Cell phone mount + charger - line of sight(ish)
Score: 40/50
Easy Score: 8
Daily Usage Score: 8
Form Score: 7
Function Score: 8
Reversibility Score: 9
Product Link: Model Y & Model 3: Spigen MagSafe Phone Charger
Long Story Short
Why this product?
You want a phone mount and charger that doesn’t require you to take your eyes off the road to look down or reach for the charging cubby to see your phone. First time magnetic lock-on vs. hoping your phone is in the right position to charge. You also hate the inconvenience of wires and are OK with the tradeoff of slower wireless charging.
Why this brand?
Spigen products are well known for their quality and this product is no different. Holds the phone well and is thoughtfully designed.
Any regrets?
Not really - the geometry of the wheel and screen make any product struggle to be seen clearly, but this does a good enough job.
Long Story Long
Tesla has graciously provided us not one, but two wireless charging bays below the screen! However, if you’ve used them with any frequency, you know there are a few annoyances here.
Let me start off by saying I do not condone or recommend checking your phone while you are driving.
However, the location that Tesla provides is supremely inconvenient to see notifications, so this product provides a solution to put your phone more in your line of sight so IF you are going to engage in that behavior, it’s much safer to do so this way.
Depending on if you have a case and what type, the Tesla charging pad can be pretty finicky about positioning and when it chooses to charge your phone. This mount provides a secure grip and a no-hassle assurance that your phone is charging. No more waiting 3-4 seconds and watching to see if the charging notification comes on!
It’s super convenient to put your phone up to the mount and the magnet just grabs and holds it securely.
I’m stretching here a bit, but possible that having it in line of sight makes you 10% less likely to forget to grab your phone on the way out of your car. Maybe.
As I mentioned, your steering wheel is still going to be partially obstructing your phone - if I had infinite resources and the patience to learn how to drive with the yoke, I would do a swap and that would solve this little problem.
Product Details
What I like:
Overall structure of the holder is well thought out and solidly built. I also like that it’s low profile and doesn’t muck up visible parts of the car with adhesive (I’m looking at you, sticky dash mounts or windshield suction cups).
What I don’t like:
The adhesive has already fallen off once already. Hopefully this was just my fault with a shoddy first installation in cold weather - I reinstalled during the summer with new adhesive and it’s holding up well. The mount also provides structural guides to place it properly on the corner of the screen, but I would have preferred if they made it a continuous cap that covered the screen corner instead of two “legs.”
Installation Tips
There’s an easy way to do this (charging cable will be visible), and there’s a hard way to do this (charging cable is hidden).
Easy way - follow the instructions, and just run the charging cable directly to the nearest USB port. Done and done.
Hard way - you can try to hide the wire by wrapping it around the back of the screen and tucking the excess into various seams from the screen —> cell phone cubby —> center console seam -> cigarette lighter in the rear center storage. You’re going to need a USB-C extender and a USB-C cigarette lighter charger, but it’s a much cleaner look if you have the par
Alternatives
LISEN (Lisen Phone Mount)
This isn’t a charger, but provides a nice looking mount that can be mounted in a number of places along the dash panel with no adhesives.
AINOPE (AINOPE Phone Mount)
Also not a charger, and also not magnetic, so it’ll serve more than just iPhones. Plus, it’s a friction fit if you don’t want to deal with adhesives.
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