Car mounts for smartphones and other devices have been around for awhile now, and have definitely been gaining in popularity lately as more and more regions adopt distracted driving laws. A recent trend in device mounts use magnets and do away with the need to clip your device into the mount, and our Scosche MagicMount Pro review takes a look at a trio of cradle-less magnetic device mounts for your vehicle.
Design
Scosche’s new line includes the MagicMount Pro Vent, MagicMount Pro Dash, and MagicMount Pro Window/Dash. Each of these magnetic device mounts have a square magnet surface built with powerful Neodymium earth magnets, which are 100% safe for mobile devices. Scosche does note however that you will not want to use this with devices like the iPod Classic or other portable hard drive devices as the magnets are strong enough to cause potential damage.
A small adhesive metal plate and a slightly larger adhesive metal plate are included with each mount (more on that in a minute), and they also include two MagicTrim™ color rings (silver and black), and you can purchase Space Gray, Gold, Rose Gold, and Carbon Fiber trim rings to suit your color fancy.
The MagicMount Pro Vent is the smallest of the three, and consists of four arms that extend out the back, narrowing and meeting away from the middle of the magnetic surface. The arms are spaced for thinner and larger vents, and it is also designed to work as a kickstand for your devices when you’re sitting at your desk, or perhaps by your bed on a nightstand. My only issue with any of the MagicMount Pro series was with the MagicMount Pro Vent, and this will depend on your vehicle set up. If your vent enclosures are angled up slightly you should be ok, but if your vent enclosures are straight up and down, you may experience a similar issue that I did. While the mount fits on the vent fine, in both my vehicles the weight of my phones on the mount caused the vent fins to move down which resulted in the phone angling down and the screen not being optimally visible. Like I mentioned though, your results will vary based on how the vents in your vehicle are set up.
The MagicMount Pro Dash on the other hand features a 360° swivel mount and soft rubber locking nut, allowing you to adjust it precisely to the angle of display that works best for you to view. The MagicMount Pro Dash attaches to your dashboard with an adhesive tape on the bottom of the mount. This mount also features a small clip on the rear of the magnetic surface in which you can clip your charging cable to for some basic cable management.
Finally, the MagicMount Pro Window/Dash is the largest, and most versatile, of the three in terms of where you can mount it. Using Scosche’s StickGrip™ base, the mount suctions to just about any surface from smooth and textured dashboards to windows. The nice thing about the StickGrip base is that you can simply rinse it off with warm water, shake and let air dry to reactivate its grip. Like the MagicMount Pro Dash, this mount also features the 360° swivel mount and soft rubber locking nut and cable management clip.
Ease of Use
All three mounts were easy to use and install. As previously mentioned, all three MagicMount Pro mounts include a small adhesive metal plate and a slightly larger adhesive metal plate. The metal plate can be attached to the back of your mobile device, under the battery cover, or to your smartphone case. Personally I’m not a fan of attaching anything directly to my device, and chose to place the metal plate on the inside of my smartphone cover. On my Nexus 5, I attached the small metal plate directly to the inside of the single layer case, while on the Nexus 6P I attached the larger metal plate to the outside of the inner layer of my smartphone case. As with the warning regarding devices with hard drives, Scosche also indicates that you should use this with wallet style smartphone cases as the magnets will most likely damage any debit or credit cards you carry in it.
The mounts install just as easily, the MagicMount Pro Vent simply slides onto and off of the vent on your vehicle, the MagicMount Pro Dash attaches firmly using the adhesive tape on the base of the mount (Scosche recommends leaving it for 24 hours after attaching for maximum bond), and the MagicMount Pro Window/Dash was the easiest with its suction cup mount. Simply flip up the lever on the back of the mount, place the suction cup on your dashboard or window where you want it, press down slightly and flip the lever down to complete the seal. To remove it, flip the lever up and pull on the little tab on the rubber suction cup near the back of the mount.
Once the mount is installed and the metal plate is attached to your device or device case, simple hold your device near the MagicMount Pro you are using and it will indeed snap into place on the magnetic surface.
Performance
I can honestly say, these suckers hold your device with no issues at all. I mentioned that your device will snap into place, as you hold your device near the mount, the magnets on it pretty much grab the metal plate on your device and pull it into place. When trying to remove it, you can definitely feel the power of the magnets and it does require a bit of a pull — which is a good thing. Both the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 6P stayed securely attached to the mounts both on smooth highways and bumpy gravel country back roads.
I did mention under the design section about how the MagicMount Pro Vent does angle downwards on some vents due to the weight of your device, but on the positive side it does function great as a kickstand for your device and offers a great viewing angle when set on your desk or nightstand.
Price/Value
The MagicMount Pro Vent and MagicMount Pro Dash are both priced at $29.99USD, while the MagicMount Pro Window/Dash is priced at $39.99USD. Personally I think the MagicMount Pro Window/Dash offers the best value, even though it’s the highest priced of the three. I’d also say that the MagicMount Pro Dash offers more value for the price when compared to the MagicMount Pro Vent but the latter is also handy as a portable kickstand.
Wrap-up
If you’re looking for a cradle-less magnetic mount for your smartphone in your vehicles, the Scosche MagicMount Pro series offers a range of options which are sure to meet your needs or fit your requirements.
[rwp-review id=”0″] [button link=”http://amzn.to/1S1747W” icon=”fa-shopping-cart” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Purchase from Amazon[/button][button link=”https://www.scosche.com/magicmount-pro-vent” icon=”fa-shopping-cart” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Purchase from Scosche[/button] [rwp-review id=”1″] [button link=”http://amzn.to/1qjkswY” icon=”fa-shopping-cart” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Purchase from Amazon[/button][button link=”http://www.scosche.com/magicmount-pro-dashboard-phone-mount” icon=”fa-shopping-cart” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Purchase from Scosche[/button] [rwp-review id=”2″] [button link=”http://www.scosche.com/magicmount-pro-dash-window-phone-mount” icon=”fa-shopping-cart” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Purchase from Scosche[/button]*We were sent a review samples of the Scosche MagicMount Pro series for the purposes of this review.
Last Updated on December 6, 2016.
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