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On occasion we are approached by product vendors to review new items that have come to the market and recently the guys over at 'holdersandmounts' got in touch and offered us the chance to look at a product made by a manufacturer we'd not seen before. The manufacturer concerned is Herbert Richter and their online profile states:
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Herbert Richter is a leading manufacturer and a renowned innovator of universal car accessories and mounting solutions for more than fifty years. They are well known for their superb design and highest quality. Today they are one of the leading manufacturers of mobile mounting solutions and inventor of Flexible Gooseneck and it's property rights holder with manufacturing numbers of over one hundred millions units to date.
Herbert Richter were first to invent and offer many of in car solution we now take for granted. These include;
Herbert Richter were first to invent and offer many of in car solution we now take for granted. These include;
- Flexible Gooseneck with super mega suction mount
- 4-Prong adapter system
- Vibration free Tower Mount
- Swivel option with integrated swivel tightening ring
- Suction cup lock
So needless to say there was much anticipation waiting for the mount to arrive!
The anticipation and bated breath only lasted two days when the mount arrived, packaged in a polythene bag inside a jiffy envelope.
This is a one piece mount which comprises of three main parts; the suction pad which will lock it to a windscreen (or desk), the adjustment controls for the mount itself and the actual holder which will contain the iPhone 4 when in use.
It is worth mentioning that this mount does not offer a power connectivity solution at all. It is a mount plain and simple, so if you wish to power the iPhone 4 you will have to supply your own cabling or purchase a different 'powered' mounting solution.
The first impression one gains of the mount that it is large, with the 'banana' or 'horn' looking large and solid compared to other mounts that I've used. The horn, adjustment controls and the bracket itself all appear to be manufactured from robust impact resistant ABS plastic. The only other materials used in the componentry are the metal shafts of the adjustment screws and the rubber suction mount.
As ABS has been used throughout this means that although the mount is relatively large in size it only weighs in at 201 grams, making it no great heavyweight!
On the construction of the mount in detail.
The base comprises of a large 3" transparent rubber suction pad that should be placed on the surface you wish to mount to. Once in position you reach inside the base of the horn and engage the locking lever - this draws the centre of the pad upwards creating a strong vacuum effect which completes the seal on to the mounting surface. The action of the locking lever is very stiff and therefore a strong vacuum is created. That, in conjunction with the smooth surface of the soft suction pad creates a strong mounting bond indeed. In tests the mount managed to 'lock' successfully onto; in house double glazing, a kitchen work top, my rosewood desk and of course the car windscreen. This is probably the strongest suction mount I've come across in all my years of reviewing!
To release the mount from the surface it is attached to you simply disengage the locking lever and then lift the rubber suction cup using the 'handle' which protrudes from the side of the cup. This breaks the vacuum and allows the mount to be lifted free.
Once you have the mount locked in position to your satisfaction you can then loosen the locking knobs on each side of the horn. These serve to allow the mount to move upwards around the pivot at the horns end, in effect giving a 'nodding head' adjustment. Twin locking controls are used on each side of the mount to ensure that the locking 'load' is distributed evenly ensuring that no undue stress or strain is placed on the shaft whilst locking down the adjustment.
The final positional adjustment is made by turning the adjustment thumb dial located immediately below the bracket that holds the iPhone 4. Once loosened this allows the mount itself to swivel on a ball-joint giving up / down, left / right movement of some 42 degrees in all directions.
These two methods of adjustment give a goodly number of mounting positions.
Once the mount has been located and adjusted to your initial satisfaction the iPhone 4 can be nestled within the mounting bracket. This is achieved by pulling back the thumb tab at the top of the bracket (the ABS plastic here is of a more springy construction) where the ABS bends back to allow the iPhone to be pushed into the bracket. At the lower part of the bracket, at the corners, are two angled cups into which the iPhone's corners sit. Once located the iPhone can be allowed to lie back in the mount, held in position by the guides at the top of the mount. The thumb tab is then allowed to 'relax' into position whereby a tab on its underneath slides down in front on the iPhone locking it into place.
The manufacturing tolerances on the mount are good indeed, with the iPhone held firmly enough to prevent any movement at all either laterally or vertically, yet gentle enough to cause no damage to the glass components on the phone. As the mount has that universal ball joint beneath the mount body the iPhone can be used in either portrait or landscape orientations.
In actual use in my Peugeot 307CC the mount proved to be excellent indeed, with one strong point being the length of the horn. The 307CC has a very long sloping windscreen and if a regular mount is used then it tends to put the iPhone way to far 'down' the windscreens length to allow the touch sensitive surface of the phone to be reached. The long length of the horn ensures that the iPhone can be positioned in such a way that the screen is within easy reach. It has also been tested in a Corsa which has a more conventional sloped windscreen and again the mount worked perfectly, the horn mount feeling natural and not too close to the driver.
Vibration testing was carried out by driving over a local road which is filled with pot-holes and at no time even while driving at speeds varying between 5 and 20 miles per hour was any vibration noticed which could cause the display to become unreadable. The iPhone was held perfectly steady. Needless to say there were no issues driving on roads at high speed where there were no pot holes to worry about. The mount performed perfectly under all conditions.
Conclusion: Although the mount does not offer power to the iPhone it has to be one of (if not the best) semi-permanent mounts I've ever used. The adjustment controls are wide ranging and the quality of construction and design ensures that the iPhone is usable under all driving conditions.
Pros and Cons:
ABS plastic construction for strength and light operational weight Strong vacuum lock with fix on to many surfaces Goodly variation of possible mounting positions via dual adjustment controls The iPhone is held in position firmly yet gently The 'horn' design suits many different windscreens
There is no option to power the iPhone, this purely a mount for the phone
