We were big fans of the Mountek’s CD slot car mount when we reviewed it a little over 3 years ago. A brilliant way to repurpose your car’s long forgotten CD player, we’ve been using it just about every day since and quite frankly, couldn’t live without it. Since then, the nGroove has undergone a few revisions, with Mountek creating a version that uses magnets to hold your phone in place instead of traditional arms.
But, no matter how much we love the CD slot mount — it’s definitely not for everyone. While we do all our music listening by streaming it from the cloud, there are still people out there that use CD’s (for our younger readers, these are like tiny records that only store about 80 minutes worth of music) or have decks installed that don’t even include a CD slot.
In an attempt at covering all their bases, Mountek has introduced the AIRSNAP, a magnetic dock that attaches to your car’s air vent. We know what you’re thinking — car vents suck and normally you’d be right, especially when you’re using with a larger 5.5-inch+ smartphone. But the AIRSNAP is different in that it features a tiny stabilizing arm to ensure the mount is held securely without your phone wiggling and wobbling around on the road.
That’s not to say there is no shake. Air vent blades aren’t the most stable things to attach to. But in our test, it was far better than most other vent mounts we’ve used. Just keep in mind that while the AIRSNAP works great with most air vents, newer cars with those cylinder-type vents aren’t compatible. You’ll also want to mount the AIRSNAP on the highest possible air vent blade to keep airflow unobstructed.
Inside the the AIRSNAP are 4 powerful magnets just underneath a grippy rubber that, when paired with 1 of the 2 included steel “Badges”, provides a level of convenience and a streamlined look that simply can’t be beat. The steel badges that come inside the box feature 3M adhesive on the back and while you could attach these directly to the back of your phone, it’s a little less intrusive to just stick them to the underside of your favorite smartphone case. In the case of our Nexus 6, we didn’t even need to stick it on using the adhesive and everything worked just fine. There are even larger tablet-sized badges (sold separately) if you want to go that route.
Overall, we were quite pleased with the AIRSNAP. Although we prefer a CD slot mount (less shake, even if it is more of an eyesore), this is a great alternative for those that still listen to CDs, or can’t stand suction cup mounts. Simply put, it’s another great addition to Mountek’s current dock offerings and we give it an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up. Normally priced at $30, the AIRSNAP is included in Amazon’s Deal of the Day for only $22.46.
Pros
-Small, minimal design
-Significantly more stable than other vent mounts
-Magnets making docking/undocking incredibly easy
-Even larger sized devices are held securely in place
Cons
-Only comes with 2 steel Badges for your devices (3 would have been nice)
-Not well suited for case-less phones, especially those with a curved back
-A little on the pricey side
Buy on Amazon: Mountek AIRSNAP ($22.46)
