In-Depth Review
PS5 and OLED finally feel like one system
By Andre Coleman · Home Theater Enthusiast
2025-06-30 · 480 words
Upgrading to HDMI 2.1 gear is frustrating because the wrong cable silently caps you at older refresh rates, and then you spend a weekend blaming the TV. I run a PS5 into an LG OLED and an Apple TV into a secondary input, so I wanted a certified ultra high speed cable that could handle 4K120 when the console demands it and 8K60 if I swap hardware later. This Highwings 6.6-foot braided HDMI 2.1 cable has been installed for about four months, and it has been boring in the best way: no dropouts, no pink snow, no audio desync that makes you restart everything.
The braided jacket is stiff enough to hold shape behind the console shelf, which helps airflow compared to a spaghetti pile. I appreciated that the connectors feel snug without needing gorilla force; loose HDMI ports are a real problem on some receivers, and wiggle causes intermittent HDR handshake failures. With this cable, enabling VRR and HDR on the PS5 was a one-time setup, not a weekly ritual.
I am not going to pretend I measured 48 Gbps with lab gear, but real-world signals matter more: racing games feel crisp, the info panel reports the expected 4K120 mode, and switching inputs does not produce the sparkles I saw on an older HDMI 2.0 bargain lead from a big-box store. For anyone building a clean entertainment center, length at 6.6 feet was enough from console to TV without excess slack absorbing dust.
Pros: HDMI 2.1 feature headroom, durable braid, reliable handshake on high-bandwidth modes, and sensible price versus boutique brands. Cons: stiffness can make tight radius bends behind shallow TVs challenging, and it is a single cable, so whole-home installs will need more units. It is not a directional active optical cable for extreme runs.
Five stars because it solved an actual performance problem, not just a box-check. If you are buying a new console or GPU and wondering whether cables matter, they do when you are chasing 120 Hz. This one earned a permanent spot in my rack, and I ordered a second for the projector spare input.
I powered everything off and reran HDMI detection so the TV did not keep an old 60 Hz limit. The braid holds a neat arc, but avoid sharp folds against the wall. A generic cable did 4K60 but refused 120 Hz; swapping only this lead fixed it. Soundbar audio stayed stable without lip-sync drift. Measure connector clearance on flush mounts. Six feet suits console-to-TV distances, not long projector runs. Connectors still look clean after repeated inserts. If you are troubleshooting a new console that looks stuck at 60 Hz, try a known HDMI 2.1 lead before you RMA hardware.
After extra weeks of daily use, the performance has stayed consistent with my first impressions, which is what I want from accessories that are supposed to fade into the background.
