Adauxter 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 Cable Review: Genuine Performance at a Budget Price

Spec sheets are optimistic by design. A cable rated for 48Gbps sounds impressive until you plug it in and your monitor drops to 4K/60Hz because the cable can't actually sustain the bandwidth it claims. I've tested enough display cables over the years to know that the gap between what's printed on the packaging and what's delivered in practice can be genuinely embarrassing. So when the Adauxter 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 cable landed on my desk, I wasn't going to take the certification stickers at face value. I ran it through a month of real-world testing across multiple setups to find out whether it actually delivers.

The problem this cable is trying to solve is a real one. If you've recently bought a high-refresh-rate monitor, a next-generation GPU like an RTX 5090, or a modern TV that supports 4K at 120Hz or higher, you've probably discovered that your existing HDMI cable is the bottleneck. Older HDMI 2.0 cables cap out at 18Gbps, which means 4K/60Hz is your ceiling. To unlock 4K/120Hz, 8K/60Hz, or anything approaching the resolution and refresh rate combinations that current hardware can push, you need a cable that meets the HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed specification, which mandates 48Gbps. The Adauxter cable claims exactly that, at a budget price point, with a 3-metre length that's genuinely useful for real living room and desk setups.

I tested this cable across a gaming PC with an RTX 4080 (the RTX 5090 wasn't available to me at time of testing, but the cable is rated for it), a Sony Bravia XR TV, a Dell UltraSharp monitor, and a laptop with HDMI 2.1 output. I used it for gaming, streaming Netflix HDR content, and general desktop work. Here's what I found.

The physical construction is what you'd expect at this price point. The cable uses a braided outer jacket that feels reasonably durable, with moulded plastic connector housings at each end. The connectors themselves are standard Type-A HDMI on both ends. At 3 metres, it's long enough to run from a PC tower to a monitor on the other side of a desk, or from a TV cabinet to a wall-mounted display, without being so long that you're coiling up excess cable behind your furniture. The 48Gbps bandwidth figure is the key number here, and it's worth understanding what that actually enables in practice.

For context: HDMI 1.4 cables support 10.2Gbps, HDMI 2.0 cables support 18Gbps, and HDMI 2.1 cables support 48Gbps. Each step up unlocks meaningfully higher resolution and refresh rate combinations. At 48Gbps, you can run 4K at 120Hz with HDR enabled, which is the sweet spot for current gaming TVs and high-end monitors. You can also run 8K at 60Hz, which matters if you own one of Samsung's 8K QLED panels. The HDCP 2.3 support means the cable is compatible with the latest content protection requirements for streaming services, which is why Netflix 4K HDR works correctly through it.

First test: 4K at 120Hz with HDR10 enabled, running from a PC with an RTX 4080 to a Sony Bravia XR TV. The cable handled this without any issue. The TV reported the signal correctly, HDR metadata passed through cleanly, and I ran the setup for several hours of gaming without a single dropout or signal interruption. This is the most common real-world use case for an HDMI 2.1 cable right now, and the Adauxter passed it comfortably. I also tested 4K at 144Hz on a compatible gaming monitor, which again worked correctly, with the monitor's OSD confirming the refresh rate and the GPU's display settings showing the full 48Gbps bandwidth allocation.

The eARC test was interesting. I connected the cable between the TV's eARC-designated HDMI port and a Sony soundbar, and confirmed that lossless audio formats (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio) passed through correctly. This matters because standard ARC is limited to compressed audio formats, and eARC is what you need for lossless passthrough from streaming services and Blu-ray players. The Adauxter handled this without any configuration issues. CEC also worked correctly, meaning TV remote commands passed through to connected devices as expected. For a cable at this price point, that's a solid result across the board.

I did try to push it to 8K/60Hz using a PC connected to an 8K display. The signal was established correctly and the display reported 8K at 60Hz as available. I can't independently verify the full 48Gbps throughput without specialist cable testing equipment, but the fact that 8K/60Hz was available and stable suggests the cable is genuinely meeting its specification rather than just claiming it. For comparison, a cheap unbranded cable I tested alongside it failed to establish a stable 8K signal at all, dropping to 8K/30Hz instead.

Colour accuracy through the cable was not measurably degraded compared to a shorter, more expensive cable I had on hand. This is what you'd expect from a passive cable: it's either passing the signal or it isn't, and if it's passing it correctly, the colour data is bit-perfect. I verified this by running a colour calibration check on my Dell UltraSharp monitor with both cables connected in turn, and the results were effectively identical. The cable isn't adding or subtracting anything from the signal; it's just a conductor.

The 3-metre length is worth discussing in the context of signal integrity. Longer HDMI 2.1 cables are harder to manufacture to spec because signal attenuation increases with length. At 48Gbps, even small amounts of signal degradation can cause dropouts or force the display to negotiate down to a lower bandwidth mode. Three metres is generally considered the practical limit for passive HDMI 2.1 cables, and the Adauxter sits right at that boundary. In my testing, signal integrity was maintained throughout. If you need more than 3 metres, you'd want to look at active HDMI 2.1 cables, which use built-in signal amplification, but they cost significantly more.

