Mobility Digest Review: Bracketron Universal GPS Window Mount

Smartphones these days are being used in a wide variety of ways other than just talking on the phone. Music playback with streaming services like Slacker and Pandora and GPS with free services like Google and Bing. If you are like me, you use both at the same time. So I have been looking for a convenient way to display my device where I can control music playback as well as view my GPS. I always hesitated to buy universal mounts because the window mounts never seemed to hold up very well and the device would end dropping down to the floor. Not only is this a pain in the rear end to reach down and grab and try to put back in place, but it could be a potential safety hazard as well. So when I saw the Bracketron Universal GPS Window Mount, I noticed that it had a very top end looking window mount so I thought I would give it a try and see if my device fumbling days could be over. So let’s check it out in another Mobility Digest Review!

Kicking things off, let’s take a look at the packaging and the contents. The clamshell packaging ensures a very difficult removal but does make sure that you know that no one else has been into your product. Inside you will find

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

MODEL NO: GWM-262-BL
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: Universal GPS Window Mount
UPC NUMBER: 874688002621
MASTER PACK DIMENSIONS: 26” x 18.5” x 14.75”
MASTER PACK: 20/pc
MASTER WEIGHT: 12.5 lbs
INDIVIDUAL PACKAGED DIMENSIONS: 4.25” x 8” x 9.5”
INDIVIDUAL PACKAGED WEIGHT: 10 oz

After getting the contents unpackaged putting the 9” suction cup window mount together with the universal grip-it is quite easy and both pieces feel of very high quality  material and workmanship.

Looking that the 9” bendable suction cup window mount first, the bottom suction cup is very large and will give you lots of area to grip the windshield with. It also has a small little tab on it so when it is time to remove it, you have something to grab on to instead of just yanking on the base and loosening the suction cup from the base. The suction is created by pulling down on the tab. It does not need to be pulled all the way down to the bottom like you might expect, but stops somewhere between and provides a lot of suction to secure the mount to the windshield. There is a button underneath the tab that releases the suction when removal is needed. Then, as mentioned above, grab the tab on the suction cup and remove. The 9 inch arm provides a lot of reach to bring your device forward on vehicles that have windshields that are on a steeper angle. The dashboards on these type of windshield cars make mounting devices to it tricky, but also take the device further out of range for easy viewing. The Bracketron Universal GPS Window Mount will allow you to bring your device forward on the most swept back windshield like the one in my wife’s Ford Freestar minivan. The 9 inch arm is very strong and when driving on bumpy roads only allows a small amount of bouncing. The device end of the window mount rotates 360 degrees so you will be able to rotate your device from portrait to landscape with no worries.

The Universal Grip-iT device holder is very well constructed and has an anti-skid surface to help keep your device to stay put when in the mount. On the bottom right hand side you will notice a button that opens the holder to accommodate a wide range of different devices from a GPS, smartphone, as well as a MP3 player. The jaws open up to amazing 4.25 inches! That should be good to hold just about any device you own. Even my huge 5 inch Garmin Nuvi GPS fit in it! On the bottom of the Grip-iT device holder are two rotatable feet that keep your device from sliding down when you have your device in portrait orientation. When in landscape, I found that I would not use the feet because the device would not center and stuck too far too one side. The Grip-iT mount when squeezed together holds the device in it very securely and I never experienced one coming out.

Putting the sections together is pretty easy to figure out and they clip together VERY securely. So securely in fact that it is very difficult to separate them should you need to. You have to get a small screwdriver and depress tab with a substantial amount of force to separate the two units from each other. Then it is difficult to remember which way to slide the Grip-iT unit back. The wrong way will result in breaking the tab off of the window mount that fits into the channel on the Grip-iT unit. It would have been handy for Bracketron to add an arrow to let you know what way to slide the Grip-iT unit to separate it from the Window Mount. The two sections fit very securely together as a result.

As you can see from the picture below, the Bracketron Universal GPS Window Mount looks really good and works even better. As I mentioned above, even though most swept back windshields will not stop the 9 inch Window Mount Arm from keeping your device in easy view and reach. It is also very strong and only suffers from a  minimal amount of bouncing on the most bumpy of roads. Landscape and portrait orientations both look and work perfectly .

the Bracketron Universal GPS Window Mount is very recommended should you be in the market to buy one mount to handle all your device needs. It is very strong and is very well made. Unlike cheaper window mounts, the suction cup actually works and there is a very minimal amount of bouncing on the most bumpy of roads. Having the Bracketron Universal GPS Window Mount frees up your console area from having to keep your device and you will not have to look down to see who is calling you or change the song when using your device as a music player. The Bracketron Universal GPS Window Mount is sold on the Bracketron website for $29.99 but can easily be found for less than half that amount on Amazon.

PROS:

• Very Strong
• Inexpensive-good value
• 360 degree viewing
• Great clamping force from suction cup/easy to release

Cons:

• Hard to separate the Window Mount from the Grip-iT holder
• Clamshell packaging is a pain in the rear to open!