In order to investigate the partial discharge (PD) phenomenon of the cable termination and the characteristics under different kinds of cutting defects, the actual working conditions of cable terminal will be simulated through the platform of XLPE cable accessories, furthermore, the experimental data would be acquired by using HFCT (high frequency current transformer). The two cutting defects’ characteristics covering PRPD (Phase Resolved Partial Discharge), single discharge pulse, the figure of discharge capacity, the electric field simulation and T-F characteristic are compared under normal temperature. The experimental results show that the characteristics of PD were significant difference of the two kinds of different cutting defects under the normal temperature, the time of the single waveform for ring-cutting defect is longer than slitting-cutting, and higher on discharge capacity, the amplitude and the phase distribution of PD, there are some significant differences of T-F between them. these will provide the theory basis from the difference, which are very important to discover the defects of cable terminal early and ensure the stable operation of the cable termination.