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Best hdmi cable for gaming 2018 – [Buyer’s Guide]
Last Updated September 1, 2023
I’m Willow Arnold Simmons. My friends call me “stone” and it just kind of stuck. After putting in 39+ hours of research and testing, I made a list of the best hdmi cable for gaming of 2018 and explained their differences and advantages.
I will go through the main features and what you should consider when deciding which one to pick over the other. In this section we provide our readers with a comparison table of our top picks. Scroll past the table for a closer look at each of the 3 best hdmi cable for gaming in our review section.
Best hdmi cable for gaming of 2018
Based on customer reviews and my own experience with the cowboy method I’ve found the best 3 hdmi cable for gaming on the market. Before you spend your money on hdmi cable for gaming, start by familiarizing yourself with the various types. The best hdmi cable for gaming will make your fairytale dreams come true! The above tidbits will bring you closer to selecting hdmi cable for gaming that best serves your needs and as per your budget.
Test Results and Ratings
| Rank | №1 | №2 | №3 |
| Product |  |
 |
 |
| Total | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Style |
4 points
|
5 points
|
4 points
|
| Size |
5 points
|
4 points
|
4 points
|
| Performance |
5 points
|
4 points
|
4 points
|
| Quality |
5 points
|
5 points
|
5 points
|
| Awards |  |
||
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
How to save up to 86%? Here is little trick.
You must visit the page of sales. Here is the link. If you don’t care about which brand is better, then you can choose the hdmi cable for gaming by the price and buy from the one who will offer the greatest discount.
№1 – 4K HDMI Cable 6 ft – Atevon High Speed 18Gbps HDMI 2.0 Cable – 4K HDR
| Total: |
4.8
|
Why did this hdmi cable for gaming win the first place?
The product is very strong. Its material is stable and doesn’t crack. The rear part fits perfectly! It is mounted really tight and reliable. I am very happy with the purchase. It is definitely worth its money. The product is top-notch! I don’t know anything about other models from this brand, but I am fully satisfied with this product.
4
|
5
|
5
|
5
|
№2 – Sailfish HDMI cable 2.0 – 4K Gaming Edition Designed for Xbox One X
| Total: |
4.5
|
Why did this hdmi cable for gaming come in second place?
Managers explained me all the details about the product range, price, and delivery. This is a pretty decent product that perfectly fitted the interior of our office. I like this product. For such a low price, I didn’t even hope it to be any better. It’s decently made. Seems that the material is good. It has a very beautiful color but I don’t really like the texture.
5
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
№3 – HDMI Cable Syncwire 6.5ft HDMI Cord – Ultra High Speed 18Gbps HDMI 2.0 Cable Support Fire TV
| Total: |
4.3
|
Why did this hdmi cable for gaming take third place?
I liked the design. We’ve been using it for 2 months and it still looks like brand new. A very convenient model. It is affordable and made of high-quality materials. It doesn’t squeaks nor bents. Looks great in my apartment. It is inconvenient to use due to the size. I am going to get something different next time.
4
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
hdmi cable for gaming Buyer’s Guide
HDMI myths busted
When you’ve ever been persuaded to buy a new HDMI cable using the “3D upgrade” or future-proofing arguments, the chances are that you were ripped-off, though by who, exactly, is a grey area.
Riddled with complex, largely meaningless technical specifications, expensive licensing arrangements and at its core a cable that’s not versatile enough for a lot of mainstream situations, the world of HDMI is a confusing one indeed.
We asked around the AV industry for some answers so you can buy with confidence – and only spend what you should.
Seriously.
It took me just a few seconds of internet searching to uncover this incredible ‘deal’, making me think there could be even more expensive specimens out there for people who really want to push the boat out.
Clearly no sane person would pay so much for a cable – even when the offer includes ‘free reusable cable ties’! But that’s the world of HDMI cables for you. It’s complicated, and as our own Brett Phipps reveals in his piece, some retailers are only too happy to exploit this confusion.
