'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
This is the ultimate iPhone car charger, and I just fixed its biggest problem
The other day I looked at what I thought was the ultimate in-car wireless charger, the ESR HaloLock with CryoBoost technology. I still stand by my assessment that this is the best in-car charger I've tested, by far.
But several readers got in touch with me to say that while they could indeed benefit from a wireless charger that offered built-in cooling (because, like me, they would get unreliable charging in hot weather), the vent mount mechanism was a deal-breaker.
Also: This car charger doubles as an emergency device
Now, to be clear, the vent mounting holder that the HaloLock with CryoBoost wireless car charger came with didn't give me any problems at all. Once I took a few seconds to set it up right, it was great. And I gave it many tens of miles of bad road in my truck, and many more miles in a rental car.
But I can see why some people have a problem with vent mounting. It can be a bit clumsy, can restrict your options as to where you can fit the mount, might break the vent if you're heavy-handed, or just blocks a vent that you're using.
These are good points.
A couple of readers also wondered if the charger part of the HaloLock with CryoBoost charger was compatible with ESR's HaloLock Dashboard Phone Mount. There was only one way to find out -- I bought one!
View at AmazonTo cut a short story even shorter, yes, the two fit together just fine! I just needed to loosen the ball mount on both and swap the ends over.
Swapping the ends of the two different mounts over is as easy as it looks!
Now I have the best of all worlds -- a wireless MagSafe charger with a built-in cooling fan that also features a suction mount that sticks onto any windshield or dashboard.
Also: Is this the ultimate wireless car charger? My iPhone tells me yes
This excellent mount offers a strong suction cup for attaching a smartphone to most surfaces. It also features articulating arms and a swivel ball head so you can perfectly place your smartphone in any vehicle -- and with nothing hanging off the air vent!
Articulated arms and the ball swivel allow for perfect mounting
And just to make sure that it sticks well and doesn't fall apart, I took in on a trip that included a few dozen miles of bad road, and the suction cup stayed attached to the windshield, and the phone stayed fixed to the charger.
The mount did cost me $22, but decent suction cup mounts aren't cheap, and I've spent more on suction cups in the past.
Here's what the final holder looks like
Another question I received after my last article was about the strength of the magnet, and whether you needed ESR's MagSafe case to get the best results, or whether any MagSafe case would work, or none at all.
I tested a few different MagSafe cases, including Apple's own MagSafe case, another ESR case, and a Quad-Lock case, and I found they all worked pretty much the same.
Testing different MagSafe cases with the MagSafe in-car smartphone holder.
However, without a case, the connection was nowhere near as reliable, especially on rough roads. For the best performance, my advice is to use a MagSafe case with this charger.