Strike Hands Free car cradle
There are are couple of things that will become obvious about the Strike Alpha Cradle when you consider it for your in car docking solution. Some good, some bad. There is still no perfect solution and there likely never will.
The Strike Alpha Cradle is a well constructed and sturdy phone holder. This is evident as soon as you touch it. If you are dedicated to your phone and want the most serious solution then this is the one to be looking at. The combination of features and design is second to none.
This brings us to the crossroads of how far do you take something. Back in the late 90’s cars were being fitted with holders that latched onto the dashboard and specifically designed for particular phones. If you had a work/business phone then this was the norm. A nokia phone mount was in nearly all fleet cars in the UK. Eventually this was done away with as mobile phones became more popular and everyone had one. Apple and Blackberry become more popular in the business world and the phone cradle had to be more flexible. People changed their phone yearly or even 6 monthly and an expensive install of a phone holder gave way to a suction cup and a cheaper universal holder from Ebay.
Strike cater to all desires. Offering suction mounts, dash mounts, hard wiring solutions, NFC or Bluetooth integration. It is hard to measure the fast charge capabilities of the mount and some might be a little confused between fast charge compatibility and the super fast charging terminology used here. There will even be a wireless charger compatible version available in the future.
Are a mount there are a lot of options and out of the box this performs well. There are a few liberties that work out for the best. The USB connector is a welcome one, whilst it might not suit everyone it suits me as I would be plugging this into an already existing USB cable and there was a little extra cable to play with. The signal booster cable wasn’t terribly useful as I am unable to find a use for it or even a fitment to install in the car to accommodate it.
Strike are treading a line between specific build and universal fitting. It’s a dangerous one but for someone picking up a particular phone, a Samsung Galaxy for example and knowing that they will be keeping it for the 24 months of a contract then this a good choice as it is a well build and a very convenient design. If you are likely to be looking for a new phone after 6 months and are not the type to stay loyal to a manufacturer then there is little to recommend here unless you have money to burn.
Strike Alpha Cradle for Samsung Galaxy Xcover is available RRP GBP is £84.99.
Check out www.strike.com.au
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