Samsung’s new Power Sharing Cable will let your devices charge each other

By Malarie Gokey September 23, 2014

samsung micro usb power sharing cable — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Anyone who’s ever owned a smartphone or a smartwatch has run out of battery at one point or another. You could of course, carry your charger around with you, but what happens if you bring three devices with you every day? There’s now a solution. Samsung has created an ingenious charging cable that lets your devices charge each other.

The Power Sharing Cable has a Micro USB at each end, so you can connect your smartphone to your tablet or smartwatch and charge whichever device needs a little more juice. The cable will never completely drain your device’s battery either, but will only transfer the amount you need.

Luckily, it’s easy to set up power sharing and control how much power you transfer. Once you’ve got the cable, all you have to do is download the Power Sharing app from Samsung Apps or the Google Play store and choose how much power you want to transfer. Then, you plug one end of the cable into the device you want to charge and the other end into the gadget you want to take the power from.

Samsung says the cable can only draw power from the following Galaxy devices, so you’re somewhat limited. Only the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Tab S 10.5, Galaxy Tab S 8.4, Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy Avant, and Galaxy Note 4 can serve as power hubs at the moment. You can charge any Micro USB device, including smartwatches, though. The Power Sharing Cable should be particularly helpful to those who own a smartwatch, since wearables are notorious for short battery life. However, if your smartwatch requires a special charging cradle, you’re out of luck.

The Power Sharing Cable is available for purchase on Samsung’s website for $20.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…

Mobile

There’s a big problem with Samsung’s new Android tablets

The back of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra.

“Android tablets are a lost cause.” I come across this recurring theme more often than I would like, but there’s some truth to it. As someone who pushes Android tablets as a daily workhorse, I’ve defended on numerous occasions how the ecosystem has matured over the past few years after Android 12L and foldable arrived on the scene.

But compared to the iPad, Android tablets keep falling short. With every brand trying to create its own unique software flavor for tablets that vary dramatically in terms of firepower, no two Android tablets seem to offer a uniform experience. iPads, on the other hand, do deliver experience uniformity irrespective of the screen size.

Mobile

Your next Samsung phone might ditch Google Search for Bing

The screens on the Galaxy A54 and Galaxy S23 Ultra.

When you buy an Android phone, you expect Google Search to be installed out of the box as the default search engine. But that may not be the case when you buy your next Samsung phone. According to a report over the weekend, Samsung might abandon Google Search in favor of Bing as the default search engine for future Samsung Galaxy phones.

The possibility that Samsung is considering replacing Google Search with Bing on its smartphones sent Google into a "panic," according to the New York Times, Why? As the report explains, "An estimated $3 billion in annual revenue is at stake with the Samsung contract." If Samsung doesn't want to keep using Google for the default search engine on its phones, that's $3 billion per year Google will no longer get. And if Samsung decides it wants Bing instead of Google, who knows how many other companies will follow suit and do the same.
Why Samsung wants Bing over Google

Mobile

Does the Samsung Galaxy A54 have wireless charging?

The Galaxy A54's main screen.

The Samsung Galaxy A54 is Samsung's latest addition to its excellent midrange A-series smartphones. While we've yet to spend a good amount of time with it, we're optimistic this cut-price king is likely to be a great option if you want a smartphone for just $450. But what does the wireless charging situation look like?

A lower price often means some features end up on the cutting room floor, and wireless charging is often one of those features first on the cost-saving block. If you're a fan of the convenience of wireless charging, you'll want to make sure your new phone supports your favored charging method. So, does the Samsung Galaxy A54 have wireless charging?
The Samsung Galaxy A54 does not have wireless charging