Mobility Digest Review: Bracketron Universal GPS Grip-iT Vent Mount

Up for review today, we have a handy accessory your car. Snapped onto your air vent, this easily-adjustable mount will hold nearly any portable electronic device.

The Bracketron Universal GPS Grip-iT Vent Mount retails for $19.95, and can be found at a variety of local and online retailers (Amazon actually has it for $10.94). For more information on the product, check out the official information page on the Bracketron site.

Bracketron Universal GPS Grip-iT Vent Mount Review

• Author: Patrick Kortendick of Mobility Digest
• Price: $19.95
• Manufacturer: Bracketron

Quick Overview

• Provides a secure mounting option with easy installation.
• Adjustable arms open from 1.5″ to 4.5″ wide to accommodate wide range GPS and other mobile devices.
• Arms also adjust to allow easy reach of device button controls.
• Mounts to air conditioning/heating vent in your vehicle and keeps your device secure.
• Made of durable ABS plastic that holds up to wear and tear.

Product Description

The Universal GPS Grip-iT Vent Mount is designed for portable mobile electronics. The included Adjustable Rotating Air Vent Mount (COM-116) makes for easy mounting to the louvers of your vehicles air vent to provide a stable, secure, and easily accessible mounting solution for your portable device. Also included is an T-Slot AMPS Adapter Plate for use with any of Bracketron’s Custom Mounting Solutions.

Introduction/First Impressions

Personally, I’ve been looking for some type of car mount for my phone for a while now. Typically, I have my phone hooked up to my car stereo for music, and I also tend to talk on the phone a lot (via wired headset) while I’m driving. In the past, the cup holder has held my phone, but it’s harder to look at and/or interact with, a simple function of utmost importance while operating an automobile. So, I stumbled across the Bracketron mount, installed it, and have used it on a near-daily basis since. Read on for my impressions and more information.

Out of the box, the Bracketron Universal GPS Grip-iT Vent Mount includes a few pieces (shown above): the mount, the mounting hardware, and a mounting plate. Easily assembled, the device then clips onto the air vent of your car. While the installation certainly involves two hands (I wish I had a third at the time), that’s one of the few ‘gripes’ of the device, if you can even call it that. With the installation, I’m also able to easily plug cords into my device, allowing me to hook my phone up to both my stereo and power outlet at the same time.

The mount fits GPS units, mobile phones, smartphones, satellite radios, and more. As you can see from a few of the photos below, the grips can be easily oriented into any position to fit most any size of personal electronic device. Furthermore, the arms of the device are padded, to ensure that your device does not become scratched or damaged.

To ‘lock’ a device into the mount, just push the grips together until they snug the device that you’re trying to hold. To release the device, there’s a button on the back that will spread the grips. A device can be anywhere from approximately 2” thick to 4.5” thick, so it’s possible to fit most any portable electronic device. Additionally, the mount also rotates, so you can use your device in portrait or landscape mode.

As I mentioned earlier that installation was somewhat of an inconvenience, the only other negative aspect of the device is that it’s made near-entirely out of plastic, so the build could certainly be of a better quality. With the plastic track/gear system in place to widen the arms, I feel like it’s only a matter of time before the plastic breaks (if it does, I’ll update this review accordingly). Other than that, the general layout of the mount is well thought out, and highly functional.

While I’m not sure if it will work with all types of automobile air vents, I’d have to think that this was taken into consideration when they designed the unit. I tried it out in a variety of vehicles and had success with all. As for other related accessories, Bracketron does sell a few other mounts for cars and other vehicles (such as bicycles). For more information, check out their website.

Conclusion

Overall, the Bracketron Universal GPS Grip-iT Vent Mount is a great add-on for your personal electronic devices. With an easily-adjustable holder, the mount fits most any portable electronic device on the market. While the device has found its way into my daily use now, I think I can safely say that with turn-by-turn navigation coming in Windows Phone “Mango,” odds are that I’ll be using it even more. ~PK

Special thanks to Max Borges for providing us with this unit for review.