Any good recommendations for MagSafe car vent mount?

TidBITS Talk
1

So Belkin just released a car vent mount for MagSafe, but it’s plastic, doesn’t charge, and it’s a whopping $40.

Does anybody have any really good recommendations? In another thread somebody mentioned this mount, but the Amazon reviews for it are quite bad.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P5HY35K

And this one doesn’t even have a single review yet.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B08NYF253Q

2

Do you need it all in one device?

I’ve been extremely happy using this vent mount for the past 5 years:

Kenu Airframe+ | Vent Car Phone Mount Holder

You can probably clip it to your phone in a place that doesn’t interfere with a MagSafe charger.

3

Thanks, @Shamino, but I already have one of those. I just find it a bit of a hassle to wedge the phone in there and then also connect a cable. I was expecting MagSafe would do away with all that and turn the whole process into a simple click.

From what I’ve been able to find, I’d say the market just isn’t quite there yet, but I’m sure savvy TidBITS readers have found more offers than I’ve seen so far. Hoping somebody might have already discovered something nice.

4

Check out peak designs kickstarter

5

This just published:

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6

This one here is getting really good reviews. It’s very moderately priced, especially factoring in that it comes with cable and PD+QC 3.0 charger.

https://www.amazon.com/WAITIEE-Magnetic-Wireless-Charger-Mag-Safe/dp/B08GWTW7L4

7

It’s on sale right now for $25. Reviews sound very good. Folks say it apparently even holds their Max in place. Not sure I quite believe that, but it bodes well for my mini. I like that even at that price it comes with a dual-port 15W charger and appropriate USB A-C cable. I ordered it. I’ll report back when I’ve tested it.

On a side note, any reason why it seems next to impossible to get a 1ft A-C cable in gray/black? Apparently people want 2 or 3 or even 5 at a time. I’d like to get just one. But next to nothing on Amazon or Newegg. WTH? :frowning:

8

Don’t know the reason for the scarcity, but Monoprice has become my go-to able source. They have a 1.5ft in stock. Monoprice Palette Series USB 2.0 Type-C to Type-A Charge & Sync Nylon-Braid Cable, 6ft, Blue - Monoprice.com

9

If you have CarPlay and use it, having a “charging magsafe connector” in your car might not be that great. The Magsafe connector (unlike the Lighting connector) doesn’t allow data to pass through it. Unless you have one of the few cars out this year that can do wireless CarPlay, there’s no reason to have Magsafe charging if you use CarPlay.

10

So after first use:

  • It does indeed hold my 12 mini well (haven’t gone off-road yet though)
  • It is actual MagSafe (unlike the ESR mentioned above) so it has all the magnets, including the bottom magnet bar, thereby ensuring the phone is always held at exactly the desired orientation.
  • Considering the $25 price, I’d say this is a very solid product. It’s not flimsy, it’s compact, and it fastens well to the vent. It comes with a decent (yet compact) charger and ~3ft cable. I had two wrap up all the slack with a tie so I’ll be replacing it with a shorter cable.
  • The charger has two USB-A ports that both support 15W simultaneously so you can charge a second device off the second port at full speed. The ports light up blue which is nice when you’re trying to attach a second cable to the charger at night in a dark car with a port located low and a bit obstructed.
  • Note that the vent mount and the ball joint lock are both a bit bulky, so this can limit the vent itself (don’t insert it too far in or you won’t be able to move the vanes anymore) or the freedom to adjust the angle of the charger.
  • It’s finicky. Most times when it’s attached it will not start charging even though the magnets firmly ‘snap’ the phone into the right position. Then you need to remove the phone and try again. Repeat that until it does charge. And be patient, because after snapping into the proper position it will take at least 2 sec until the iPhone shows it is actually charging.
  • Wireless charging (despite 15W charger) is slow. Just to give you an idea: it charged my 12 mini from 81% to 93% in one hour (phone was being used for GPS so it was constantly on and certainly drawing power). Note also, this is above 80% so not where you’d expect the fastest charging speeds by design.

But, and this really pisses me off, the seller seems to lack confidence in their product so they have resorted to buying favorable reviews. Along with the device I received a fake “$15 Amazon gift card” instructing me to submit a 5-star review, take a screenshot of that, and then submit the screenshot along with my email address to the seller to then be mailed a real Amazon gift card. They actually even instruct people not to tell Amazon about it. Obviously, I reported it directly. Amazon said they will take care of it, but the product is still being sold, the seller is still online, and none of the recent 5-star reviews have been taken down. In fact, my review alerting to this fraud was actually taken down by Amazon. Anyway, you can notice that starting on a specific date, all reviews have been 5-star. A bit shameful people will whore themselves out for just $15. Anyway, reviews for this product cannot be trusted and IMHO neither can such a seller. Mine went back. Buyer beware.

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