Infernal Innovations CD player magnetic phone mount: review

Ever since the first cell phones hit market companies have been making vehicle mounting systems. More recently those mounting systems have become less expensive and less permanent. Infernal Innovations has many innovative products, but in this review, I will be focusing on their CD player magnetic phone mount.

CD player magnetic phone mount overview

The  concept of Infernal Innovations CD player magnetic phone mount is simple. Use the existing CD player slot in your car to mount your phone. The best part is that you don’t have to remove the CD from the CD player to use it. The worst part is that you can’t remove the CD without removing the magnetic phone mount.

The mount contains 4 powerful magnets that grip a metal plate that can be attached to the phone using several available methods. All you need to do it place the phone on the mount where the metal plate is attached to the phone.

CD player magnetic phone mount setup

The setup is fairly easy. First attach the metal plate to your phone. If you have a phone with NFC and/or wireless charging, you’ll want to make sure that the plate is affixed below the coils or the plate will interfere with NFC and wireless charging operation. The plate can be attached either directly on the back of the phone, inside your phone’s case, on the outside of the case, or if your phone has a removable back, you may be able to mount the plate inside the back cover. To affix the metal plate, simply remove the adhesive cover and stick it where you want it.

In my case, I use a Zerolemon removable battery that adds a lot of weight to the phone. In order to have a good grip on the phone, I needed to mount to the plate to the outside of my phone case. This worked out very well.

The only other thing you need to do is attach the mount to the CD player slot. To accomplish this, all you need to do is insert the mount in the CD player slot and depress the lever. If there mount feels loose, there are 3 included rubber spacers to allow it to fit any CD player almost universally.

CD player magnetic phone mount usage

One of my concerns going into the review was whether the mount would hold my heavy phone with the plate mounted at the bottom. After setting everything up, not only did it hold up my phone, but the magnets were sufficiently powerful to hold it in a landscape position as well as portrait. In a portrait position, the phone did not move at all, even when hitting bumps. In a landscape position, the phone would drop ever so slightly after my car would hit a bump, but it took several bumps before I had to adjust the phone back up.

In a portrait position, I never had to readjust the phone. It stayed upright the whole time.

Needless to say, I was rather impressed with how strong the magnets on the mount were. Not only did they hold my phone in position, but they did it with a huge extended battery adding a ton of weight and they did it with the plate mounted at the bottom of the phone instead of the middle, which is where they recommend the plate be mounted. This means that you don’t have to sacrifice your NFC and/or wireless charging to have the convenience of a magnetic mount.

The convenience is really the selling point of a magnetic mount. All you have to do is place your phone on the mount when you get in your vehicle and remove it when you get out. It’s that simple. No fiddling with adjusting the mount or anything. Just place and go.

4 out of 5 stars

Overall this is a great solution for mounting your phone in  your car. You don’t have to fiddle with suction cups or worry about one of your AC vent being blocked and the phone takes a whole 3 seconds to attach to the mount. There are only two downsides with using this type of mount. The

There are only two downsides with using this type of mount. The first I already mentioned. It takes up your CD players slot. The other downside is that not all vehicles have a conveniently placed CD player. If your CD player is mounted too low, it will cause you to take your eyes off the road

The other downside is that not all vehicles have a conveniently placed CD player. If your CD player is mounted too low, it will cause you to take your eyes off the road and reduce your reaction time. Plus not all vehicles have a CD player. If you fall into either of the latter categories, then you should look into a vent or suction cup style mounting system.

Luckily Infernal Innovations also has vent and suction cup magnetic mounting systems. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=andrguys07-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0177KHDA0&asins=B0177KHDA0&linkId=RMKQQO2ZDM2TFWUD&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=truehttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=andrguys07-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00QXYUTOE&asins=B00QXYUTOE&linkId=OXXGOJA3FQJGPVBV&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=truehttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=andrguys07-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00TJ2B8T2&asins=B00TJ2B8T2&linkId=NYOVIFDK5DQGTBTA&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

The post Infernal Innovations CD player magnetic phone mount: review appeared first on AndroidGuys.

White elephant gift ideas under $25 for tech lovers

That time of gift-giving is quickly approaching. Most of us don’t quite have the cash to gift full-on devices, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give something valuable to those among our friends and family who are tech-oriented. There are plenty of potential gifts under $25 which they would appreciate, so we’ve gathered up a list to assist with your brainstorming this holiday season.

Cases

This one might take a little reconnaissance on your part for who you plan to gift it to, such as what phone they have and if they have more preference for either form or protection. There are a ton of cases out there, so chances are that they’ve overlooked an offering they would really like.

Slim	Protection	Wallet
OBLIQ Metal Note5 case – $13.99	Spigen Armor Nexus 6P case – $12.99	Spigen Galaxy S6 wallet case – $21.49

We’re seeing more and more phone compatibility for cases with integrated batteries. If that person you’re thinking about could always use more battery life and wouldn’t mind the extra thickness, a battery case could be a smart choice.

