Review it – Wireless technology has made charging easier for smartphone users. Apple MagSafe wireless charging has become an essential feature for many smartphone users. The Zagg mophie Wireless Charging Vent Mount with MagSafe offers wireless charging and vent mount capabilities, and takes advantage of Apple’s MagSafe technology.
What is it?
The Zagg mophie wireless charging vent mount with MagSafe is an “Apple Exclusive” universal car charger for Apple MagSafe iPhones.
What’s in the box?
The Zagg mophie wireless mount with MagSafe comes in a stylish recycled cardboard box.
The Zagg mophie wireless mount with MagSafe includes the features listed below
- Magnetic release with metal hook
- Arm extension
- USB-C 20-Watt car charger
- 1.5 meter USB-C cable
- Cable management clip
- Cleaning wipe
- Quick Start Guide
Hardware specifications
The hardware specifications of the Zagg mophie wireless charging vent with MagSafe are as follows:
- Lifting method – auto adjustment hook (hook travel distance 8-33mm)
- Charging method – Apple MagSafe wireless charging
- Charging power – 15 Watt fast charging via 20 Watt DC car adapter
- Color – Black
- Compatibility – All iPhones with MagSafe including the iPhone 12, 13, and 14 models
- Warranty – 2 years
Design and appearance
The Zagg mophie wireless mount with MagSafe consists of five parts that can be disassembled from each other. This allows for a little customization in the mount configuration depending on your needs. You can see in the picture above that the design of this mount includes two “ball-and-socket” parts that allow the parts to be changed.
The mounting mechanism is a metal hook that attaches to almost any air vent in your car’s dashboard. Turning the knob pushes the hook out or retracts it, allowing the length of the hook to be adjusted to your vehicle’s outlet. You can also see one of the “ball” features on the two ball and socket connections.
The base of the MagSafe mount is shown above. It has a smooth white disk that attaches magnetically to the magnet on the back of your iPhone.
The mount includes a USB-C plug into the USB-C port on the back of the MagSafe base. This gives power to the MagSafe base which allows it to charge your iPhone.
The “standard” exhaust gas configuration is shown above. It’s a very simple upgrade and just includes a MagSafe base that attaches to your iPhone (the part on the left in the photo above) and a hook that attaches to the opening of your car (the part on the right). This standard setup includes one of those ball-and-socket-type fittings that provide some adjustment in position, but these are limited.
Another upgrade to this mount includes a replacement adapter that sits between the MagSafe base and the hook base. The use of an adapter offset unit allows for greater adjustment and flexibility in mounting options as it includes two ball and socket joints, both of which can be bent to provide greater adjustment.
On the mount is a mophie 2o-Watt car charger. This charger has all metal components and everything looks and feels very classy and sturdy.
The mophie 20-Watt car charger has a USB-C port and a small LED indicator to indicate when it’s connected and receiving power from your car.
The mount also has a small cable management system. The film is a hard but flexible rubber with a channel in the middle for USB-C power. This clip has adhesive that allows you to stick it to your car’s dashboard to protect the USB-C from getting out of control.
Shown above is the Zagg mophie wireless charging pad with MagSafe. This includes a fully equipped mount, a USB-C cable, and a 20-Watt car charger.
Sit down
Setting up the Zagg mophie wireless charging vent with MagSafe is easy. It uses a metal hook to fasten the base of the mount to the entrance of your car. The cable can be extended or retracted to suit your vehicle’s configuration. The cable is attached to any metal parts of the cover.
To change the length of the hook, turn the base of the hook until the hook is the length needed to “catch” the back of the joint, then turn the base to the other side, and return the hook until it rests on the slat.
When the cable is fully retracted, the base is protected from air, providing a stable platform to hold your iPhone.
In the photo above, you can see that I have installed the mount with an additional extension arm to allow for a little more flexibility in placement. I have also placed it in the right corner of this vent.
