iLounge

Company: RadTech

Website: www.Radtech.us

Model: ProCable Stereo Audio Extender

Price: $7

Compatible: iPhone

RadTech ProCable Stereo Audio Extender for iPhone

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By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Category: Adapters and Cables - iPhone Audio

We've been heavily focused on certain priority iPod and iPhone accessories over the last couple of months, but wanted to keep a handful of interesting budget-priced options from falling through the cracks. RadTech's ProCable Stereo Audio Extender ($7) isn't stylish or glamorous, but it's the least expensive headphone port adapter we've yet seen for iPhone, and thereby worthy of a little addition.

The ProCable Stereo Audio Extender is a six-inch black wire with a 3.5mm headphone plug at one end and a 3.5mm headphone port at the other. Like Griffin’s and Belkin’s Headphone Adapters for iPhone, the Stereo Audio Extender allows you to use any pair of headphones with iPhone’s recessed headphone port; the plastic around the plug has been cut just enough to squeeze mostly in to the iPhone, and fully enough to make a proper stereo connection.

Whether you’ll prefer the Stereo Audio Extender at a $3 discount from Griffin’s price or a $4 discount from Belkin’s really depends on how much you care about your George Washingtons and how little you care about your iPhone’s looks. When iPhone’s port is viewed from the back, the ProCable’s plug doesn’t look to sink down as completely as the other alternatives, and RadTech’s design looks more like a Radio Shack hack than a sleek, custom-made iPhone part.

In our book, better designs, like Griffin’s, always merit at least a small premium, and thus we’d put ProCable on par with the slightly lower-rated Belkin design, which lacks this one’s flexibility but otherwise looks nicer. Without saving you enough money to make a difference, this one is an obvious step down from Griffin’s adapter in looks but not in features.