Skip to main content
Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2021
I have been searching for wireless charging solution for my 2016 MINI Cooper for some time now that would put the phone in my visible line of sight (currently the only solution has been cup holder-based chargers). When I recently got an iPhone 13 Pro and saw one. of my favorite brands, Anker had a MagSafe compatible dash-mounted solution, I was really excited and waited for the product to go on sale. I bought it, and despite having a higher price (even on sale) than other similar wireless chargers, I knew that Anker would be worth the extra investment.
Or so I thought - unfortunately, two major issues hamper this device from being the ideal solution for those looking for a wireless charging device for their car:
1. Despite having a "powerful" magnet, this was unable to reliably support the weight of an iPhone 13 Pro. I think a lighter phone like an iPhone Mini 12 or 13 might not be as heavy and not cause the magnet to fail when the car inevitably hits bumps in the road, and not even major ones - even uneven concrete dislodged it several times and thank goodness I had a case on the phone to protect it. Now, I know what you're going to say - the case weakened the magnet (and you'd be right) - the case (a Spigen clear case that only adds 0.3 mm to the thickness of the phone) did weaken the magnetic grip a bit, but I also tried it sans case and still managed to get dislodged by bumps in the road. The fact the magnet is on the end of an arm exacerbates this, as the weight of the phone will cause the arm to flex and bounce, which will aid in dislodging the phone. I think if Anker could (depending on if it's technically possible) use a neodymium magnet(s), this might improve this scenario.
2. Like a lot of these dash or window-mounted arms, this uses a suction cup with a lever to clamp down the suction cup. Anker even includes a thick rubber mounting surface (with very sticky 3M adhesive on the back) to mount to your dash. I cleaned the dash surface (which has a light pebbly texture) and applied the mounting surface, careful not to touch any parts after peeling off the protective film from the surface and the suction cup, and mounted it. For several days I watched it carefully as I drove, to see if the surface or the cup would give out first. Unfortunately, the cup gave out first, and slowly disengaged (while holding my phone) and that was it for me. After several failures of the magnet dropping my phone unexpectedly while driving, and now that suction cup failure after only several days, I cannot recommend this product and will have to go back to my cup-mounted wireless charging cradle which will unfortunately force me to look down for maps, etc. while driving (MINI Coopers didn't get CarPlay until the 2020 models, and mine is a 2016 so that is unfortunately not a solution for me but that isn't Anker's fault).
Hopefully Anker will see this review and note these issues and come out with a superior version that addresses these shortcomings so I can consider this product potentially in the future.
Or so I thought - unfortunately, two major issues hamper this device from being the ideal solution for those looking for a wireless charging device for their car:
1. Despite having a "powerful" magnet, this was unable to reliably support the weight of an iPhone 13 Pro. I think a lighter phone like an iPhone Mini 12 or 13 might not be as heavy and not cause the magnet to fail when the car inevitably hits bumps in the road, and not even major ones - even uneven concrete dislodged it several times and thank goodness I had a case on the phone to protect it. Now, I know what you're going to say - the case weakened the magnet (and you'd be right) - the case (a Spigen clear case that only adds 0.3 mm to the thickness of the phone) did weaken the magnetic grip a bit, but I also tried it sans case and still managed to get dislodged by bumps in the road. The fact the magnet is on the end of an arm exacerbates this, as the weight of the phone will cause the arm to flex and bounce, which will aid in dislodging the phone. I think if Anker could (depending on if it's technically possible) use a neodymium magnet(s), this might improve this scenario.
2. Like a lot of these dash or window-mounted arms, this uses a suction cup with a lever to clamp down the suction cup. Anker even includes a thick rubber mounting surface (with very sticky 3M adhesive on the back) to mount to your dash. I cleaned the dash surface (which has a light pebbly texture) and applied the mounting surface, careful not to touch any parts after peeling off the protective film from the surface and the suction cup, and mounted it. For several days I watched it carefully as I drove, to see if the surface or the cup would give out first. Unfortunately, the cup gave out first, and slowly disengaged (while holding my phone) and that was it for me. After several failures of the magnet dropping my phone unexpectedly while driving, and now that suction cup failure after only several days, I cannot recommend this product and will have to go back to my cup-mounted wireless charging cradle which will unfortunately force me to look down for maps, etc. while driving (MINI Coopers didn't get CarPlay until the 2020 models, and mine is a 2016 so that is unfortunately not a solution for me but that isn't Anker's fault).
Hopefully Anker will see this review and note these issues and come out with a superior version that addresses these shortcomings so I can consider this product potentially in the future.