As seen above, the mophie 20-Watt car charger plugs into your car and a USB-C cable connects it to the MagSafe base. You’ll notice here that I attached a USB-C cable because, at 1.5 meters long, it’s a bit long for my needs. One might want to run a full 1.5 meter USB-C cable between the car charger and the MagSafe base, but I don’t need a USB-C cable that long. I decided not to include the cable management section at first because I didn’t know where I wanted to put it.
The photo above shows the complete setup of the Zagg mophie wireless charging pad with MagSafe.
Procedure
For this review, my wife let me use the iPhone 13 Pro Max in her Speck Presidio MagSafe case so I could take photos with my iPhone.
The MagSafe side of the case allows it to be connected to the MagSafe base of the Zagg mophie wireless charging vent with MagSafe. I expected this connection to be easier than it was. I had the impression that the MagSafe feature would hold itself together and, considering it’s magnetic, “just” stay in place, but in practice, it wasn’t smooth. I had to move the iPhone around on the MagSafe Mount base until it locked together. Not a show-stopper, but it was less than I expected. In any case, when the MagSafe interface was connected, the iPhone displayed the above information, indicating that MagSafe had activated.
Another issue I sometimes encountered was that, when I put the iPhone in the MagSafe base on the mount, it just looked at the back of the MagSafe screen recorder (seen above) every few seconds. To prevent this, I had to remove the iPhone from the MagSafe for a minute or two, then plug it back in. This usually solved the problem, but it was frustrating.
One capability of MagSafe is that it allows the shape or form of your iPhone, and the mount also offers this capability, as seen above.
It’s a landscape iPhone, it sits high above my car’s gear, and in a place that has a good view of the iPhone’s screen without coming out on top of the dashboard and obscuring my view of the road.
Using the adapter adjustment tool allowed me to change the shape of the MagSafe mount section to get the iPhone in a better viewing position. This also allows for quick adjustments when my wife is driving our car so she can put the iPhone in a good viewing position.
However, when using the offset adapter, the iPhone jumped while driving, especially on narrow roads. Again, not show-stopping, but noticeable and a little annoying.
The iPhone’s design looks great too.
However, this brings me to the final issue with this product. Although its metal hook offers universal mounting options (it can be attached to almost any car air vent), what you lose is the ability to change the direction of the air flow from the outside. This is because, by pulling the hook back down to “grip” the inlet firmly where it was attached, this “locks” the inlet in place. A few caveats here. First of all, this may not be the same for every car based on its exhaust system, so your car’s situation may be different. Second, this may not be a problem for you, and if it is, it may not be a problem. However, my wife and I have different preferences when it comes to air flow, and unfortunately, the metal mounting blocks the air flow (especially in our car).
In an attempt to evaluate other mounting configurations, in the photo above I removed the switch and went with the MagSafe hook and base. This configuration still allows for flexibility, as one of the two components of the ball and socket is present.
After doing this, I moved the mount to the lower right of the vent. To do this, I removed the part of the adapter to adjust the movement where the mount was on the ground, and made it move against the holder of my car and the iPhone in the orientation. In this position with the mount configuration, it was not possible to put the iPhone in portrait mode due to interference with the gear shifters. Even if I moved the hook to a higher position for the entry, there wouldn’t be enough clearance to view the image. I could have moved the hook to the left of the steering wheel to remove the gear lever, but that would have put the iPhone behind my steering wheel, blocking the line of sight on the iPhone’s screen.
Which I like
- MagSafe compatible
- The required rate of change
- Strongly built
- Almost the entire world of riding
What I would change
- The iPhone will sometimes look back at the MagSafe screen after placing it on the mount
- Placing it as a hook can prevent changes in air flow
- The iPhone moves around on narrow streets and roads, especially when using the switch
Final thoughts
The Zagg mophie wireless charging pad with MagSafe was a mixed bag for me, with a number of useful features but also some annoying flaws. All things considered, the price seems a bit high but I suspect this may be due to being an “Apple Exclusive”.
PricePrice: $99.95
Where to buy: apple
Source: An example of this drug was given by ZAGG.