Qi Enabled Smartphone Car Mounts and Holders

Qi Enabled Smartphone Car Mounts and HoldersSamsung continues to be one of the leaders when it comes to smartphone hardware technology.  Qi charging technology is another innovation where Samsung is leading the way.  Having to plug that lightning cable into my Apple iPhone 6s Plus every night is annoying.  The fact that I have an Otterbox Defender case makes it all that much more difficult.  I have great appreciation for this new charging technology.  The technology has been embraced by Samsung and a few other companies.  Sadly, not by Apple.

The premise of Qi is pretty simple.  Place your phone on a wireless charging pad and your phone gets charged very quickly.  This feature is only available on newer phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4.  It even works through a case, with the exception of a very thick one or a case that is made of metal.

So the natural progression of this technology is to embed Qi into a car mount so you can charged your phone while it’s mounted in a car.  There are only a few good holders out there thus far and I suspect this article will be updated a few more times as the technology becomes more pervasive.

So let’s look at some good phone mounts with built in wireless charging.

The iOttie Easy One Touch Wireless Qi Standard Car Mount takes a good proven mount and couples wireless charging with it.  We have recommended the iOttie line of car mounts on numerous occasions and have even done a few reviews of their products.  All are good solid products that are quite functional and well-built.  This is the well received iOttie Easy One Touch 2 with wireless charging added to it.  These suction cup mounts adhere to your windshield or dash.  As already mentioned, it’s Qi-enabled so when you place your phone into the holder, it receives a charge.  The mount includes an expandable cradle that opens from 2.3 to 3.3 inches so it’s going to be large enough to handle most smartphones.  Your phone can pivot into landscape or portrait.

The Mpow Car Mount Wireless Charger is another entry that includes a Qi-enabled cradle.  There are multiple mounting options that include dash and car air vent.  The way it works is that you get a single QI-enabled cradle and this can be attached to one of the mounting solutions which separate components that are included in the mounting kit.  The cradle can rotate 360 degrees.

The last mount I wanted to discuss is the WAITIEE Magnetic Wireless Car Charger and Vent Mount.  This is a mounting solution for an air vent.  This mount has a minimalist design and uses the smallest cradle out of the three mounts we have discussed.  I like the design a lot as it takes up as little space as possible.  Air vents are good locations for car mounts.  They keep your device near eye level yet out of the view of bad guys who won’t be able to easily spot the mount when walking past your car.  Like other wireless charging mounts, this includes a cable that will plug into your accessory port.  The cradle swivels into any orientation and the vent portion will attach to vertical and horizontal vent slats.

The Qi standard is the next generation in powering a smartphone or tablet.  It’s going to be interesting to see how many smartphone manufacturers embrace it.  This is great technology.  Another reason for me to consider moving away from Apple.

For more information on this topic, be sure to read our detailed article on Qi wireless charging.