Why I cheated on my RAM X-Grip
We had been together for quite some time but finally I left my X-Grip. I guess I felt that my cradle just didn’t understand me. Sometimes we argued and when I saw the XL version of the Quick-Grip, well, now it’s a whole new world for me …. You could call it a mid-mount crisis but for me I just had to move on with my new love.
Here at the Gadget Guys we have sold a lot of X-Grips in various sizes over the years. The X-Grip is an awesome mount and looks pretty cool but I did have a couple of bug-bears with it. I drive a car but I also ride a bike (one that requires petrol rather than leg-shaving …) so I swap the cradle for my phone between the car and the bike. This is probably not a confession I should make when I want you to buy more RAM products and not move them around, but that’s the thing - it’s so easy to do.
In the car the X-Grip has the advantage of having a minimal profile when the phone isn’t sitting in the cradle – so it’s less obtrusive. However, I always needed 2 hands to install the phone in the X-Grip. I have it on the lower right-hand side of the windscreen, so I had to reach over with the left hand to open the X-Grip and then put the phone in with my right. Okay, that is not an insurmountable issue, but I struggle to walk and chew gum at the same time so sometimes coordinating that was a problem and the result would be that the phone wasn’t sitting securely in the cradle. Phone on floor is not cool.
What really forced my hand was when I changed phones. You have probably observed that builders houses never have codes of compliance and electricians houses always have wires hanging out of walls? As a Gadget Guy I have been so busy sorting out customers issues that I didn’t get on to my own requirements. But as we say “please fit your own oxygen mask first”!
I live in Android world and I am writing this on a PC! Craig (my “work-wife” and the other half of the Gadget Guys) lives in Apple world. My new phone (and please no “phone shaming” here) is a Galaxy A52 and the X-Grip would require me to place the top right arm between the “off” button and the “volume down” button on the upper right side of the phone – you can see where this is heading. Craig doesn’t have such an issue with his iPhone so this is more of a Samsung issue. After several times when I missed calls because the volume had been turned right down by the X-Grip arm I though I had better have a look at the other options.
The A52 is a bit too long for the RAM-HOL-PD3U but is a perfect fit for the RAM-HOL-PD4U. Now this is like Garlic Naan and Chicken Korma – it’s a match made in heaven. No more inadvertent button pushing and I can put the phone in the Quick-Grip with one hand which is ideal when I am doing something else with the other hand … okay so it saves me seconds every time and over a lifetime it all adds up.
Translate now to the bike. The single hand operation and no button pushing is ideal there too but also there is no need for a tether which I needed when using the X-Grip. Actually, the tether was really the deal-breaker for the A52 and the X-Grip. That’s where their relationship really soured. The tether means that the phone tends to “centralise” both in width and height in the X-Grip so it moved the X-Grip upper arm to being positioned right over the “off button”. This annoyed the phone and the rider. I have taken the bike over some pretty rough terrain with the phone in the Quick-Grip and – it is as safe as a capital assured kiwisaver scheme. The phone never came adrift from the X-Grip with the tether either but not having to use the tether saves me a bit of time and effort.
So that’s my story. I would recommend that you consider the -PD3 or -PD4 Quick-Grips for car or bike use. I still love the X-Grip but sometimes you have to accept that you drift apart over time … unlike Garlic Naan and Chicken Korma that remain soul-mates forever.