It doesn’t help matters when the HDMI Licensing group, which controls the development and application of HDMI connections, dreams up new certifications like HDMI Premium, well intentioned as they may be.
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Longer cables
The Monoprice Select Active Series High Performance HDMI Cable is the best choice for long runs, with built-in circuitry that’s more likely to work with all your distantly spaced gear.
For reasons we’ll explain, there is no need to spend more on a basic HDMI cable.
Why you should trust me
In addition to being the A/V editor here at Wirecutter, I also write for CNET and Forbes. I’ve also written for Home Theater magazine, and was the editor in chief of Home Entertainment magazine. My articles have appeared in Men’s Journal, Consumers Digest, Popular Photography, PCWorld, Robb Report, and more. I’ve been interviewed by a wide range of TV and radio stations, including NBC, NPR, and the BBC.
Pull Quote
More expensive HDMI cables will not offer any performance advantage over cheap cables.
If you are getting an image with an HDMI cable, and that image is stable (meaning it doesn’t flicker) and doesn’t show “sparkles” (what looks like snow in the images on this page), then the image is perfect. If you’re getting sound as well that doesn’t drop out (or cut out), then the sound will be perfect.
This includes the resolution and frame rate you desire as well. The cable won’t change the resolution or frame rate, but a defective or poorly made cable might not be able to handle resolutions above 1080p. More on this later, but as mentioned, if it works, it works.
Over long runs (1feet or more), it is more likely you’ll get dropouts or sparkles. Active cables, such as those that feature RedMere active technology (more on that below), will be more likely to get the signal from the source to your TV. These aren’t that much more expensive than passive cables. So if you don’t want to try a passive cable to see if it will work, go for an active cable. More on this in the Long cables/thin cables section below.
No such thing as an HDMI 2.0 cable or a 4K HDMI cable
It’s common to see on current TVs and other A/V gear labels like “HDMI 2.0-compliant.” It’s important to make a distinction here, in the effort of clarity. There is the HDMI cable and the HDMI connection. The cable doesn’t have a number. There are currently only four types of HDMI cables for the home: “Standard Speed” HDMI cables are able to transmit up to 1080i. There is no reason to buy them. “High Speed” HDMI cables can handle 4K resolutions. It’s worth noting that basically no gear actually uses the the Ethernet component of HDMI cables, but the price difference is so marginal that there’s little reason not to get it.
The number (as in HDMI 2.0) refers to the connection, not the cable. It’s the chips inside your TV, receiver, and Blu-ray player that matter. For certain features, the chips need to be a certain version, but the cable itself doesn’t matter. So there’s no such thing as an HDMI 2.0 cable, only a High Speed cable, which will work just fine if you plug it into two HDMI 2.0 devices.
Along the same lines, there is no such thing as a 4K HDMI cable. If you bought a High Speed HDMI cable a few years ago, it should work just fine with 4K. More on this in the next section.
The competition
Going through each brand and cable isn’t necessary, as there are only two claims these cables make to justify their prices, and both are easily refuted.
1) Better picture and/or sound quality. As we discussed earlier, this isn’t possible. The only way one cable could make your content look or sound better than another cable is if one of them changed the data flowing across them. If any of the data going across somehow gets changed, the only two possible results at the TV end are sparkles (a pixel dropping out, quite noticeable) or the entire image dropping out. It can’t look sharper (or softer), brighter (or dimmer), more colorful (or muted). This would mean huge aspects of the image have changed, and HDMI cables just don’t work like that.
Other cheap cables
Monoprice sells approximately a billion different types of HDMI cables. Different colors, different thicknesses, and so on. We’ve picked two in this guide we think would work for most people. However, if you want something specific (thinner, for example), go for it. When you plug it in at home, if it works (which it should), then it works perfectly.
Just keep in mind that thinner, cheaper cables, may be less likely to be able to transmit a signal, but if they work, they work.