Skins and Screen Protectors

If you know that your giftee isn’t into phone cases, that’s not the only option. Skins are gaining popularity, because a quick 10-minute application transforms your device anew and blooms excitement once again. Here are a couple examples dbrand skins on the Nexus 5X and 6P courtesy of our own Derrick Miyao. They start at $10.

Nexus 6P in copper and the Nexus 5X in carbon fiber.

A screen protector can also be a good idea. Shop online for these, you’d be surprised how much they’re marked up in stores like Best Buy. For instance, Skinomi screen protectors run from $7-$10.

Battery Packs

Battery life is often the largest pain-point with phones, hence why external batteries are aplenty on the market. You can really go wrong with giving the gift of extended battery life. I would just suggest to get a feeling if the person is a power user or just needs an extra boost here and there. Battery packs have a wide range of sizes depending on capacity. You may also want to consider one with an attached charging cable – most people prefer to not have to carry around extra supplies.

Anker Ultra Compact 10000mAh Power Bank	EasyAcc Cable 9000mAh Power Bank
$21.99	$21.99

Headphones

If someone close to you is a music-lover and uses Apple Earpods as their daily driver, do them a favor and gift them a real pair of headphones. It doesn’t even have to be expensive to beat out Apple’s earbuds. However, first find out what type of headphone they like.

Over-Ear	On-Ear	In-Ear
Sennheiser HD 202 II	Sony MDRZX110 ZX	Sennheiser CX 200
$24.50	$14.74	$24.53

Also, being that Bluetooth headphones are mainstream now, there are plenty of choices that won’t break the bank. We recently reviewed a set from Coocheer that goes for only $18.99.

Portable Speakers

Bluetooth-connectable speakers are a big thing these days. They can be pretty pricey when you look at well-known brands (Bose, UE, JBL, etc.), but you don’t necessarily need to spend an arm and a leg to get something that sounds decent.

SoundBot SB571 Bluetooth Speaker	VicTsing Bluetooth Waterproof Speaker
$21.99	$17.99

Android Collectibles

Everyone Android lover would welcome a collectible. There are tons! Most commonly collected are the mini Android figures. There are a multitude of different kinds.

There are also other Android-relevant products available to decorate a space with, such as an Android plush, backpack clip, magnet set, and even a GoGroove speaker.

Play Store Gift Card

Another great gift idea for Android users is a Play Store gift card. The Play Store has all the content we’d want – movies, games, music, apps, and books.

Google provides an easy way to email your friends and family Play Store credit as a gift, which they will be able to redeem instantly.

But wait…there’s more!

• LG Optimus Exceed 2 (Verizon) prepaid phone – $14.99
• TYLT Capio 2 Universal Car Mount – $20.63
• TYLT Dual-port Car Charger – $7.99
• Momoday Bluetooth Headset Beanie Cap – $13.69
• Play Music Subscription gift, 1-month – $9.99
• Netflix Subscription gift card
• Samsung EVO Class 10 MicroSD card, 64GB – $18.98
• POP! Google Cardboard VR kits – $14.90

I hope you found our list helpful. The end of the month is approaching fast, so you better get cracking!

The post White elephant gift ideas under $25 for tech lovers appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Zipbuds Slide Review: is the Slide still as much of a novelty without the zip?

Zipbuds is an audio product company that has made a name for itself – literally – for having sets of headphones with a zip as part of its audio cable. As well as being a nice novelty and conversation starter, it was surprisingly practical as it gave users a way to store the headphones away without having to worry about excessive tangling. Well, Zipbuds is back with a new set of headphones called the Zipbuds Slide, and perhaps contradictory to their brand name, the Slide uses a unique new mechanism that replicates the same function as a zip without the “zip” part – so just how good is the Slide, and does it retain enough of the novelty that have made Zipbuds products unique? Let’s check it out.

What’s in the box

The contents of the box for the Zipbuds Slide in-ear headphones are very straight-forward: you’ll get the headphones themselves as well as two extra sizes of earbuds (small or large) to help you get on your way to enjoying tangle-free listening. There are quite a few colours for the Slide headphones that are available, but we’ve got the P.O.P (pink and purple) variation for review – you can also get it in All Black, White Sea (white and aqua), Black Neon (black and lime green), White Purple, Black and White and Black Sea (black and light blue).

Zipbuds calls its new zipper mechanism the “Zipperless Zipper” cabling, and enables two sets of silicon cables to be clasped together, might like a zip would keep two sides of a zip together. It’s incredible effective and is much easier (and quieter) to use than conventional zips courtesy of its smooth zipping. The rest of the cable is the same kind of silicon, but a single cable the rest of the way down – the cable is square, which is a bit different from the round or flat cables we’re used to seeing on most products, but they seem to do the job just as well.

The Slide headphones are priced at a regular retail price of $79.95 USD, which puts them in a relatively premium part of the market – that said, they are also marketed as a pair of sports headphones, which is a use case that many fitness-conscious people will appreciate.

