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
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:







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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