Updated to a 3 Star after receiving an extraordinarily quick response from Anker as well as an offer to refund my money. Based on this I will try the cable again. Please note that this review is only about the cables I received with an order about one year ago. They seem to correlate with a number of others having the same issue. However, my review of these two specific cables that came from a specific manufacturing batch are a tiny percentage of the cables manufactured. Overall reviews for this product are very good. I also have other Anker products that are working very well. If a company will stand behind its products, that is a definite value-add and a great differentiator in the market. I actually have another, newer set already and will update my review in a few months. I also will pay attention to my handling of the cables to make sure my habits are not the problem. That seems fair and I also realize these things won't last forever.
Original Review These cables look VERY sturdy, and appear indestructible. However, they are proving to not be durable. Two failed after a year. I threw the first failure away because I assumed I had damaged it somehow. I still have the latest failure. Maybe I'll contact Anker if I have time. In reading some of the poor ratings I see that this is a common issue.