Testing and standards

The numbers have to be real

The whole idea of KORD is that a product's claims can be trusted — that a "100W" cable genuinely carries 100W, and a power bank holds the capacity it says. That only works if we check. Before a product earns a code, we make sure it lives up to its own spec sheet, because a number nobody has verified is just marketing. This page explains, in plain terms, what that means.

Rated versus real

Plenty of gear is labelled optimistically — a wattage the product can touch for a moment but not sustain, a capacity quoted at a flattering internal voltage. We care about the real, sustained figure: what a product actually delivers in normal use, not its best-case sticker. When we list a rating, it's the one you can rely on day to day, which is sometimes lower than the headline a less careful seller would print.

Charging and power

For chargers and cables, that means confirming they deliver their rated power without running hot or faltering under load — heat being the first sign of a product cutting corners on conductor gauge or components. For power banks and stations, it means quoting capacity in honest watt-hours, the fair unit that folds voltage in, rather than the inflated mAh figure that looks bigger on a box. Our guide on watt-hours explains why that distinction matters.

Data and connections

For data cables, the rated speed has to be genuine, because a transfer runs only as fast as the slowest link and a mislabelled cable becomes a hidden bottleneck. For hubs, docks and adapters, the point is reliable power and a solid connection across all ports at once — the thing cheap versions fail at when you actually load them up.

Durability where it counts

Numbers aren't the whole story; longevity matters too. Cables live or die at the join between lead and plug, so we look for proper strain relief there, not just a nice jacket. It's why we can back everything with a 5-year replacement warranty — the durability is built in, not hoped for.

When something doesn't measure up

If a product can't back its claims, it doesn't get a code — simple as that. It's the quiet work behind a short catalogue: the reason the range is tighter than most is that plenty of products don't make the cut. We'd rather leave a gap than list something that can't live up to its own spec.

Rated versus real, in practice

The gap we care about most is between a product's headline sticker and what it actually sustains in normal use. Plenty of gear is labelled optimistically — a wattage it can touch for a moment but not hold, a capacity quoted at a flattering internal voltage. When we test, we're looking for the real, sustained figure: what you can rely on day after day, not a best-case number for a spec-sheet win. Sometimes that means the rating we publish is lower than a less careful seller would print for the same product — and we'd rather that, because the whole promise is that our numbers mean what they say. Heat is a giveaway here: a charger or cable that runs hot under load is usually cutting corners it hasn't owned up to. If you ever want the honest, real-world figure for a specific product before buying, just ask and we'll tell you straight.

Ask us

If you want to understand a specific product's real-world performance before you buy, ask. Email hello@kord.nz and we'll tell you straight.