REVIEW – Our smartphones are becoming more integrated with our lives, even into our vehicles. We can play music, navigate to our destinations, and use apps to find less expensive gas, restaurants, and charging stations. But we need a place to put our phones and ideally charge them while in use. I tested the Mophie Snap+ Charging Vent Mount to see how well it integrates into my vehicle.
What is it?
The Mophie Snap+ Charging Vent Mount is a wireless Qi2 charger for your car. Once set up, simply snap your iPhone 12 and newer onto the MagSafe mount and enjoy wireless charging.
What’s included?
- Wireless charging vent mount
- Off-set extension arm
- USB-C 20W car charger
- 1.5M USB-C cable
- Cable management clip X 2
- Cleaning wipe
- User manual
Tech specs
Click to expand
- 15W charging (max)
- Made for MagSafe
- Adjustable locking vent clip
Design and features
The Mophie Snap+ Charging Vent Mount is a versatile magnetic mount. As indicated in the name, this mount mounts to the AC/heater vents. There is a long-ish ‘j-hook’ that extends and tightens with the turning of a knob. This allows the mount to securely stay attached to the vent. This is important as the newer smartphones are getting bigger and heavier.
In my car, a Subaru Impreza, there are vertical and horizontal vents. I was only able to use the horizontal vents on the ends of the dash, closest to the side windows. For the vertical vents in the center of my dash, near the console, the hook didn’t extend far enough and the circular stable plate also prevented inserting the hook in too far. On one hand, without the circular stable plate, I may have been able to hook around the vertical vent, but then it would have been less sturdy. Because if the wider center vents, I have the Mophie Snap+ Charging Vent Mount attached to the passenger vent closest to the passenger door. This works great for my passenger. They have a place to mount and charge their phone! With the included cable management clips, I was able to tuck the charging cable along the glovebox, down the transmission hump, to the included charger plugged into the 12V plug near my armrest.
Included in the box is an extension arm to move the phone further away from the vent and not block airflow as much. Additionally, the arm extension allows for more options for the placement of the phone. It’s a great idea but isn’t so great in practice. The extension arm is pretty flimsy and has a lot of play in it. This play is exaggerated when a phone is placed on it, causing a lot of bouncing around. I ended up using the muted without the extension arm and it was solid, didn’t bounce, and some air could still be felt from the vent.
The MagSafe charging works great with 15W of charging due to the Qi2 standard. This is helpful for shorter trips when more juice is required. I did want to bring up a circumstance where having a wireless charger may not be as helpful. To use CarPlay in my Subaru, I have to plug in a cable to my phone. This cable also charges my phone. Having a wireless charging mount doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in this scenario. But for how I’m using it, for my passenger, it’s perfect! When I’m a passenger in someone else’s car, it’s rare that I have a place to stick my phone and charge. Qi2 charging also works for Android phones as well.
What I like about the Mophie Wireless Charging Vent Mount with MagSafe
- The MagSafe magnet is strong
- Uses Qi2 charging (15W charging)
- Includes 20W USB-C car adapter, USB-C cable, and 2 adhesive cable management clips
What needs to be improved?
- Arm extension introduces significant wobble
- Vent mount attachment may not work on deeper or wider vents
Final thoughts
The Mophie Snap+ Charging Vent Mount has many features that can make mounting and charging your phone easier; depending on how your vehicle is designed, taking advantage of these features could be hit or miss.
If you need to plug in a cable to your phone, the wireless charging and functionality become redundant.
If your vehicle has wide or deep vents (vertical or horizontal), getting the ‘j’ part of the hook deep enough to latch will be a problem.
If your phone is big and heavy, using the extension arm will not be stable and you’ll experience a lot of bouncing.
But if you use the mount without the extension arm, have wireless CarPlay, and vent slats that are not very wide or deep, then all the features of the Mophie Snap+ Charging Vent Mount makes sense and will make the integration of your smartphone to your vehicle more seamless.
Price: $69.95
Where to buy: Zagg.com and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Zagg (Mophie). Zagg did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