Science and testing
My many HDMI articles are linked throughout this guide. Each one was heavily researched, including interviews and discussions with the companies that make the HDMI send/receive chips, and with HDMI Licensing, which is in charge of the actual HDMI specification.
I’ve also done hands-on testing, as you can read in the linked articles. If you want additional objective testing, here are a few great sources worth reading.
Belkin HDMI Cable
Belkin’s HDMI cable is a superb, reasonably-priced cable. It’s available in lengths from four feet to 50 feet. This no-frills HDMI cable is suitable for 4K devices delivering up to 18Gbps bandwidth. As such, it’s ideal for 4K resolution. With a variety of lengths and a low price from a trusted name, this Belkin HDMI cable is a top choice.
ViewHD Port 1×Powered HDMI Mini Splitter
Many older devices such as monitors, televisions, and projectors lacked HDCP, or suffer from HDCP handshaking problems. A splitter like the ViewHD is the perfect solution to rectify HDCP problems.
The HDMI Licensing Org. confirms this explicitly
In return this does mean that HDMI cables which are not explicitly called “High Speed” cables do not ultimately support 4K resolution.
This means: When you buy an HDMI High Speed Cable today you can be sure that it supports 4k and tomorrow’s high bandwidth requirements of HDMI 2.0.
High-speed HDMI 2.0 Cable
The HDMI 2.0 Cable is compatible with all video game consoles and PC’s with HDMI output. Our high-speed HDMI cable supports Ethernet, 3D, 4K video and Audio Return Channel (ARC) and is backward compatible with previous HDMI standards.
Retro-Bit Retro Duo
For some of you who still have a collection of old Nintendo cartridges, there was likely a woeful day somewhere in the past where you went to switch on your old console, only to find that its life had been cut short. Unfortunately, as is the case with most electronics, the devices used to play things never live quite as long as the playable things themselves. However, so long as things like the Retro Duo exist, the games can live on. This device can play either NES or Super NES cartridges and comes with two controllers or is compatible with original 16-bit controllers. It also comes with an AV/S video cable and AC adapter.
Hyperkin Retron Gaming Console
If your collection of old cartridges extends beyond just a couple of formats, you might want to consider something like the Retron Gaming Console. This HDMI compatible console comes with a Bluetooth enabled wireless controller and is compatible with games on NES, SNES, Super Famicom, Genesis, Mega Drive, Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA out of the box. If you purchase the optional Power Base Converter, you can even play Master System games. This system also features on-the-fly saving, screen capturing, and enhanced resolution and sound.
Popular Capture Cards
1. Elgato: Few most popular capture cards from Elgato are HD60 Pro, HD60 S and HD 60. This company is well known for external card manufacturing but HD60 pro is one recently launched internal capture card.
3. Roxio: Roxio develops various budget friendly capture cards for users and they provide efficient customer service along with better software compatibility with each product.
Difference between Game Recording Software
The game capture card is actually a hardware device that accepts video signal and record it. When you are working on two PCs then primary system use to run the game and it sends videos signals to another system to which capture card is connected. The second PC performs the recording task with the help of capture card and it will never affect performance of your first system.
On the other side, capture software use to record videos on the same PC on which your program or game is running. Now as capture task is going to happen on the same system so it will definitely affect performance of your PC. The benefit of capture software is that it is available at much lower price range as compared to capture card.
It is important to note that only few capture cards are able to record audio signals while processing video information. Also, they can support audio streaming from one source only and capture cards can work with standard resolutions or frame rates.
Roxio Game Capture HD Pro
This hardware package assists users in advance video game capturing needs. With Roxio, you will be able to manage a great balance between design, quality and use. Its hardware setup is much easier whereas the software help users to manage their editing tasks with ease. The edited videos can be quickly uploaded on internet. Roxio game capture tool can be used to record high quality video and audio footage from game play that is working on any system like PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360 etc. It supports video recording at 1080p resolution level and assists in easy recording even when users are playing their Full HD content on TV.
