Satechi has a pretty sleek looking car mount that makes your CD Slot useful again.
Satechi has a whole line of car mounts for mounting your phone while you’re driving, and the CD Slot model is a pretty interesting one to check out. This slides into your CD Slot and uses magnets to hold it in place. It’s a pretty simple mount, and should work pretty well, right? Well that’s not always the case. We’ve been using this car mount for a few weeks, and it’s not a perfect car mount, but is it good enough for you to use in your car? Let’s find out in our full review.
Installation
Installation is pretty simple as you’d expect. Just slide the car mount into the CD slot in your car. It doesn’t go all the way into the slot like a CD would, so it’s not going to damage the CD player in your car – if you do still use that CD player. Afterwards, all you need to do is attach a magnet to your phone and then place it on the mount, which is pretty simple. However, Satechi does something here that I’m a big fan of. It includes two magnets with adhesive on the back. But it also includes a piece of film. So you can attach the magnet to the film and put it inside your case. That way you aren’t putting a magnet on your phone or attaching it to your case. This is a good thing for a few reasons, but mainly because it is almost impossible to get these magnets off of your phone or case, they stick to them and stick really well. Secondly, if you buy a new phone, you’ll need a new magnet or even a new car mount. But this way you can just take the magnet out and put it inside a new case, pretty easily.
After the magnet is attached to the phone, all you need to do is put your phone on the mount and you’re good to go. There are two magnets inside, a smaller circular one and then a larger squircle magnet, which is going to be the better option for bigger phones, since it does have a larger area. And that’s it really. Satechi’s car mount is super easy to take off of the CD Slot and put in another car – which is good for taking it into a rental car.
Build Quality
Satechi is pretty well-known for its build quality with different accessories. Typically its products are made of metal and look really nice. That is partially the case here. The car mount is actually mostly made of plastic – at least the section that slides into your CD slot. However the actual mount with the magnet that holds your phone in place is made of metal. Which makes it look nice and feel like its high-quality. The actual mount can be adjusted to different angles, though it’s not as adjustable as some dashboard car mounts out there, which is understandable, given that this is pretty small, so there’s not a lot of room for doing that. When your phone is not attached to it, the mount just looks like a black circle on your CD Slot, which, while doesn’t look that great, does look pretty decent. Of course, you could just take it out and put it elsewhere (maybe the glove box?) when you’re not using it.
Overall the build quality on this car mount is actually pretty surprising, but that might also be why this car mount does cost as much as it does. It runs for about $20, and for a car mount, that is quite a bit of money, but its build quality does scream premium, which is why it commands that price tag.
Driving With The Satechi CD Slot Car Mount
Depending on where the CD Slot is located in your car, it may not be the ideal place to mount your phone. But for my Ford Fiesta, it is right in the center, and it’s easy to see it while driving, but without taking my eyes off of the road. Which makes it the ideal position for mounting a phone, since the air vents are a little too close to the steering wheel, making it tough to see the screen. This car mount will work with any smartphone, since it is universal, and we did try it with a few different phones, including the Moto G6 and Pixel 2XL. It worked pretty well and can be done in both landscape and portrait modes. However, what we did find here is that the magnet is not quite strong enough to hold heavier phones in place. The Pixel 2 XL is fine, as long as you don’t have a heavy case on the Pixel 2 XL. So if you are looking to use this with a larger phone, you’re going to want to get a slimmer case, or the phone will fall off of the mount.
Otherwise, driving with the Pixel 2 XL mounted on this mount was actually pretty enjoyable. As mentioned, it is in the right position in my vehicle so that it’s easy to use and see while driving. It does work nicely in landscape mode – though I preferred portrait mode – and does what it’s supposed to do. So if you’re one that likes to drive around with Waze or Google Maps open, it is a great mount to pick up and do just that.
Wrap Up
The Satechi CD Slot Car Mount is quite a bit more expensive than many other smartphone mounts out there, seeing as many run under $10 and CD Slot models running around $15. For $20, you’re getting a good looking, and well-built car mount for your vehicle. The only real issue with this car mount is that it can’t handle heavier devices, since the magnet isn’t quite strong enough. So if you do have a thicker case on your phone, you’ll want to either put it on the outside of the case, or use a different case. If you’re looking for a good looking CD Slot car mount that is also built pretty sturdily, then this is definitely the one that you should be taking a look at. It’s available on Amazon right now for around $20 and you can grab it from the link down below.
Buy the Satechi CD Slot Car Mount
