I was looking for a solution to mount my iPhone in my car to use it as a GPS unit without having to hold it in my hand and look away from the road. I had considered everything from suction mounts to vent clips, but eventually decided on this mount for several reasons:
1. was able to mount almost anywhere (I did not want it blocking the windshield or my air vents, meaning that standard suction cup mounts and vent clips were out--instead, I needed something capable of mounting either on the dash or to either side of the steering wheel beside the vents)
2. this appeared to be well-designed, and SoundGate typically has a good reputation
3. I liked that I could easily rotate the phone from vertical to horizontal while still in the mount, angle the mount to face me or a passenger, and tilt the phone to my liking)
4. This mount works on any device, which is a necessity when mounting *with* a case on your iPhone
After having it installed for a week and using the mount on a 700 mile drive, it fared relatively well. I was able to mount the phone in the center of my dash and use the phone as a GPS for the whole trip. The biggest issues that I had were that if driving on a bumpy road, the mount had a tendency to rotate the phone a bit off-center (i.e. it would rotate a bit in-between vertical and horizontal), and I found myself re-centering it back to a vertical or horizontal position several times throughout the trip). The mount also has the ability to rotate either toward the driver or passenger, and can be locked in place by twisting a screw on the mount. This is a great concept, but unfortunately the screw wiggled itself slightly loose a couple times throughout the trip, meaning that if the phone started out facing angled toward the driver it ended up facing more toward the middle or toward the passenger. Honestly, these are minor gripes that are easily addressed and probably wouldn't bother most people too much, considering that a phone with a case isn't exactly something that is designed to be mounted in the first place.
The mount is affixed to the mounting point of your choosing with adhesive tape. This must be very carefully aligned with the rest of the mount or it may not be as stable as you'd like (this isn't really a con, but is something to be careful of when installing). Using the adhesive also requires using a strong cleaning chemical (provided in the packaging) on the mounting location *and* the device you wish to mount). I found the cleaning solution to be strong enough that it slightly discolored the dashboard (note that I was rubbing quite hard, so if you're installing this mount I'd recommend not pushing too hard when using the cleaning wipes and you probably won't have this problem).
Last thing..the instructions aren't too hard to follow, but they are in the format of IKEA instructions (i.e. all pictures, which aren't always 100% clear). Reading through the entire set of instructions first and then proceeding is a good idea.
Even though this mount isn't perfect, it's still quite good. I'm pretty sure that for my purposes it works better than any of the other mounts out there. Since it seems to be the best (or one of the best) available but still has room for improvement, I give this mount four stars. SoundGate M2 German engineered to safely secure your iPod, iPhone, Nano, Touch, Classic, Garmin, Cell Phone, Blackberry, Zune, MP3, or other portable device to your dash, or console
I was skeptical at first of this car mount due to the lack of reviews and different design.
1) I didn't want a suction cup mount because it's technically illegal in CA.
2) I didn't want one that clipped onto the AC vent because I want all my vents unencumbered.
The solution that I was considering going for was getting one of those weighted friction plates, THEN using a suction cup mount on top of that. That was expensive and bulky.
This mount basically pwns the rest. It's small yet very powerful in terms of positioning. The one problem I ran into was using the adhesive to mount it. I guess I had more polish on my interior than I had expected, so on my first attempt the adhesive didn't stick at all, but after contacting customer service they promptly sent me a new one with another cleaning pad, and after cleaning the area more thoroughly the adhesive stuck like it was supposed to.
So my advice is MAKE SURE you clean the area you're going to attach it VERY thoroughly, otherwise the adhesive won't stick properly.
Great product. Have only been using it for a few days, but it seems durable enough. Will update if it somehow falls apart.
The SoundGate M2 is a well engineered and well made product. The installation instructions are clear and the product mounts easily on curved surfaces. I used the M2 on dash of my '03 Mini Cooper S to mount a 4th Gen. iPod Touch. It mounted well just to the right side of my tachometer, is visible behind the steering wheel, easy to reach and yet hidden enough to keep the iPod in-place when parked. - Iphone Dash Mount - Iphone Car Mount - Dash Mount - Soundgate'
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