Review – Our mobile phones are essential when driving, and can usually provide directions, music, audio books, etc. However, did you know that there are at least 24 states in the United States that prohibit the use of handheld mobile phones while driving? This does not mean that you can’t use your phone to find directions, but it does mean that your phone needs a safe location, not your hands. Scosche has a new configurable solution called MagicMount MSC 4 in 1, designed to work with Apple’s MagSafe charger and provide multiple installation solutions in your car.
What is it?
MagicMount MSC 4 in 1 is a car holder for Apple’s MagSafe charger, offering the option of mounting to the vent or directly to a smooth surface with 3M adhesive. There is also an extended rear swing arm, a 20w power transmission adapter for car cigarette lighter sockets, and two sticky cable guides to help keep things tidy.
What’s in the box?
- Magic Mountain
- MagSafe charger base (not including MagSafe charger)
- fasten the screw nut
- Swing arm extension
- Vent installation
- Surface mount and additional 3M adhesive
- 20W PD adapter (USB-C)
- Cleaning cloth
- 2x adhesive cable guide
- instruct
Hardware specifications
As for the specifications, all the main components of the bracket are made of high-quality plastic and silicone, designed to withstand the heat and direct sunlight that are common in the dashboard area of cars. Mobile phone compatibility is limited to iPhone 12 series models that support MagSafe charging.
Design and features
Scosche’s bracket can be used in 4 ways: mounted to the vent, directly mounted to the dashboard, and any one with an extended rocker arm that allows you to deviate the charger from the center of the base mount. The vent installation and rocker arm configuration are shown below.
The base can securely fix Apple’s MagSafe charger, you need to purchase the charger separately.
Both vent mounting (left) and surface mounting (right) use lock nuts to securely position the bracket or rocker arm, depending on where you want to install it.
It also includes adhesive cable guides to help clean wiring.
set up
To install MagicMount, you first need to plug the MagSafe charger into the base. Pass the cable through the opening on the lower right, snap the charger into place, and then turn the base over to tuck the cable into the channel groove.
The next step is to determine whether you prefer to mount to a vent or use surface mount. All cars are different, so any of my pictures below may not apply to your scenario. Let’s take a look at the vents first. This is a picture from Scosche that helps to show what type of vents can be used with their mounts. Generally speaking, the main blades of the vents all run in the same direction. We installed it on a Volkswagen Tiguan, which has two vents in the 12 centers shown.
You need to note the location of your dash controls, including which controls you use and which controls can be hidden if needed. Therefore, you will quickly understand which vent and whether you want to use the extension.
We’d better insert the mount into the lowest blade. The surface of the mount can use the surface of the dashboard, especially because the vent of the Tiguan can be rotated to make the blade vertical or horizontal. The following is the appearance when the bracket is directly attached to the vent bracket.
Quick note: You need to push in the mount slowly and evenly because your blade may pop out of its pivot point. Please also note that the two shafts of the ventilation clip have slots of different widths. You may need to rotate the base 90º to match the width of your vent.
Make sure you are sitting in the driver’s seat and adjust the tilt of MagSafe so that your phone is tilted the way you want, and then confirm that it will not prevent any required control or, worse, it will not interfere with the steering signal or Any access to anything is related to steering. Make adjustments if necessary.
If you decide to use surface mounting, you need to remove the vents first. Unscrew the lock nut completely, and then eject the ball from the sleeve. Keep the lock nut on the ball side and press it into the surface mount, then screw it in evenly until it is firm. The same process applies to the extension arm, and the vehicle side (vent or surface) always gets a lock nut. This is where we install the surface mount.
You need to similarly try to fix the bracket in certain positions and determine whether it needs to be extended. When you are ready to install, please use the supplied cleaning cloth to clean the surface and let it dry completely, then peel off and stick the base. In this step, it may be easier to remove the rest of the base from the base so you can reach it completely and hold it firmly. Reassemble and check for safe positioning.
Performance
First of all, the MagSafe charger in the base can hold the phone well. During our testing, this phone has never been used for free, and it can always be installed quickly and easily. We did notice some swings and bounces when driving in all configurations, more noticeable when using the rear swingarm. Every car is different. Between the location of the vents, the availability of smooth, sturdy surfaces, and the location of the power ports, it is challenging to design a universal solution that fits as much as possible to each vehicle.
Here are some of our findings about Volkswagen Tiguan…
- The vents can easily leave the blades in place. Repair requires opening the dashboard and removing the vents to reassemble. You can see that the blades are misaligned here after the spine that connects them is knocked into place.
- The vent is installed on the low blade, the mounting base is in a vertical position, and it is in good contact with the surface of the instrument panel. This helps to establish a relatively solid foundation. No extension was installed, and the protruding distance of the mount from the dashboard was farther than I expected. Not a deal breaker, but you can see how far in the photo.
- After installing the extension, you can choose to rotate to any angle, which can actually bring your phone closer to the dashboard. In the Tiguan, we are restricted to extend downwards, because anything that extends outwards will cause the vent to rotate until the extension hangs down due to the weight of the phone.
- This is ultimately not the main problem, because it is the preferred location anyway, although you can see the distance between the phone and the turn signal (this is why we ended up turning to surface mount).
- We have a good place to place the surface mount, and then we can use the rocker arm to move the phone up and slightly to the side. Since we almost only use CarPlay, these buttons on the left side of the display are not used frequently, and the volume control on the steering wheel is the main control.
- The power port is directly in front of the shift lever, slightly to the right, which makes it easy to tap the cable with your fingers when you reach for the shift lever. Annoying and there is a problem with any power adapter in this car. We solved this problem by choosing a 90º C-to-C connector that allows us to connect the cable directly to the side.
- This Tiguan has wired CarPlay. This means that we have to connect the Lightning data cable from the mobile phone to the USB-A port on the car. Apple has made electrical planning for this situation, and the iPhone uses a wired connection for charging by default. In our case, this means that the MagSafe charger is just a magnetic stand. However, if the passenger is driving with music (using their own mobile phone), then the driver’s mobile phone can be charged via MagSafe. The lesson here is to understand the functions and requirements of your vehicle so that the solution you choose is suitable for your scenario.
You can also see that we were able to stuff the MagSafe cable into the gap in the dashboard to prevent it from getting in the way. Once we are done irritating the position, we will finally use the cable guide that comes with the CarPlay cable.
what do I like
- Clean appearance and safe mobile phone holder
- One-handed mobile phone docking, no clips required
- Versatility for vent or surface mounting
- Power adapter included (but you must buy your own MagSafe charger)
What will i change
- According to the thickness of your ventilation blades, do you want the base of the ventilation clip to be symmetrical to maintain stability on either axis
- Low-key, but I’m picking faults there
Final thoughts
If you are looking for a MagSafe charging stand for your car, then Scosche MagicMount MSC 4 in 1 is an excellent multifunctional stand. It supports ventilation holes and surface mount options, and includes a 20w power adapter, which is very helpful. The rocker arm should allow you to stay away from any controls you need to access, which is a very safe choice for most cars. The only thing that really needs to be noted is that this is best if you connect to your vehicle via Bluetooth or wireless CarPlay to charge with MagSafe.
Price: $34.99
Where to buy: Amazon, Scotia
source: The sample of this product is made by Scotia
