VONMÄHLEN High Five Signature – Review

A charging cable for your pocket with which you always have the right plug at hand. This is the promise of the Lüneburg start-up VONMÄHLEN with its High Five Signature.

The keyring is equipped with USB-A, USB-C, Micro-USB, and Lightning and thus offers all current standards of power supply for current tech products such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. But does the innovative accessory keep its promises?

First impression

The High Five Signature itself comes in a plain white cardboard packaging, which unfortunately feels neither stable nor valuable. This is not bad at first, but it definitely clouds the first impression.

But things change quickly after unpacking. The advertising for the in-house social media channels and the slightly confusing Quickstart Guide set aside reveals the High Five Signature.

The well seven centimeters long key fob consists, according to VONMÄHLEN, of zinc (on Amazon it is called it would be from aluminum) and feels against it very high-quality processed. The wonderfully designed keyring with its 15g fits well in the hand and the metal casing gives it a stylish, cool look.

The short black cable makes a long-lasting impression, the plug connections close firmly and the small magnet holds the two cable ends together securely.

I can immediately imagine making the High Five my daily companion on my key ring.

The System

At a closer look, it looks like the charging cable has only one USB-A, USB-C, and Lightning plug. A Micro-USB connector cannot be recognized.

Only a glance at the Quickstart Guide will tell you that the Lightning connector, if vice versa, can also be used as a micro-USB connector. Pretty ingenious, in my opinion.

The general functioning of the system is quickly explained:

The High Five can be divided into two parts, one is the USB-A connector with two female connectors for USB-C and Lightning/Micro-USB and the other is the cable with the male counterparts USB-C and Lightning/Micro-USB. These can then be combined as desired to get the right connection.

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For example, if you want to charge your iPhone, you take the USB-A part and plug in the USB-C cable – you get USB-A -> Lightning. If you want to charge your S10, the whole thing works the other way round. Lightning in USB-A and you have a free connection for USB-C. If you need Lightning -> USB-C the USB-A part can be left out.

In the first test, the whole thing also works absolutely smoothly. Every connection works at first go and without any problems.

In everyday test

To find out how well the High Five does in everyday life, I hang it on my keychain and look forward to never being without a suitable cable again.

Unfortunately, the pleasure lasts only for a short time. The fixed plug connections I praised fail already after the first outdoor use – I lose the USB-A part.

After initial disappointment, however, I set out on a search and actually found what I was looking for. Exactly at the place where I took my key out of my pocket on the way home, I found the lost part. About ten hours in winter in wind and weather, between pebbles and obviously often a shoe sole he ekes out an existence on the sidewalk in front of my house.

I grab the battered USB-A piece and don’t really have high hopes that it still works.

But then, after I have cleaned it, it reveals to my biggest surprise that the zinc housing has only minor scratches and dents and otherwise shows hardly any traces that would indicate the torture.

The High Five also works without any other problems. All connections work at first go and I am amazed how undamaged the part survived its little trip.

For my further test, however, the underlying problem remains. The plug connections are simply too weak to hold the USB-A part on the cable. Almost every time I take my key out of my pocket the USB-A part stays in my pocket.

As time goes by, I find myself subconsciously putting the two pieces in my pocket together again and again.

The charging cable performs similarly poorly in everyday use. The plug connections are simply too weak to plug in even one device properly. All the time the cables are slipping out of the devices and I am constantly busy to restore all connections. This is especially annoying since I mainly work with a laptop which I also move from time to time. It doesn’t matter which of the connections I’m using, they all hold equally bad.

Conclusion

The High Five Signature is a really elegant piece of technology with a well-thought-out functionality. It has a high-quality finish and with its zinc housing, it can withstand even the most adverse conditions.

Unfortunately, the plug connections are all absolutely inferior, so that unfortunately the two parts simply do not stick together or the connection to the end device is constantly interrupted.