦ Stepped connector design
♦ 10,000+ bend lifespan
♦ 18-month warranty
♦ Aramid fiber reinforcement for added tensile strength
♦ Comes in 4 ft or 8 ft lengths, and in either red or black
♦ Metal connector shell
iXCC 3.5mm Audio Cable
Features
♦ Stepped connector design
♦ Dual shielding
♦ 2-year warranty
♦ Comes in 3 ft, 6 ft, or 10 ft lengths
♦ Metal connector shell
♦ Tangle-free design
iVanky 3.5mm Aux Audio Cable
Features
♦ Stepped connector design
♦ 15,000+ bend lifespan
♦ Lifetime warranty
♦ Comes in 4 ft or 8 ft lengths
♦ Metal connector shell
♦ TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) and Nylon jacket material
♦ aluminum Mylar foil shielding
Amazon Basics 3.5mm Audio Cable
Features
♦ Stepped connector design
♦ Dual shielding
♦ 1-year warranty
♦ Comes in 8 ft length
♦ Metal connector shell
Mediabridge 3.5mm Audio Cable
Features
♦ Stepped, strain-relief connector design
♦ Dual shielding
♦ 1-year warranty
♦ Comes in 2 ft, 4 ft, 8 ft, and 12 ft lengths
♦ Metal connector shell
♦ 27 AWG copper conductors
Oldboytech 3.5mm Aux Cable [2-Pack]
Features
♦ Stepped connector design
♦ 15,000+ bend lifespan
♦ Nylon jacket
♦ Silver conductors
♦ Comes in 1.5 ft, 4 ft, or 8 ft lengths, and in either red or gray
♦ Lifetime warranty
Syncwire 3.5mm Aux Cable
Features
♦ Stepped connector design
♦ 15,000+ bend lifespan
♦ Nylon jacket
♦ Silver conductors
♦ Comes in 3.3 ft or 6.5 ft lengths
♦ Lifetime warranty
What Are 3.5mm Audio Cables Used For?
How to Pick the Best 3.5mm Audio Cable
Shielding for the Best 3.5mm Audio Cable
Conductors
Insulation & Jacket
Capacitance
Length
Connector Quality for the Best 3.5mm Audio Cable
Sound Quality
Recap
Concluding Remarks
Anker 3.5mm Premium Auxiliary Audio Cable
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iXCC 3.5mm Audio Cable
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iVanky 3.5mm Aux Audio Cable
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Amazon Basics 3.5mm Audio Cable
Cons
Pros
Mediabridge 3.5mm Audio Cable
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Pros
Oldboytech 3.5mm Aux Cable
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Pros
Syncwire 3.5mm Aux Cable
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Pros
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