hmmm well i baby my equipment, so i've never had a broken usb cord... worst case is headphones that go bad after 1-2 years

That hasn't crossed my mind. Is there a brand you'd recommend?

Didn't cross my mind either, considering how many cheap knockoffs and low quality China products are out there...

I'd start with NewEgg, i haven't had a single issue with anything i got from them so far.

I'll try one of the cables from there. Thanks a bunch!

I know Belkin is a pretty good one.

Thanks!

Dunno, I have a micro USB cable from a charger called Aukey, one from a Logitech keyboard, and a pair of generic ones.
Maybe you could try Aukey.
Otherwise, you (or someone else?) must be doing something wrong with that cable (e.g: pulling it with too much force and not straight?).

I've never bent a USB cable (even extremely cheap ones), so I'm not sure what you're doing with yours. I'm not even particularly careful with them beyond making sure I'm not plugging them in the wrong way around.

If it's a major problem for you, then I recommend investing in a WSKEN X-Cable. I have three that I use in my two tablets and ebook reader, and they work a treat. Here is Techmoan's review of several magnetic cables, the WSKEN X-Cable being one of them.

My phone charges via a Qi charging pad, so that's another possibility if your phone supports wireless charging.

I bent one before, in the car, completely my fault. It happens but takes some doing.

Bought some ApocSun cables a couple years back, and really like them. Super-flexible ribbon/flat-style. Amazon, eBay, etc.

http://www.apocsun.com/#products

I want my next phone to support wireless charging. I have been through several mini USB chargers that eventually stop plugging in snugly; they are so loose that they stop charging the phone.

Didn't they come with sort of clear plastic caps when they were first introduced? I seem to recall that they did....

- quality of the wire
- thickness of the wire
- coating

all play the role. For coating I recommend something VERY STIFF, like metal threads.
I recommend getting something that is very very thick & mass produced & produced by known brand. This guarantees high quality and at same time - fairly low price.

Because the good cable has thick high-quality wire surrounded by bend-protection threads, there are two indicators of quality cable:
- very fast charge rate at very low heat and very little energy loss
- high thickness

Stuff like marketing ("premium", "ultra", etc) and pretty colors should have no influence on purchase.

For example, I have purchased about 6x LG 20AWG cables about 2 years ago. Each costed ~ $2. Two of them have been in heavy use - none got broken.

Don't get the cable from Hut of "Uncle Lao". That is low-quality cheap Chinese cables. Not only they are not reinforced, they also use very thin and low quality copper, so that they overheat, break easily and it takes a lot of time to charge the device using them.

Oh yes, and one should be very careful to get original item. For example, the said LG 20AVG allows for 2A charging with power loss of about 5%. The fake cables will never be capable of this.

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Edit: As I assumed, most of people in the thread did not bother to do serious research and are recommending crap from "Uncle Lao" under various "brands". Very shame.

or use a carbon one :D

carbon micro usb

but its at least 50$

Thats what 2A do to your cable: http://img.mysku-st.ru/uploads/images/04/09/37/2015/08/15/0b875c.jpg
Means wires are bad quality.