I don’t know about you, but I get sick of buying smart phone mounts for my car, only to find out they are difficult to use or they don’t really hold the phone solid so it doesn’t move around.
I recently came across the Mountek nGroove Universal CD Slot Mount, a vehicle mounting system for Cell Phones and GPS Devices. That’s a real mouthful isn’t it? After watching a few YouTube videos and reading up on it a little bit, I decided to take the plunge and purchase one directly from Amazon as the Mountek website were out of stock and it didn’t appear to be available on eBay.
After a couple of weeks waiting for it to arrive from the US, I came home from work one day and it was waiting for me to give it a try. The box contained very little other than the product itself, a small sheet of paper referring me to the Mountek website for installation instructions and two extra foam pads which grip the phone.
The installation of this mount is very simple:
1. Insert with one hand into the CD slot
2. Use the other hand on the tightening knob to open the blades which will secure the mount in place
There is a device rest for additional support but this is optional and can be removed for larger devices or if the microUSB port is on the side of the device?
Here is the installation video from Mountek’s website but good luck understanding everything she says, she’s rather exuberant and speaks a little too quickly (no more coffee for you). But it’s essentially a fairly straight forward install, insert the mount into the CD Slot and then tighten using the knob underneath.
If the mount starts to loosen over time you will need to remove it from the car CD slot and then take a coin and tighten the device cradle on the rear of the device as per the below video:
It took a little while to get used to this mount as I had only ever used mounts that use suction cups on the inside of the windscreen. After you get used to it, it becomes very quick and easy to use and holds onto your phone like super-glue. It can also hold larger phones up to 6-inch and slightly above, right down to your old Nokia brick phone.
The mount itself is a combination of metal and plastic and feels very well constructed. I’ve had the mount for 2-3 weeks now and providing you don’t use your CD player in the car, I recommend this product as it becomes part of the car and doesn’t flop around like other mounts.
At the moment you can pick one up for around $33 Australian dollars including shipping. This is pretty cheap when you consider how much money you may have spent on other crappy mounts over the years.
If you’re interested in purchasing one, head on over to Amazon.
Note: There is also another version of this product. The Mountek nGroove Snap 3 Magnetic Car Mount for Smartphones and Mini Tablets. This mount is currently up for pre-order on Amazon and is expected to be released on the 8th of October 2014 for a cost of around $38AUD. This one is available on the same link above and you just select which one you want.
Has anyone out there already got one of these mounts or are you thinking about buying one? Let us know in the comments.
I have found the Samsung universal mount to work pretty well. Takes anything from a Galaxy S2 up to a Galaxy Note or OnePlus One. And I’d rather a suction cup on my windscreen so I don’t need to divert my eyes as far. Plus, what happens if you do want to play a CD?
I’ve had one of those for nearly a year now and it and it is just as good when I first bought it. My only criticism is that the cradle doesn’t move to great angles, so you may need to adjust the mount so you can see the screen clearly. Other than that, it’s a good mobile phone holder.