Elgato Game Capture HD
If you have low budget then it is good to spend on older model of Elgato. The Elgato HD contains all amazing features that are mostly needed by all gamers to capture HD content. With this device, you need to mess up very less with the setup and also it does not need any additional hardware arrangement to work. Due to this simplicity, this device is loved by most of professionals as well as beginners. The Elgato HD package includes PScable, component adapter, HDMI cable, USB cable and capture software. The best part is its unique time-shift feature that supports flashback recording function so that users never miss any moment while recording their interesting game play.
Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro
Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro is latest internal capture card product from Elgato. Till now Elgato have served users only with external capture cards but this latest design provided a rock solid solution to multi system live streamers. The best thing to know is that this capture card received HGG gold stamp approval that is a globally recognised best performance award. This capture card will assist users to perform so many actions without losing performance during recording and live streaming. The master copy technology allows this device to record and stream 1080p with 60fps simultaneously. The flashback recording feature will help to capture all critical moments with ease and Instant Gameview works like advanced low latency technology.
AVerMediaExtremeCap
People love its sleek design with smooth black plastic finish. Although it is not the lightest device of capture card series with overall weight of 18grams but still users feel it easier to carry to different locations. Below the cover, you will find a LED light that gives active indications about recording. There is a 3.mm audio jack where users can easily connect microphones for high quality audio recording. With the box of AVerMedia Extreme capture card, users will be able to get a HDMI cable, USB cable and special component cable adapter that assists in making easy connections with PSIt work for smooth recording at 1080p with 60fps frame rate.
Razer Ripsaw
This piece of hardware is developed to serve users with live streaming facility while capturing game footage. It works perfectly on a Window PC where sufficient hardware power is essential. Note that weaker systems cannot support capture cards even not other than Razer Ripsaw. This device is slightly bigger than that of Elgato HD60 capture card but the black rounded corners make it more impressive by looks. A textured classic rubber coating provides covering to entire base of this unit. At front side of this device you will find two indicating LEDs and on backside there are four different slots for USB 3.0, HDMI Out, HDMI In and Component In.
Google Chromecast
For most people the best wireless solution is to buy a Google Chromecast which costs as little as £30. This HDMI dongle plugs into your TV and connects to your Wi-Fi.
The devices has the ability to cast a tab of your choice in Chrome so it appears on the screen using the built-in cast feature. You can then visit websites, show photos and even watch video. Find out how to setup and use a Chromecast.
The Basics
Quite simply, HDMI connectivity works on a dumb pipe basis. In other words, as long as the pipe is big enough for everything you want it to squeeze through, it will transmit that data perfectly, and if it doesn’t, then the cable is more likely than not simply defective. Any failure of a cable to handle the information you’re trying to put through it will result in that information being completely absent. Defectiveness will probably mean catastrophic things like a complete failure of video transmission or massive interference that causes severe visual defects such as “sparkles”, which you can see in the image below.
Again, the thing here is that these failures of any video throughput from any source to a 4K TV of any newer kind are extremely unlikely in any cable that isn’t simply outright defective for some reason. This possibility aside, an HDMI cable only needs to be of the modern, highly standardized High-speed variety to support any 4K video transmission to move through HDMI at a full potential speed of 60Hz with support for all associated standard modern HDMI standards of 48bit/px color depth, HDCP 2.and HEVC support, and support for all HDMI connectivity ports right up to the still very new and infrequently encountered HDMI 2.0b standard (most 4K TVs even for 201still support up to HDMI 2.0a in their HDMI ports). The above basics of modern High-Speed HDMI cables include capacity for high dynamic range video formats as well by default.