HDR10+ metadata passthrough was clean throughout my testing. I watched several HDR10+ titles on Amazon Prime Video and the dynamic metadata was being applied correctly, with the TV's tone mapping responding to scene-by-scene brightness information rather than applying a static HDR curve. Dolby Vision also worked correctly through the cable when connected to Dolby Vision-capable displays. These aren't trivial tests: they require the cable to carry additional metadata alongside the video signal without corruption.

What is worth discussing is the cable's relationship with USB-C and HDMI in modern laptop setups. Many current laptops output HDMI 2.1 via their dedicated HDMI port, and this cable is the right choice for connecting those laptops to external displays at high refresh rates. If your laptop only has USB-C or Thunderbolt outputs, you'd need an adapter or dock to use this cable, and the maximum bandwidth you can achieve will depend on the adapter's quality and the Thunderbolt or USB4 bandwidth available on your specific laptop.

The cable draws no power from the source device, which is worth mentioning because some poorly designed cables can cause minor power draw issues on certain devices. In my testing across a gaming PC, a laptop, and a streaming device, there were no anomalous power readings or device warnings related to the cable. It's passive, it draws nothing, and it doesn't interfere with the power delivery happening through other ports on the same device.

For laptop users specifically: if you're running a gaming laptop with an RTX 4070 or higher, and you want to connect to an external 4K/120Hz display, this cable is the right tool. The laptop's HDMI 2.1 port will handle the bandwidth, and the Adauxter cable will carry it without being the limiting factor. I tested this with a laptop outputting 4K/120Hz to the Dell UltraSharp and the connection was stable throughout a two-hour gaming session.

If you do need to travel with it, it fits in a bag without taking up much space, but the 3-metre length means you're carrying more cable than you probably need for a hotel room or meeting room setup. For travel purposes, a 1-metre or 1.5-metre HDMI 2.1 cable would be more practical. The Adauxter is available in shorter lengths, so if portability is your priority, it's worth checking whether a shorter version suits your needs better.

The cable's weight is negligible. The connectors are solid without being heavy, and the braided jacket doesn't add meaningful mass. For a permanent desk or living room installation, the 3-metre length is genuinely useful: long enough to route neatly from a PC tower to a monitor on the opposite side of a large desk, or from a TV cabinet to a wall-mounted display at a reasonable height. This is the length I'd choose for a living room gaming setup, and it's clearly the intended use case.

On Windows, you need to go into Display Settings, then Advanced Display Settings, and manually set the refresh rate to your target (120Hz, 144Hz, etc.). The system doesn't always default to the highest available refresh rate. On PlayStation 5, you need to enable 4K/120Hz in the video output settings, and on some TVs you also need to enable "Enhanced Format" or "Ultra HD Deep Colour" on the specific HDMI port you're using. These are software and firmware settings, not cable limitations, but they're the most common reason people think their HDMI 2.1 cable isn't working.

I mention this because the Adauxter cable's 8,782 reviews include a small number of complaints about the cable "not working" at high refresh rates, and in most cases these are almost certainly setup issues rather than cable defects. The cable itself, in my testing, worked correctly across every device I connected it to. If you're having trouble, check your display settings before assuming the cable is faulty.

The one thermal consideration worth mentioning is the connector temperature at the source device end. On some GPUs and laptops, the HDMI port area can get warm during extended high-bandwidth operation, but this is a function of the source device's internal circuitry, not the cable. The cable connectors themselves remained cool to the touch throughout my testing. I checked them after a four-hour gaming session at 4K/120Hz and they were indistinguishable from ambient temperature.

If you're routing this cable in a confined space, such as inside a cable management channel or behind a TV unit with limited airflow, there's no thermal concern from the cable itself. The braided jacket doesn't trap heat, and the cable's passive nature means it generates no heat of its own. This is one area where a cable review is genuinely simple: there's nothing to worry about here.

What is worth discussing is the cable's role in audio quality. The eARC support means this cable can carry lossless audio formats from a TV back to an AV receiver or soundbar, which is the highest quality audio path available in a home theatre setup. The alternative, standard ARC, is limited to compressed formats like Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. With eARC through this cable, you can pass Dolby TrueHD Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio from streaming services and Blu-ray players to your audio system without compression. In practice, this means noticeably better audio quality for film watching, particularly in the low-frequency and surround channels.

I tested eARC audio passthrough with a Sony soundbar and confirmed that Dolby TrueHD Atmos was being decoded correctly, with the soundbar's display confirming the lossless format. The cable handled this without any audio dropouts or sync issues over a two-hour film. For anyone building a home theatre setup, the eARC support alone justifies choosing an HDMI 2.1 cable over an older HDMI 2.0 cable, even if your display doesn't yet support 4K/120Hz.

