it's not very often that i feel like i got a fair deal for my money. i was very surprised with this product though. i bought it on a whim, not really expecting it to work.
my first impression was that of solid construction. very heavy duty plastic. the flexible neck is thick and strong and won't move even holding the heaviest device.
i was fairly sure this wouldn't mount well in my 2010 honda fit. the cup holders are all a little oddly shaped. one was small. the other was very large and heavily tapered. another was more rectangular than round. turns out it mounts steadily in all of them.
the device holder aspect it ratcheting. it has pads to hold the device on the sides and two little pegs that fold out to hold the bottom. the pads on the side additionally expand vertically to adjust where they hold the device. all in all, ingeniously flexible in the number of ways it can adjust. considering your device may have controls on the sides and ports on the bottom this is important.
as far as i can tell it would fit just about any size device i can think of. i happen to have a nexus one that is very close to the size of an iphone 3gs.
a note on price / buying options. i paid $15.22 for this. when searching under "nexus one", i found the same bracketron unit listed for $26.99 (plus shipping) from a different seller. quite a difference. there is also another brand, "gomadic". they have a unit that, as far as i can tell, is identical to this model (bracketron). however, it's $29.99. Bracketron UCH-101-BL Universal Cup-iT Cup Holder Mount
I'm pleasantly surprised! This fits my HTC Droid Incredible perfectly, and would also work with an Ipod or GPS unit.
The side arms are independently adjustable, so that each "finger" can be spread apart as far as needed to keep volume control buttons and the charge port accessible. I have them far apart on one side of the unit, and close together on the other...because I can.
The neck bends like sturdy heavy wire and holds its shape.
The base is expandable with an easy turn of the dial, to accommodate wider cup holders. But the best feature is the easy rotation that "pops" into place, allowing one to use their phone in a vertical position, or quickly change it to horizontal view with one hand. The bottom supports fold up or down as needed.
The plastic is heavy and solid feeling--I have confidence this will hold up for some time. But it also came with a lifetime warranty if registered at Bracketron's website.
There was an extra flat plate in the package that would slide onto the base, but has no grip fingers. It has 4 screw holes or could be used with velcro or foam tape. The instructions don't mention the part. I assume it's for permanent attachment to the back of an item that would not fit within the approximate 4 1/2" grip, such as an internet radio receiver or iPad.
Edit after using for several months: The bendable neck's length should be a bit longer, to accommodate low bulging dashboards. This is the same height as my shifter, and moving it to the side puts it at a bad angle for viewing. Another couple of inches would help.
I purchased this item after I purchased an Android phone (which has a great built-in GPS app). I had previously used a Tomtom AIO GPS, attached via a suction cup, onto a dashboard beanbag mount. Wanting to minimize the gadget accessories in my car, I was hoping this would fit the bill and hold my cell phone while driving.
PROS:
*Pretty decent quality plastic, not as flimsy as other cheapo made-in-china accessories
*Decent securing mechanism. The bottom sits in the cup holder, and you rotate a ring which expands the edges into the cup holder
*Flexible neck appears pretty durable, will definitely hold the shape you bend it into
*The gadget holder section can rotate 360, so you can do landscape or portrait orientations. It's also padded, with "arms" which can be arranged so that they don't accidentally press on side-buttons. Could easily snake a car charger into the gadget of your choice.
CONS:
*Unfortunately, the flexible neck is really really short. Extremely short. Unless your cup holders are at the very front, directly adjacent to the dashboard, and elevated, whatever it's holding is essentially right at your side, and not in front of you. A real problem for GPS in my opinion, as you'd really have to look down and away from the road a bit more than I think is safe. I'd seen other ones which were much longer, but based on the photos here, I should have known better.
If you want it to hold a mp3 player or something, probably not a problem. But then why not just put the mp3 player directly into the cup holder then?
I'm going to try a generic suction cup phone mount to attach to my old beanbag dashboard mount.'
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