How does it perform

The last time I reviewed a pair of Zipbuds headphones, I was struck by how good the audio quality was – to put it simply, I wouldn’t put the Slide headphones in the same bucket, at least, not anymore. Having mostly reviewed headphones over the last few months, it’s clear that the Slide headphones lack a lot of depth particularly in the bass department. That’s not to say it’s not there – it can certainly be remedied a little with careful equalization control, but they aren’t particularly bad sounding either. Suffice to say that if you’re an active person and need a solid pair of headphones, the Slide headphones will do the job admirably.

Comfort-wise, on the other hand, I was extremely impressed with the Slide headphones. The structure of each earphone looks a little bulbous, but that’s primarily to give the Slide headphones a more stable seating in your ear – and it works. And it works two-fold: while it creates a stable seal, it also takes some of the pressure out of jamming the earbuds in your ears. This is also made partially possible by the silicon earbuds that come with the Slide headphones which are firm, but textured and soft enough not to cause any discomfort for many hours of listening.

Of course, the piece de resistance of the Slide headphones is how they handle transport and general day-to-day use, and for which they get top marks. The silicon cabling makes it easily cleanable and pretty much perfect for the fitness lifestyle, and the new zipping mechanism doesn’t take away from that at all. Of course, the best thing about the zip mechanism is that once you’ve finished listening, you can zip up your headphones all the way to the top and put them in a bag without the fear of them getting tangled up.

If there’s only one gripe about the overall design of the Slide headphones is that the in-line microphone and answer call button are located quite far down. This is of course necessitated by the zipping mechanism, but it pretty much means you have to hold the mic to your face if you’re taking a call in public – note though that Zipbuds do claim the Slide headphones have noise-filtering of unwanted sounds.

What I like about the Zipbuds Slide

One of my biggest gripes with the older Zipbuds headphones were that the hard plastic zip parts would rub against whatever I was sitting behind, which created unnecessary conducted noise along the cables. With this new Zipperless Zipper, that gripe is entirely dealt with. What’s more, now because heavy, hard plastic doesn’t have to be used, the Slide headphones also benefit from pretty significant weight loss, which also helps with the overall comfort of the headphones.

Speaking of the new Zipperless Zipper, it can never be overstated how good this mechanism is for preventing tangling of audio cables – even if you somehow manage to get the whole cable in a knot, it’s still only one simple knot so it will never take you ten minutes just to start listening to your music (that is, as long as you use the zipper in the first place).

What I don’t like about the Zipbuds Slide

For me, it’s still a little weird that a set of Zipbuds headphones doesn’t have a real zip mechanism – while I absolutely love how much better this new Zipperless Zipper cabling works, I feel like the novelty aspect of having a Zipbuds product has been lost a little. The last Zipbuds review I did resulted in many a conversation about why the headphone cables had a zip growing out of them, whereas that conversation never surfaced during this review. If we flip the argument around, we could instead say that the Slide headphones are much more subtle than its predecessors – of course, it’s an intensely personal decision to decide which is better for you.

When it comes to colours, I’m a pretty simple guy, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the available colours of the Slide headphones is a little daunting to me. Aside from the All Black and Black and White versions of the Slide headphones, all the other colours scream “contrast” – I admit that this generally fits with the fitness community and their generally brightly coloured attire, but if you’re looking for something a little reserved, your choices are limited.

Final Thoughts

The Zipbuds Slide headphones are a step in the right direction for Zipbuds – while I might have some extremely specific gripes about them, the new zipper mechanism and overall design choices make the Slide headphones Zipbuds’ most usable product to date. The best part of it is that while the regular retail price of the Slide headphones is $79.95 USD, it is available in every colour on Amazon for $49.95 USD at the moment which in my opinion is a bit of a steal – we’ve got the Amazon links below if you’re interested.

For more details about the Zipbuds Slide headphones, be sure to visit its product page on the Zipbuds’ website here. What do you think about our Zipbuds Slide review?

http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&Operation=GetAdHtml&ID=OneJS&OneJS=1&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wwwandcom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B012Z0R34I&asins=B012Z0R34I&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&MarketPlace=UShttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&Operation=GetAdHtml&ID=OneJS&OneJS=1&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wwwandcom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0131U139W&asins=B0131U139W&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&MarketPlace=UShttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&Operation=GetAdHtml&ID=OneJS&OneJS=1&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wwwandcom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0131TPKOM&asins=B0131TPKOM&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&MarketPlace=UShttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&Operation=GetAdHtml&ID=OneJS&OneJS=1&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wwwandcom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0131UCUXA&asins=B0131UCUXA&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&MarketPlace=UShttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&Operation=GetAdHtml&ID=OneJS&OneJS=1&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wwwandcom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0189UON6E&asins=B0189UON6E&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&MarketPlace=UShttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&Operation=GetAdHtml&ID=OneJS&OneJS=1&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wwwandcom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0189UOOIG&asins=B0189UOOIG&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&MarketPlace=UShttp://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&Operation=GetAdHtml&ID=OneJS&OneJS=1&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wwwandcom-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0189UOL5M&asins=B0189UOL5M&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&MarketPlace=US 

Gallery of Photos

The post Zipbuds Slide Review: is the Slide still as much of a novelty without the zip? appeared first on AndroidSPIN.