On most phones that feature wireless charging, you typically need to give up that convenience when installing a magnetic plate for phone mounts — or place the mount in a location where it works poorly to keep it. In our testing, though, that isn't the case when it comes to the Galaxy S10+. The phone is able to work with a magnetic mount quite far up the back, with no loss in wireless charging functionality.
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Not everyone has a car with Android Auto built in. Some of us have to make do with firing up the app when we pile into our car, sorting through a tangle of cables, Bluetooth devices, and clamps with our phones before we head out. If you'd like to streamline that process a bit, or if you've yet to join the Android Auto app-powered ranks, iOttie has four different car mounts that are Deals of the Day over at Amazon and 30% off.
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If you are in the market for an inexpensive phone mount, right now over at Amazon you can pick one up for $4 with promo code HM6MF7KT. It's regularly $8, which makes that a 50% savings. Make a bold note, though, that it will only work if you've got a phone on the smaller side, between 4 and 5.2" in screen size (or 55mm-85mm in width).
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The Kenu Airframe+ mounts phones to a vehicle's vent, placing it in plain sight of the driver without requiring dedicated hardware to occupy precious windshield real estate. It's a simple concept, even if it's not particularly groundbreaking. I first came across the concept at a department store selling a mount for cheap. But Kenu's product has a secret up its sleeve - it's hyper portable, and it's really good. Considering just how many complicated options there are out there, it's good to see someone reduce a mount down to the bare essentials and get it right.
If you used the original Airframe, you already know what to expect here.
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With the number of options that are out there, our smartphones have gradually become more useful for in-car navigation than dedicated GPS units. Unfortunately, holding a phone in your hand isn't the safest (or most legal) driving habit, and mounting your device to the dashboard doesn't work as gracefully as many accessories out there claim. Yet Scosche might be on to something with its latest products, the magicMOUNT magnetic mounts.
Scosche is offering magicMOUNT in multiple formats, so users can mount devices to dashboards, windshields, tabletops, or walls. Each variation works the same. Users install a "MagicPlate" on the back of their phone or tablet, inside the battery cover, or within a case.
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Texting and driving is a pretty heinous crime. Bad enough that it's spawned entire ad campaigns devoted to educating the public on the dangers of such acts. Of this, you are no doubt aware. What you may be less aware of is the fact that figuring out where you're going is exactly as dangerous as sending someone a message that says "Doesn't the Peachoid look like a giant..."
California, despite having no known Peachoids, knows this very well and a court has ruled that using a mapping application is just as bad (and illegal) as texting behind the wheel. This isn't the first time California has come down hard against GPS in cars.
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My significant other likes to pretend the next car we buy will have TVs integrated into the headrests to keep our kids occupied on long trips. I can assure you, it will not - after all, that's an option that costs thousands of dollars, and is usually only offered on luxury cars (which we can't afford) and minivans (just no) as it is. But, as it turns out, it's not all that hard to one-up integrated TVs: you can slap on a sleek, adjustable headrest mount.
The benefits of using a mount rather than buying integrated are obvious. The first is, of course, cost - most people can't afford to buy a high-end luxury car or topped-out minivan plus the few thousand dollars it costs for the option. Even those who can will likely find outdated systems, and one that's probably not touch-driven and definitely doesn't have the flexibility of Android.
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One of the biggest benefits of having an Android phone is undoubtedly Google Maps/Navigation. However, it's a really bad idea to hold your phone and drive whilst using Navigation. Luckily, there are approximately 6.4 billion different accessories that can hold your device so you can focus on driving and not playing with your phone (not that you, our ultra-sophisticated reader, would do that in the first place... right?). Some of these mounts utilize your vehicle's cup holder, some use the 12v charging port, some stick to the windshield (which happens to be a no-no in some parts of the country), and others, like the one we're looking at today, mount directly to the dash.
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After surprising (and delighting) users by selling the acclaimed Galaxy Nexus directly from the Play Store (at a substantially reduced price), Google has upped the ante, offering a trio of handy Samsung-branded Nexus accessories for purchase starting today.
For now, customers can choose from Samsung's slick Vehicle Dock ($54.00) which includes a car charger, the HDMI Portrait Desktop Dock ($49.00), or the Desktop Dock ($54.00) with pogo pin connectors and a 3.5mm audio jack.
While these reasonably-priced accessories are certainly enticing, Google reminds customers that they "will only work with the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus (as sold on the Google Play store)." This of course means that those with a Galaxy Nexus connected to either Sprint or Verizon looking for Samsung-branded accessories will have to look elsewhere (it's worth noting that Samsung offers similar accessories for the Nexus' CDMA/LTE variants).
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I love gadgets. Not only that, but I love gadgets for my gadgets: cases, docks, stands, mounts, keyboards, and pretty much anything else you can think of. There's also a dark side at work here, though: I'm also a perfectionist. As such, I'm always on a quest for the perfect thingy-majig, which, in all likelihood, probably doesn't exist.
Ergo, when I saw the Power Dock Flex from Bracketron (I have to admit, I'm a sucker for most things with the word "flex" in the name), I thought it seems like a fantastic idea.
Alas, it's far from perfect.
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