Reviewed By	Darren Griffin
Review Date	15th September 2011
Manufacturer	Exogear
RRP	£19.99 inc VAT
9

It's hard to get overly excited at the prospect of yet another car mount. I've tested dozens over the years and whilst some are better than others, they've all used the same windscreen suction design which, for the most part, does the job, albeit with the occasional failure to grip.

So when the Exomount arrived I was a little bit 'meh' about the whole thing. What could this mount offer that those that had passed before didn't?

The package proclaimed its 'patented suction technology' and its polyurethane lined grip but nothing screamed out as new or interesting. Until I opened it and tried it that is!

In a single word - 'WOW!!', the Exomount has a suction grip like no other I have ever tested. This thing clings on like it has been fixed to the dash with a 3 inch screw! Exogear now had my full attention, this IS something new and interesting.

Design

The basic design is subtly different from other universal mounts. Instead of the clamp that has a single, ratchet operated, adjustable jaw to accommodate tech of different sizes, the Exomount utilises a bulldog clip style jaw. The 'jaw' of the clamp is controlled by handles at the rear and the jaws themselves are lined with polyurethane which ensures your gadget is gripped firmly without risk of scratching.

Large jaws - easy to operate and functions well

The jaws are attached to the base by a swivel which can be rotated to any angle desired and clamps tight by the knurled collar. The clamp is large enough to accommodate a TomTom GO 1000 with a 4.3" screen and had no problems holding a Samsung Galaxy SII or smaller devices such as an iPhone. Exogear claim it will accommodate a 5" screen but it was a very tight fit on the one 5" screen unit I have here so I'd say that was pushing it a little.

A truly universal mount

But by far the most interesting aspect of the Exomount is the suction base. Unlike every other design, Exogear have designed a suction cup that uses a sticky material that is quite difficult to describe. The beauty of this design is that this sticky material ensures an airtight seal on surfaces that all other suction mounts would fail to cling to.

It will cling to wood, leather, flock covered dashboards and anything else that you can think of. So good is the seal that it will cling firmly even before the suction clamp is operated. Exogear have a video on their site of the mount being attached to a microwave oven and the oven lifted by the mount alone BEFORE the suction clamp has been used. I can attest to its strength, it really is that good.

In-Use

The very first test I wanted to try was to see if this mount would stick to my car dash top. It's made of a soft material that has had silicone polish applied and nothing else will stick. I've tried 3M tape which won't even stick briefly, it just comes straight off and no suction mount can get an airtight seal.

The Exomount attached without blinking an eye, limpet like grip as soon as it was in contact with the dash and once clamped down it was going nowhere!

Then I tried attaching it to an area under the dash which is made of a hard plastic with a mottled surface texture that prevents other suction mounts form attaching. Success again.

If the suction base gets dirty and covered in dust or fluff etc, you simply pop it under the cold tap and rinse it off. All the dust and fluff washes away and the mount is sticky again. It's a very odd substance, it feels like a super sticky blue-tac or an adhesive.

Base is easily cleaned under a tap

Conclusion

This is THE mounting technology I've been searching for. If you want a no-frills universal mount then there are thousands of cheap cradles available. But if you want one with a base that grips like a limpet, to just about any surface you can think of, Exomount is the only one worth considering. I've awarded this a 9/10, the only thing I'd like to see is this suction tech available with dedicated cradles for specific devices but its that good that I hope Exogear will consider licensing the technology to device manufacturers.

Exomount is available from the manufacturers website or Amazon, see links below.

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