ARKON SM588 Slim-Grip Flexible Seat Bolt Floor Mount for Smartphone Reviews

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I've had this mount for about 9 months now and it has served me well for the most part.

Installation: Took about 15-20 minutes because of some of the mount rubbing up against another metal piece. I had to file down a section of the metal in order to have it securely bolted down.

Adjust-ability: Sometimes a little hard to loosen the cell phone mount and re-tighten it in landscape mode, depending on the tilt of the mount. For the most part however, easy to use.

Durability: This is where it gets stars knocked off. The issue that I keep having is that the bottom legs keep breaking. I use this pretty much every day and I have gone through all four of the legs that was provided with the mount. At this point I am trying to find a replacement for the legs. I really wanted to give this review 3.5 stars but since I couldn't and I am frustrated at the fact that I can't find replacement legs, I am rounding down.

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Every car should come with one of these stock.

Bolted on to my seat and nicely holds my phone which I use as a GPS and MP3 player.

The long adjustable rod used to connect the seats and the phone holster is stiff and resists moving with light to medium touches, and only when you force the item will it bend, This is excellent for people with smartphones or tablets as you can poke the screen pretty normally and not have to worry about the device moving at all.

The holster for the phone is also well constructed, with adjustable and replaceable feet to hold your device firmly in its grasp.

The kit comes with a few interchangeable parts you can use for better fit on different Vehicles, but This is a great solution for a GPS, Phone, or Small Tablet mount for the front passengers to use during travel.

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I like to start out with the low points and get those out of the way when I really like a product.

the arms on the universal holder are the Achilles heel of this product. They are flimsy compared to the rest of the unit and are never permanently anchored in place. They use a slotted cutout that allows them to slide in and out of either side. In theory, you could rotate the unit 90 degrees and the arms would slide out with gravity if they aren't holding anything (no spring pressure).

I used the passenger seat bolt-down method; using only one anchor point probably makes the stand a little more susceptible to vibration and wobble.

The pros:

Since the gooseneck is so rigid, it has the strength to handle larger devices. It comes with adequate mounting hardware for a variety of mounting location options all of which are very secure. The top of the gooseneck attaches to a ball joint with a compression sleeve: again, this gives you a great deal of flexibility for final positioning in order to obtain your desired viewing angle and lock it in place. The male "T-slot" attached to the ball joint ensures that the device you attach slides on and can't simply fall off. This package comes with an additional female T-slot bracket that you can mount to a different device for quick changeout. For clarity, the female T-slot can be seen here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VYX09S/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Some points of interest:

The universal holder comes with two sets of arms that slide in place and are easy to change out. One set (4) of short arms (pictured) and one set (4) of long arms. So you could ideally have three different size combinations depending on your device (4 short, 4 long, 2 each short and long). The holder is spring loaded with no lock and anything it holds just remains pinched under constant spring pressure. To remove the device, you have to fight the spring pressure to release it.

I opted not to use the universal holder because it (specifically the arms) didn't seem to have a secure hold on my phone. Instead, I used the spare female T-slot bracket and attached it to the external case on the phone. This will result in a lot of extra bulk and I understand most people aren't going to be satisfied with this route. I do find that the ease with which my phone mounts to the gooseneck more than makes up for the extra piece of plastic on the case for as much as I use my phone in the car. Instead of prying the universal holder open and stressing the small plastic arms, all I have to do is line up the male and female T-slots and slide it 1/4" to lock into place.

Bottom line:

The gooseneck is easy to mount and keeps a low profile wherever you want to route it. It stays in place once positioned and wobbles ever so slightly when the car is in motion. The universal holder is why I gave it 4/5 stars and mainly because of the weak arms. A product advertised for larger devices should be capable of safely protecting such an expensive device. Because the ball joint and T-slot hardware are relatively universal, it should be fairly easy to find a different holder that uses a ratcheting lock style that many of us are familiar with. That would have made this a 5 star product. As it stands, mine is working great with a minor tweak so this is a positive review.

Honest reviews on ARKON SM588 Slim-Grip Flexible Seat Bolt Floor Mount for Smartphone

i used this stand daily for my phone in my car and often with my tablet.

its great if you dont have a good spot in your car where you can see your device while using gps on it, and i found phone calls over bluetooth to be better also since i could immediately see the caller.

I mounted this under my passenger seat left bolt closest to the center console and people could sit up from with me without anything getting in the way.

i did find that i shakes a little when i hit bumps or the like, but i found i could greatly reduce them to a tolerable level by tightening the 2 screws that attach the flexible pole to the hook and the base.

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The installation is exceptionally easy and really quite clever. The mount holds my iPhone 4 or 5 very well and I never feel like it will pop out. The charging cable for my 5 fits between the space at the bottom of the mount with no problem. When I charge my 4 the cable does not fit in the same spot but the phone is still held in very securely and I'm not worried.

My only complaint is that the the unit shakes when driving at hwy speeds. This could be a result of the car (although I don't think so) but I'm pretty sure it's just the design of the flexible arm. You can adjust the arm in a way that it rests against you console and doesn't shake at all if you're lucky enough to have this option.

Even knowing that it shakes a little I would still recommend it as it does an excellent job of keeping my phone viewable (safe while driving) and up out of the way and from in between my seats.