[The Guru]

Product: Brodit Active Holder Tilt Swivel for the Apple iPhone 4

Our good friends over at DSL Developments have supplied us with one of the first Brodit mounts for the Apple iPhone 4. The mount in question is the Active model which is suitable for powering via a cigarette lighter socket. [Product code: 521164].

This arrived packaged as per usual by Brodit in a plastic bag which contained the mount itself, the instructions and a bag of mounting screws. For a new user to the world of Brodit you'd also have to purchase a matching Brodit Mount for your car.

As you can see the mount comprises the mounting bracket itself and a trailing 'active' power lead which ends in a USB connector. This in turn plugs into the supplied USB to car power adaptor (cigarette lighter socket). Once fixed onto the Brodit mount and the power plugged in the iPhone 4 can then be slid into place. Power feeds into the mount via the active lead and from there directly into the iPhone 4, giving plenty of power for hands free phone calls or satellite navigation.

Brodit (as with previous iPhone mounts) have covered the mount with a fuzzy velvet-like material which serves to prevent any scratching of the iPhones surface. I'd prefer the mount to be plain plastic but as we're taking about a phone housing with a lot of glass in its construction Brodit are taking no chances!

As always with Brodit the iPhone 4 is held very firmly and even when driving at speed over bumpy roads there is no problem with vibration or movement - the phone is held safe and securely.

It is worth mentioning that as a Brodit user of many years when I've received a new mount I've always taken a shortcut in the mounting process. This has been achieved by unscrewing the prior mount at the universal swivel and then bolting into place the new bracket and swivel. With this mount this was not possible as Brodit have changed the design of the swivel and I had to install the mount in its entirety on to the bracket mounted in the car.

This was queried with ProClip USA who advised:

Quote

The tilt swivel is a new and better design. From now on all new holders will have this new tilt swivel. It will hold the tension better.

So a design improvement that caused a little more work on the install, but at least it looks like the new design will be maintained for future mounts making life easier once again in the future! There seems to be more movement in this new swivel design which allows the iPhone to have a greater range of positional range once mounted.

One other point of note is that the cable exists from the back of the mount instead of the more usual exist in the base, this actually helps cable management as it pushes the power lead towards the dashboard of the car instead of the gear lever (in my 307CC), this means there is less chance of cable snagging so can be seen as an added safety feature.

To conclude: Yet again another well engineered mount from Brodit, proved with speed and efficiency by DSL.

Pros and Cons:

A good sturdy mount designed by experts
Velvet-like coating protects the iPhone 4
No vibration or movement in the phone when driving at speed
Ensures a good level of power for operation when making calls or navigating
Reasonably priced
Designed specifically for the iPhone 4

















Supplier (UK): DSL Developments
Supplier (USA): ProClip USA

[Note all photographs within this review have been processed by SnagIt from TechSmith]

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[neilm]

Brodit do seem to use a number of different plug/ socket arrangements!

My HD2 had the older fixed cigar lighter plug with the red LED; my HD Mini holder has a more modern captive plug with nice blue backlit LED, but the iPhone one seems to have a USB for some reason!

The newer swivel is certainly more sturdy! Not that it was loose before

[The Guru]

Yep I'll agree there, I've used a lot of Brodit mounts over the years and the cigarette connector seems to change with every one.

The new swivel does seem much more robust though from an engineering standpoint and does give a greater range of adjustment so I'll not complain too much

[fowljr]

Looks good Daron. They did the 'furry' version for the Treo 750 as well! I wonder if they're supplying the charging plugs as USB so you can re-use them with other cables?

[The Guru]

Works very well too, I've been using the iPhone 4 naked the last few days, the reasoning being:

• I can use a smaller Vega holster
• It can be used in the Apple dock on the desk
• It will fit in the Brodit mount

And as we've been traveling through a lot of Manchester and Stockport we've generally been in good signal areas so no need for the Bumpers.

The Brodit mount has worked wonderfully well with Navigon for navigating and with the BT link in the 307CC, holding the iPhone 4 steady enough with no great loss of volume even though the speakers are of course on the bottom of the iPhone.

I still wish that sound output could be routed via the cars handsfree but alas not the case.

Ref the USB charger that could well be and it'd make life easier all round, we'll have to see when the next mounts come out from them!

[Boz]

Great review Daron and another very nice Brodit mount, does the charger keep apace with the iPhone battery drain when using a power hungry resource such as GPS?

[The Guru]

Glad you enjoyed it. It does I#ve navigated for a good 16 miles or so using Navigon and there were no issues at all, that is with a 3G connection running and a BT link to the car too!

[Griph]

neilm, on 17 July 2010 - 07:55 PM, said:

Brodit do seem to use a number of different plug/ socket arrangements!

My HD2 had the older fixed cigar lighter plug with the red LED; my HD Mini holder has a more modern captive plug with nice blue backlit LED, but the iPhone one seems to have a USB for some reason!

The newer swivel is certainly more sturdy! Not that it was loose before

Hopefully the reason for the USB is some vehicles now come with USB connections to the car's radio system for Aux devices - like my Scenic - this allows full control of the device through vehicle radio remote controls and on dashboard display of track being played. It would be VERY useful to know in a review that that USB set up would allow that functionality (e.g. full wireway connections in the USB lead rather than just power). If not I could still use the Bluetooth functionality to allow play through the radio but I loose remote control except for pause/play and no track info is displayed.

I am with you on the fuzzy felt - a wear item - would prefer hard plastic with perhaps a soft plaster insert on contact points.

[neilm]

That would be useful- the Brodit holder would plug directly into the car's native USB port, and if the wiring was present control the playback functions as well as charging.

In the Renault, who supplies the USB cable- is it a Renault accessory or does it use a standard USB cable?

[Griph]

neilm, on 02 August 2010 - 07:14 AM, said:

That would be useful- the Brodit holder would plug directly into the car's native USB port, and if the wiring was present control the playback functions as well as charging.

In the Renault, who supplies the USB cable- is it a Renault accessory or does it use a standard USB cable?

I just use the standard USB lead that comes with the iPhone - Renault dont supply any cables - there are 3 means of connection - USB Socket, 3mm Jack or BlueTooth. The difficulty is:

• The USB allows full control of the iPod functions and charging but doesn't seem to allow hands free calling/phone interface.
  
• The 3mm Jack allows iPod play/pause only - no remote functions - would have to use in conjunction with charger.
  
• The bluetooth allows iPod play/pause and full handsfree phone functionality - no remote functions - would have to use in conjunction with charger.

So its a bit of a conundrum! I tend to use the Bluetooth and accept the lack of music remote control - plays from my pocket - or gets plugged into the 12v charger and put into the armrest storage mini bin - so probably wont go for a cradle.