Support AppRadioWorld by shopping via these links...
***Shop Amazon.com*** or ***Shop eBay.com***

Thursday, March 20, 2014

The iOttie Easy Flex III Car & Desk Mount Is "Sticky Good" [Review]


Alright, folks! It's time for another car mount review. This time it's the iOttie Easy Flex III Car & Desk Mount. The manufacturer, iOttie, makes stylish looking smartphone accessories like car mounts, cases and waterproof skins. They were gracious enough to send the Easy Flex III to us for review.

So let's begin...

Description: The iOttie Easy Flex III is a mount that can be used either in your car or on your office desk. At least that's how it's advertised. According to the manufacturer, the mount is strong enough to pick up a bowling ball. Well, I couldn't test that out but I did use the mount in my car for over a week and on my office desk for a few days.


Packaging: The mount comes packaged in a plastic case which includes the mount itself and a user guide. Almost all information you want is printed on the outside of the box which might help you make up your mind about buying this. One important piece of graphic that's printed on the top of the box is a phone compatibility bar which will tell you if your phone is the correct width to be mountable.


Technical Specs: The mount was designed by iOttie in New York City but is made in Korea. It is made to fit the iPhone 4S/5/5C/5S or the Samsung Galaxy S3/S4. In fact, if you have a phone that's any wider than the Galaxy S4 this mount may not be for you. Devices between 2 to 3 inches wide can be used with this mount.

The mount can withstand temperatures between -4ºF to 176ºF.

Build Quality: Like most car mounts like this one, the Easy Flex III is made from plastic. It has friction pads on the grips. The suction cup is made of a soft rubbery material with a sticky base. The sticky part is one of the major selling points of this product. The stickiness helps the mount sit firmly on most flat surfaces.

The suction cup (or gel pad as they call it) is so sticky that even trying to get it off once it is mounted was not that easy. This is not essentially a bad thing but if you like to move your mount around (for example from your car to your desk) it may become off-putting after a few tries.


The suction cup can get dirty too. The manufacturer suggests you can rinse it with running water and regain the original stickability of the gel pad.

Overall, the Easy Flex III has a very good finish. You can tell quality when you see quality!


Note: I stuck the mount to an old GPS mounting disk I already have on my dashboard.

Design: This mount is designed to keep your phone locked in place. Right from the sticky gel pad to the suction lever, and the friction pads on the arms to the one touch locking feature (see below), your phone isn't going anywhere once it is mounted.

Among the main features of this mount is the ability to fully adjust the rotation of your phone in 360º angles. You can have your phone mounted in landscape, portrait or oblique orientation.


There are two ways you can rotate: Either by rotating the arms which click while rotating or by rotating the whole mount around the ball-and-socket-type joint. The latter will allow you to either have the mount standing up above the dashboard or hanging below the edge. It also gives you the ability to mount this thing on the windshield.


Whether you have your mount on the dashboard, windshield or desk, the fully rotatable functionality ensures you have the perfect viewing angle and orientation at all times.

Mounting: The Easy Flex III features a "One Touch Locking Feature". To mount your phone you have to pull one of the arms apart until it clicks in place to its widest. The click pushes out a trigger button in the center of the mount. All you do is place your phone between the arms and press down against the trigger. This snaps the arms in place around the edges of your phone for a secure fit.


The trigger button along with the arms have friction pads on them. These help in preventing your phone from slipping out when mounted.

To remove your phone you would just push the movable arm away and you're good to go.

Pros:
- Lightweight and definitely not bulky.
- There are many features that aim at keeping your phone securely mounted.
- The mount will work with most smartphones out there and even if you use a case.
- Good build quality.
- The sticky gel pad definitely makes this mount strong.
- The rotating mechanism clicks in place all around while giving you 360º orientation angles.

Cons:
- I use a case on my iPhone 5 and this mount works fine with it. But when using the phone without the case I found the phone slipping down a little when driving over bumpy roads. This maybe because the phone is too thin. The phone didn't fall out of the mount though. I also tried to find out if this issue persisted with the thicker iPhone 4S and it didn't.


- Phones wider than 3 inches or narrower than 2 inches will not fit.
- I heard a rattling noise when driving around with this mount with no phone mounted in it. The noise wasn't loud but definitely noticeable. So if you aren't going to mount your phone on that short trip to the store, remove the mount and put it in the glove box.
- The packaging advises that the gel pad may leave marks on your dashboard after prolonged use and therefore this mount should be preferably used on your windshield. At least in California where I live, having a windshield mount is only legal in certain areas on the windshield. One should refer to their local driving laws before using any windshield mount.


Price: The iOttie Easy Flex III Car & Desk Mount can be purchased at $24.99 directly from iOttie. Shipping is FREE within the United States.

You can also purchase the mount from iOttie through Amazon for $19.99. Shipping is FREE if you are an Amazon Prime member. Link to purchase from Amazon is below...


Final Verdict: Consumers have a wide range of products to choose from when looking for a car mount. In my opinion though, the iOttie Easy Flex III holds its own in the car mount category. The sticky gel suction pad makes the mount very secure and a big advantage.

The issue of the iPhone 5/5S slipping around a little may stick out like a sore thumb in this review but the phone never fell out of the mount. Pressing the two arms together helps secure the phone even tighter and prevents the phone from moving around. Bumps in the road will definitely test how secure the grips are.


Using the phone while mounted showed that the phone was indeed securely held. There was no wobble or anything like that.

So, if you're looking for a car mount for your smartphone, give the iOttie Easy Flex III a look. The build quality is very good and the product is priced competitively. ARWReview

No comments :

Post a Comment

All comments will be screened for spam. Allow up to 24 hours for comments to show up.

NO SPAM PLEASE!