Hip Street HS-IPDAUTOKIT iPhone and iPod Auto Essentials Kit

I scoured many product reviews looking for a decent mount/charger in order to keep my iPhone alive while using GPS out on the road. Despite this product having no reviews at the time, I took a chance and, thankfully, it worked out well. Upon first impression, the kit was of better quality than I was expecting. The plastic pieces were light in weight, but seemed sturdy and well-made, the holder's interior is thickly padded, and the windshield-mount suction cup is of far better quality than the one that came with my old Garmin.My main concern in finding a suitable product was its ability to house my iPhone 4 while still in its Otterbox case. Having the case on the phone makes it MUCH thicker all around, and many of the iPhone docks and holders available won't accomodate such a thick case. The Hip Street mount was the right choice, as the holder adjusts to easily fit my iPhone in its normal upright position, and it even widens enough to just barely fit my Otterbox-protected iPhone when oriented sideways. Each side of the holder can separate at the middle and slide apart, the purpose of which, I'm guessing, is to be able to tightly cradle the corners of a sideways-oriented iPhone in the holder (if, that is, you don't have a huge, hunkering case covering it)-- this is a bit hard to explain, but I was impressed by the design behind the holder and how adaptable it is. The interior of the holder is well-cushioned and grips the phone very efficiently so that you can rotate it between its normal position and sideways position without the phone budging.The mount itself can be adjusted up and down and side to side via two turn-knob joints. Though it's early to tell how the joints will hold up in the long run, right now they easily support my relatively heavy phone without any problems. The holder can also rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise on the mount so you can quickly rotate the phone sideways and back. The quick-release button on the holder is especially nice. It's not so quick as to be instant; instead the button slowly widens the holder and frees the phone within a second or so. It's not what I was expecting, as I thought it would be something that snaps the sides of the holder open instantly, but I rather like this better, as it makes the holder more sturdy and there's no chance of the sides snapping open inadvertently.This product is also air-vent and dashboard mountable. I tried out the air-vent method, and even though I had my doubts, it did work. The vent clips are spring-loaded and adjust to fit vents that are less than an inch or so deep. Though it kept the phone mounted on the vent, the downsides to this method are that one of your air vents will be blocked, and it's not possible to pivot the holder toward you like with the windshield-mount option. Both of these drawbacks are due to the holder attaching right onto the inch-long vent clips instead of the longer, adjustable mount. While attached to the air vent, you can rotate the holder between upright and sideways orientation, but that's it, no up and down or side to side adjustments. The dashboard mount option uses a disc of plastic with one adhesive side so that it adheres to the dashboard, and then the suction-cup mount can be fixed onto the other side of the disc. I personally haven't tried this method, as I have no desire to stick anything to my dashboard, so I really can't comment any further on this option.The charger itself works fine. I know many iPhone chargers don't fit in every lighter socket of every make or model of car, but this one fits fine with mine, and my iPhone 4 recognized it as a charging device without any problems. The charger comes with a USB cable much like the one that comes with the iPhone, right down to the fact it's not well-marked to let you know when it's right-side up when plugging it into the phone. The auxiliary audio cable that comes with the kit is a nice little extra. I already had one, but it's nice to have a backup cable.Overall, this product was better than I expected, and well worth the price on Amazon. This one might be a little more expensive than others, but it was worth it to have something that can easily accomodate my Otterbox case, and also not having to deal with cheaply-made car chargers or those bothersome, shaky flexible necks found on some iPhone docks was nice. I'd definitely recommend this product to others.

I bought this thinking it would be as described. It doesn't sync well with radio and just sits in the box. It was a waste of money.

Bieeeeenn!

Item was broken prior to shipping as part was missing from box. Item condition not as listed.