Cell Phone Windshield Mounts and Power Sources - Any Advice or Opinions?

[trsundstrom]

Perhaps this topic will help other 2015 Edge owners. Other owners may have similar puzzles to solve.

 

I have a Sport and am trying to decide upon a windshield mount suitable for a Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone in an Otterbox case. For me, I like the idea of having the phone at the glass level for better reception. The advantage of a suction cup mount is that, when traveling, I can move the phone/mount to a rental car that otherwise charges >$10/day for a GPS rental.

 

Ideally a wireless charging mount would be great (nice not to have to plug in a cable).

 

Routing a charging or USB cable seems sloppy too. No matter where you put a mount, the cable has a long run to get to a power or USB port. I want to put the S6 where I can reach it, and was looking at positioning it on the left side of the windshield.

 

Searches so far show an apparently discontinued Samsung wireless charging mount, and some third-party generic mounts on the web, Verizon and Best Buy stores.

 

Anyone? TIA.

[Rextang]

Vent mount. Kenu Air Frame, the large size. Not the best because the angle of the vent itself means the phone will sit at an angle, but it is within easy reach.

[tgros]

I am using a suction cup mount that I bought at an AT&T store for $35 3 years ago. It is very sturdy and has a flexible (but stiff) neck that can be adjusted for best positioning. It does not solve the dangling wire issue.

 

I have another problem with the phone (Galaxy S5) in my new Edge. If I plug it into the USB port I get only 450 miliamps of charge. Plugging it into the 12 volt power source with a cigarette lighter charger I get 750 miliamps. In my old car I use to get 1100 miliamps. If I use Waze navigation on my phone I need over 1000 miliamps to keep the phone from discharging. Does anybody have a solution to this problem?

[WingNut]

I am using a suction cup mount that I bought at an AT&T store for $35 3 years ago. It is very sturdy and has a flexible (but stiff) neck that can be adjusted for best positioning. It does not solve the dangling wire issue.

 

I have another problem with the phone (Galaxy S5) in my new Edge. If I plug it into the USB port I get only 450 miliamps of charge. Plugging it into the 12 volt power source with a cigarette lighter charger I get 750 miliamps. In my old car I use to get 1100 miliamps. If I use Waze navigation on my phone I need over 1000 miliamps to keep the phone from discharging. Does anybody have a solution to this problem?

 

I'm surprised the 750 Miliamps is not enough to keep it charged when running Waze. Even if it is a wash.

 

I take it you are using the same exact car charger to test both? Because I don't think the 12v outlet would make a difference...only the charger itself.

[tgros]

 

I'm surprised the 750 Miliamps is not enough to keep it charged when running Waze. Even if it is a wash.

 

I take it you are using the same exact car charger to test both? Because I don't think the 12v outlet would make a difference...only the charger itself.

 

I am using the same splitter, which has two cigarette lighter type sockets, and the same cigarette lighter charger.

[tron1974]

I bought a suction cup mount off Amazon. Do NOT stick it on the dash. I did for about a day and it left what I am hoping is a temporary coffee cup sized ring.

 

I bought the Arkon Windshield or Dash Smartphone Car Mount for Apple iPhone 6 Plus iPhone 6 5 5S 5C Samsung Galaxy Note 4 3 S5 S4 Fire. Works awesome though. I was thinking about trying one of the vent mount or the ones that sit inside the CD player slot.

 

I use the USB for charging. I agree, that a better place to put the phone to charge would be nice.

[DBeth]

I got this CD slot mount that I absolutely LOVE:

 

http://www.amazon.com/InfiniApps-Smartphones-Cradle-less-Quick-snap-technology/dp/B00DPMNNUO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430773267&sr=8-1&keywords=infiniapps

 

It's the InfiniApps CD slot magnetic mount. I just place the little metal plate inside my case on my phone, slide this mount in the CD slot (since I really don't use CDs any longer), and just slap the phone on it. I have never had my phone (Note 3) fall off on even the bumpiest of roads.

 

I even had a magnet plate inside my Nexus 7 case, and that held just fine as well. Best mount I've ever used.

[tron1974]

I see you were asking about a wireless charger. I would like to know this also. It's a pain for me to pull the cap for my Galaxy S5 and plug in the USB.

 

Anyone use one of them?

[trsundstrom]

Well, after wasting time at Best Buy and other big box stores, and some local stores in the ares, I gave up cruising the open road and went back to researching the net. Reading through several Android forums using Tapatalk it seems to me that wireless charging in the car is unsuitable for my needs.

 

Whereas my wants were daylong GPS use in my wife's 2007 Mustang and rental cars, apparently the few wireless car chargers don't supply enough current to keep the phone charged while continously using navigation and/or streaming radio apps like Pandora or SiriusXM.

 

Rather than play games with Amazon vendors (never bought anything on Amazon, but that's another story), I settled on a Verizon white box suction cup mount with expandable clamps. Like the AT&T solution described above, it has a 10 inch gooseneck that lets me position the phone within reach by the bottom of the Edge's left windshield pillar. It keeps the phone in the open for better reception in this open area where coverage could be better.

 

Interesting information on the power source and current capability, and I'll have to investigate further. For the moment I have a USB cable and the usual cigarette plug DC cords to choose from. I have already found that the Sport USB connection puts a message on the dash screen saying the device (the S6) is incompatible and please disconnect, but the phone shows it is charging. How well, I can't yet say. I haven't had time to investigate, nor have I tried a DC cord yet, but I'll get around to it.

Edited May 9, 2015 by trsundstrom

[Kitulu]

I use a RAM mount in the Edge and on the bike.

[Rextang]

Here is my Kenu Airframe setup for my iPhone 6 Plus. Since I don't want to drive around with the lower console bin always open, I made a cable pass through.

[built2prfctn]

you really butchered the first cut lol

[Rextang]

you really butchered the first cut lol

? yeah I did. The seam is there by design however. Drilling by hand with a "tap" drill... Yeah it was not so precise at times.

[tgros]

 

I'm surprised the 750 Miliamps is not enough to keep it charged when running Waze. Even if it is a wash.

 

I take it you are using the same exact car charger to test both? Because I don't think the 12v outlet would make a difference...only the charger itself.

I have now purchased a charge-only USB cable -

 

BlueRigger Rapid Charge Micro USB Cable - 6 Feet (does not support data transfer)

 

I am now getting 1100 miliamp from the USB port.

[stevews99]

Apparently I'm addicted to the iOttie Easy One Touch XL Car Mount! Somehow I ended up with 3 of them and I only have two cars. Actually the third one is for rentals. The iOttie is meant for large format phones (I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with an Otterbox cover) and it is very stable and almost infinitely adjustable. I mount mine on the lower left side of the windshield (just above the inspection sticker). It works best if you can set up the phone so the lower right side rests on the top of the dashboard (just barely). It reduces jiggle which, in this case, is a good thing! You can get one on Amazon.