Appletell reviews the Just Mobile Lounge cradle

Provides: iDevice cradle
Developer: Just mobile
Minimum Requirements: iDevice
Price: $49.99
Availability: Now

JustMobile is one of those companies that continues to think a little differently from the rest of the industry. This time, I’m taking a look at their new Lounge iDevice car cradle, which doesn’t attach to your windshield like you’d expect it to. Nah, instead, it sits on your dash, which might just make more sense anyway.

There’s no suction cup to attach to your windshield. There’s no attempt at amplifying the sound of your iPhone whatsoever. There are no GPS enhancements, and there isn’t even a good place to put a USB cable to charge your iPhone while the GPS is killing your battery. I know this sounds awful, but there are a lot of things to like about Just Mobile’s Lounge car cradle.

Take, for instance, that it doesn’t attach to your windshield. Some will hate this, while others will love it. Depending on your vehicle, the windshield might not be the optimal placement of your iPhone for guidance. If that’s the case for you, then your dashboard might be a lot better. This cradle comes with a circle of metal that semi-perminently attaches to your dashboard (with a 3M adhesive strip). This helps the already grippy cradle to stay in place, but, in practice, it’s not really necessary. I never attached the circle and I didn’t have any issues with the cradle moving whatsoever. Actually, it’s been sitting in the same place for two weeks while I’ve driven around daily. That just goes to show you that this thing is heavy enough and grippy enough to stay put. But secondarily, this cradle is just as at home in the car as it is on your desk since it doesn’t have that unsightly suction cup that belongs nowhere in my house.

Another reason to like this cradle is that you likely won’t have to take off your case to use it (unless it’s huge and shouldn’t be on your iPhone in the first place). The way this cradle holds on to your iPhone is very unique, yet simple; there’s a very giving metal and rubber bracket that flexes to the exact shape of your iDevice+Case combo. It holds tightly, and can rotate to a landscape orientation as well. You’re going to need this if you’re using this for GPS guidance for an extended period of time, because connecting a USB cable while in portrait mode is not ideal. You could do the whole thing upside down, but that’s just wrong. Also to note, the whole clip that holds your iPhone wobbles a bit. This is on purpose; it’s supposed to minimize how much your iPhone moves. It won’t help if you hit a speed bump at 60 mph, but under normal usage it won’t really even move. So, I guess I’m a little confused as to why it’s able to wobble at all.

The Just Mobile Lounge cradle’s selling point is that it’s different. If you for some reason hate the idea of a suction cup cradle, then this is the cradle for you. Actually, this cradle does serve dual purposes as it might find its way onto your desk at some point. And it’ll fit right in since the styling is spot on. But as a GPS car cradle, it’s just mediocre. You need to have some method for powering your iPhone as GPS drains its battery even faster than your car will drain its tank on your next trip. This cradle doesn’t support that very well. But I do like that this cradle is much more likely to be used around your house as well since it’s not designed solely for the car.

So, really, the perfect user here is someone who infrequently uses their iPhone for GPS guidance but wants an all purpose cradle. If you’re looking only for car cradle functionality, I think you should keep looking.

Appletell Rating:

Buy the Just Mobile Lounge cradle