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How to upgrade your iPhone in-car charging experience
Quad Lock MAG wireless charging head and case
The other day I showed how the first things I do when I get a new daily driver iPhone is stick a screen protector on it and pop it in a case. It's a great way to keep a new iPhone looking like new.
But the case I chose to use -- the Quad Lock MAG case -- generated a few comments and messages asking me if it's any good for in-car use.
It seems a lot of you want to keep your iPhone in a mount when you're in your car and are looking for a decent mounting system.
Quad Lock offers just that.
I've been using a Quad Lock case, suction mount, and wireless charger for over a year, and I've been very pleased with it. I was initially skeptical because systems that rely on numerous accessories are often unreliable. Usually there's one or two decent accessories, and the rest are rubbish.
Also: My 3 must-have car accessories: This phone mount, charger and cable
I was also concerned that while the case was good, the car mounting system would be awful (because, I hate to break it to you, so many of the in-car mounting systems out there are awful).
But I liked the Quad Lock system.
It had downsides for sure, specifically that getting the phone into the holder could be a bit of a faff, and you had to leave plenty of space around the mount for the phone because it had to come in at an angle and then rotate to click in place.
The original Quad Lock system can be a bit tricky to use sometimes
The new Quad Lock MAG system solves this problem.
The phone just clicks into place thanks to the power of magnets.
It's really easy.
So easy you can almost throw phone into the holder.
Quad Lock MAG is so easy to use
And don't worry that the magnets aren't going to be strong enough to hold your phone in place. I've used this in trucks on rough roads with no problem whatsoever.
It's a good system.
In order to make the system work, I had to upgrade the wireless charger. No big deal, the old one didn't support the faster charging protocols and it had a rather annoying LED built into it.
The new wireless charging head solves these problems.
Because the older mounts are not compatible with the new heads, Quad Lock supplies a new gimbal head with the wireless charging head.
This is a nice touch. Quad Lock earns kudos for supporting older hardware and not just telling users to go and buy more accessories.
Good work, Quad Lock.
The gimbal to convert older mounts to support the new system was included
Everything about the system oozes quality. Little touches like threaded inserts (rather than putting threads into plastic, which is a lot weaker), and the inclusion of blue threadlock on screws to prevent them from becoming undone due to vibrations are nice touches.
Threaded inserts and threadlock are nice touches
The new MAG cases also seem less predisposed to cause phones to overheat because they are thinner to allow more efficient charging.
Original Quad Lock case (left) and new Quad Lock MAG case (right)
As for the suction mount, it's one of the best I've ever used. Apart from one time when I stuck it to a window that had far too much condensation on it, it's never let me down. And this mount gets moved from vehicle to vehicle a lot, something which wears out most suction mounts really quickly.
This is yet another part of the Quad Lock system that comes highly recommended.
This suction mount has seen a lot of use and has stood up well to the test of time
My favorite charger is still the LinkOn 130W USB-C-to-USB-C charger. Not only is this powerful enough to charge phones and tablets, this is also perfect for drones and even laptops.