Amazon Basics USB4 Cable Review: 40Gbps Data and 240W

Our verdicts combine hands-on testing by the SGK team with trusted independent lab data. For this cable, the hard numbers come from independent testing by MobileReviews Eh!, with specs cross-checked against the Amazon UK listing and the USB4 and USB Power Delivery standards.

We recommend cables by comparing each one’s claims against the manufacturer’s published figures and independent test data. SmartGadgetKit is a growing site, so where we have not long-term-tested a specific unit ourselves, we say so. Read the full method on our how we test page.

Buy almost any 240W USB-C cable and you get a fast charger and nothing else. They run data at USB 2.0, which is fine for charging and useless for files. The Amazon Basics USB4 is the cable that breaks that pattern in this price bracket. It is a genuine usb4 cable 240W charging lead, Thunderbolt 4 and 3 compatible, with 8K video output and 40Gbps data in the same connector.

It is a true USB4 lead rated at 40Gbps, not a 240W charging cable wearing a USB4 badge. Independent testing by MobileReviews Eh! measured large-file transfer at roughly 238 MB/s write and 234 MB/s read out of the box.

Those numbers are limited by the drive used, not the cable, which is exactly what you want to see: the cable is not the bottleneck. For an external SSD, a backup drive or a docking station, that is a real, usable difference over the USB 2.0 charging cables it sits next to in our best USB-C cables roundup.

Video is the other half. The listing supports a single 8K display at 60Hz, a single 4K at 120Hz, or two 4K screens at 60Hz, provided your host device supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode. Add Thunderbolt 4 and 3 compatibility on top, and you have a cable that does the lot from one connector. That versatility is the whole reason to choose it.

On power, the spec is everything you would want. It carries up to 240W under USB Power Delivery 3.1 Extended Power Range, which is 48V at 5A, with the e-marker chip the standard requires above 60W.

To actually hit 240W, your charger, cable and device all have to support 48V/5A and be EPR capable, which is true of any 240W cable.

Independent testing by MobileReviews Eh! confirmed the cable cleanly hit the common charging protocols out of the box, including 15W, 27W, 45W and 60W. The full 240W draw was not independently bench-validated in the testing we could verify, so treat the 240W as a verified rating rather than an independently measured result.

As a charging cable, it does the job. As a charging-and-everything-else cable, it is doing far more than its rivals.

This is not a braided cable. It uses a TPE jacket with a notably large connector head, and Amazon rates it to 5,000 bends at 95 degrees, which is well below the 30,000-bend braided cables elsewhere in our cluster.

Independent testing by MobileReviews Eh! went further with a custom bend rig and stress-tested it harder than the listing claim. The cable showed only limited visible damage, but it failed functionally afterwards.

Data transfer stopped establishing a proper connection, voltage drop rose from 0.59V to 0.74V, and charging worked only 1 time in 20 attempts. The reviewer’s conclusion lines up with ours: acceptable for a stationary setup, not ideal for daily portable use.

Amazon’s 5,000-bend figure is the official claim, and the independent stress test is a tougher, separate test, so treat them as two different measurements rather than a direct contradiction. Either way, the message for a buyer is the same: keep this one on the desk.

Think of this as a desk and dock cable. Plugged into a monitor, a Thunderbolt dock or an external SSD, where it is not being coiled into a bag every day, it is excellent and does things the charging cables next to it cannot.

As a cable you sling in a rucksack with your keys and water bottle, the durability evidence says think twice. For that job a tougher braided charging cable, or a slim retractable, is the safer pick.

Buy this for what it uniquely does: data, video and power from one connector at a budget price.

Amazon lists the cable as USB-IF certified. We could not independently confirm that entry in the public USB-IF database, so we report it as a listing claim. It does carry the built-in e-marker chip required above 60W, which is what lets it safely negotiate the full 240W (48V/5A) with your charger and device instead of guessing.

Sources: independent testing by MobileReviews Eh!; the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) for the USB4 and USB Power Delivery 3.1 standards. Specs from the Amazon UK product listing.

On data this cable is a 9.0, a true 40Gbps USB4 lead that also drives an 8K display, which nothing else in our budget cluster does. Power is an 8.0, the full certified 240W with an e-marker and the common protocols independently confirmed.

Value is a 7.0, because one cheap cable that charges, transfers and runs a monitor is a lot of capability per pound. Build is a 5.0, and that is the honest hold-back: a TPE jacket, a low 5,000-bend rating, and an independent bend-test failure.

Net result: 7.0, a clear recommendation with a clear condition. Buy it as a desk and dock cable and it is brilliant. Buy it as your everyday bag cable and the durability evidence will catch up with you.

Accept that, and the Amazon Basics USB4 is the rare budget lead that does the lot: 40Gbps data, 8K video and 240W charging from one connector. The data and video capability is genuine, the power rating is properly certified on paper, and the durability evidence is honest enough to steer the right buyer away from bag abuse.

See how we test, or see where it ranks in our best USB-C cables roundup.