The above essentially means that these cables support both HDRand the more advanced, visually spectacular Dolby Vision standard. Furthermore, as newer HDR formats like HDR10+ or any possible update to Dolby Vision hit the content/display market in the next year, they too should flow through all newer HDMI cables just fine as well. In fact, HDR doesn’t even really need a great deal of bandwidth to pass between a TV and any device, so allowing it in any HDMI cable is actually quite a bit simpler than was allowing 4K UHD signals themselves at 60Hz.
Thus, one more time because it’s worth remembering firmly, any modern HDMI cable is essentially just a dumb pipe that either allows data to flow perfectly or doesn’t because it’s broken, not because it’s lacking any “special” features such as those touted by some disingenuous manufacturers. As long as your HDMI pipe is wide enough for high-speed connectivity, it’s almost certainly wide enough for all modern 4K content requirements.
Often, the TVs that go on sale during Black Friday have very limited feature sets. Instead of getting three or four HDMI ports, you might need to settle for one or two. These are the ports that connect to your cable box, your gaming system, your Apple TV, Roku and other products. The more you have the better, otherwise you’ll need to add an HDMI extender, which doesn’t always work well, or you’ll be back and forth unplugging cables from your TV.
HDMI Basics
The first thing to remember about HDMI is that it is a digital standard. Unlike component video, composite video, S-video, or coaxial cable, HDMI signals don’t gradually degrade, or get fuzzy and lose clarity as the signal fades or interference grows. For digital signals like HDMI, as long as there is enough data for the receiver to put together a picture, it will form. If there isn’t, it will just drop off. While processing artifacts can occur and gaps in the signal can cause blocky effects or screen blanking, generally an HDMI signal will display whenever the signal successfully reaches the receiver. Claims that more expensive cables put forth greater video or audio fidelity are nonsense; it’s like saying you can get better-looking YouTube videos on your laptop by buying more expensive Ethernet cables. From a technical standpoint, it simply doesn’t make sense.
This doesn’t mean that all HDMI cables are created equal in all cases. HDMI includes multiple specifications detailing standards of bandwidth and the capabilities of the cable.
That said, there are cases where higher quality cables and going to lengths to maintain signal quality are important. They just aren’t cases that apply for most HDTV owners. If you’re going to run an HDMI cable for lengths longer than feet, you should be concerned about insulation to protect against signal degradation. It’s not an issue for 6-foot lengths of cable, but as the distance between media device and display increases, signal quality decreases and the more susceptible the signal becomes to magnetic interference. In fact, for distances of over 30 feet, the HDMI licensing board recommends either using a signal amplifier or considering an alternate solution, like an HDMI-over-Ethernet converter. When you’re running up against the maximum length, the greater insulation and build quality of more expensive cables can potentially improve the stability of your signal. However, if there’s a 30-foot gap between your Blu-ray player and your HDTV, you might want to rearrange some furniture. Or just use a technology designed for long distances.
How to save up to 86%? Here is little trick.
You must visit the page of sales. Here is the link. If you don’t care about which brand is better, then you can choose the hdmi cable for gaming by the price and buy from the one who will offer the greatest discount.
Final Word
First of all thanks for reading my article to the end! I hope you find my reviews listed here useful and that it allows you to make a proper comparison of what is best to fit your needs and budget. Don’t be afraid to try more than one product if your first pick doesn’t do the trick.
Most important, have fun and choose your hdmi cable for gaming wisely! Good luck!
So, TOP3 of hdmi cable for gaming
- №1 — 4K HDMI Cable 6 ft – Atevon High Speed 18Gbps HDMI 2.0 Cable – 4K HDR
- №2 — Sailfish HDMI cable 2.0 – 4K Gaming Edition Designed for Xbox One X
- №3 — HDMI Cable Syncwire 6.5ft HDMI Cord – Ultra High Speed 18Gbps HDMI 2.0 Cable Support Fire TV
Questions? Leave a comment below!
Chatting about hdmi cable for gaming is my passion! Leave me a question in the comments, I answer each and every one and would love to get to know you better!