The cable supports the full HDMI 2.1 feature set, which includes more than just high bandwidth. CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) allows connected devices to communicate with each other and respond to a single remote control, which is useful in living room setups where you want your TV remote to control your soundbar or streaming device. The Ethernet over HDMI feature allows network data to be shared between connected devices, though this is rarely used in practice since most devices connect to networks via Wi-Fi or dedicated Ethernet ports.

HDCP 2.3 is the content protection standard required by the latest streaming services and 4K Blu-ray players. Without HDCP 2.3 support, you may find that certain 4K HDR content refuses to play at full quality, falling back to a lower resolution. The Adauxter's HDCP 2.3 support means you won't hit this limitation. Netflix 4K, Disney+ 4K, and Amazon Prime Video 4K all played correctly through this cable in my testing, with no content protection errors.

• HDMI Type-A connectors (both ends)
• 48Gbps bandwidth (HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed)
• ARC and eARC support
• CEC support
• HDCP 2.3 content protection
• HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG support
• Ethernet over HDMI
• 3-metre length

For anyone using a projector in the setup, the cable's support for high refresh rates and HDR is equally relevant. Modern 4K projectors increasingly support HDR10 and some support Dolby Vision, and they benefit from the same 48Gbps bandwidth headroom as TVs and monitors. I tested the cable with a 4K projector and confirmed that 4K/60Hz with HDR10 worked correctly, which is the practical maximum for most current 4K projectors. The cable didn't introduce any signal degradation or colour shift compared to a shorter cable in the same setup.

The connector housings are moulded plastic with a slight texture that makes them easy to grip. The strain relief at the cable-to-connector junction is adequate, with a flexible boot that prevents the cable from bending sharply at the point where it exits the connector. This is the most common failure point on cheap cables, where the cable eventually breaks internally due to repeated bending. The Adauxter's strain relief isn't the most substantial I've seen, but it's better than the bare-minimum approach on the cheapest cables.

The gold-plated contacts on the connectors are standard practice for HDMI cables and provide corrosion resistance rather than any meaningful improvement in signal quality. The contacts on my test sample were clean and even, with no visible defects. After repeated insertion and removal cycles across my testing period, the connectors still fit securely into all the ports I tested them with, without any loosening or play. For a cable at this price point, the build quality is genuinely good. It doesn't feel like something that will fail after six months of normal use.

One minor gripe: the cable is slightly stiffer than I'd like, which makes it harder to route around tight corners or through cable management channels. This is a common trade-off with braided cables; the braid adds stiffness along with durability. It's not a dealbreaker, but if you're routing this cable through a particularly tight path, you'll need to allow a bit more bend radius than you would with a softer cable.

The Belkin cable is genuinely well-built and carries the HDMI Forum's certification prominently. It's also significantly more expensive than the Adauxter. In my testing, the signal quality between the Belkin and the Adauxter was indistinguishable at 4K/120Hz and 8K/60Hz. Both cables established stable connections, passed HDR metadata correctly, and supported eARC without issues. The Belkin's build quality is marginally better, with a more flexible jacket and slightly more substantial connector housings, but the performance difference is zero.

The generic unbranded cable was a different story. It failed to establish a stable 8K/60Hz connection, dropping to 8K/30Hz instead. At 4K/120Hz it worked, but HDR10+ metadata passthrough was inconsistent, with the TV occasionally reverting to SDR. eARC was unreliable, dropping audio sync twice during a two-hour film. This is the real risk with unbranded cables: they may claim 48Gbps but can't actually deliver it. The Adauxter sits clearly above this category in actual performance.

The Adauxter's ★★★★½ (4.7) rating from 8,782 reviews suggests this experience is consistent across a large number of buyers, which is reassuring. A 4.7-star average across nearly nine thousand reviews is hard to fake, and it aligns with my own testing experience.

Who should buy this? Anyone who needs a 3-metre HDMI 2.1 cable for a gaming setup, home theatre, or high-refresh-rate monitor connection. If you've just bought a 4K/120Hz TV, a gaming console that supports 4K/120Hz, or a GPU capable of driving high-refresh-rate displays, this cable is the right choice at the right price. It's also the correct cable for anyone setting up eARC audio passthrough to a soundbar or AV receiver. The RTX 5090 compatibility claim in the product title is accurate in the sense that the cable supports the bandwidth the GPU can output, though I'd note that the RTX 5090 wasn't available for me to test directly.

Who should skip it? If you need more than 3 metres, this cable isn't the answer. Passive HDMI 2.1 cables beyond 3 metres struggle to maintain signal integrity at full bandwidth, and you'd need an active cable instead. If you only need 4K/60Hz, you could save money with an HDMI 2.0 cable, though the price difference at this level is small enough that the 2.1 cable is probably worth it for future-proofing. And if you want the absolute best build quality with a major brand warranty, the Belkin is better constructed, though you'll pay more for it.

My verdict: this is a proper HDMI 2.1 cable at a budget price, and it performs like one. For the money, it's one of the better value propositions in the display cable market right now. I'd give it a solid 8 out of 10 for the budget cable tier. The performance is there, the build quality is decent, and the price makes it an easy recommendation for anyone who needs genuine 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 capability without spending premium money to get it.