iOttie Velox Wireless Charging Dash & Windshield Mount Review: Not Quite Wireless

iOttie’s Velox Magnetic Wireless Charging Dash & Windshield Mount does little to stand out among the ever-growing crowd of vehicle chargers and mounts. It solves just enough minor inconveniences to stand above the pack, but its bulky size means it’s only for cars with space to spare.

A combination charger/phone mount is a good way to save space in your vehicle. The iOttie Velox Magnetic Wireless Charging Dash and Windshield Mount gives Apple device owners an opportunity to take advantage of MagSafe charging and cut a few cables out of the picture. However, while the mount is certainly built well, the attached cable takes up quite a bit of room.

Design: Sleek and Durable

The Velox Magnetic Wireless Charging Dash and Windshield Mount is one of many car chargers designed for MagSafe devices. You’ll get the magnetic mounting plate, suction cup mount, dashboard pad, and a 12V power adapter in the box. The USB-C cable is built into the charger and measures 5-feet (1.52-meters) long.

The mount features a soft silicone mounting face that manages higher temperatures nicely. Cheaper mounts have a habit of capturing heat (especially in darker-colored cars), making them hard to manage in warmer months or all-around hot climates.

Note: MagSafe magnets are compatible with the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 12, and iPhone 12 Pro (as well as future iPhones). Other models, such as the iPhone 8, XR, and 11, can charge but will not lock magnetically to the mount.

Overall, it’s a fine mount. The adhesive suction cup is absurdly strong. The dashboard pad it comes with will only attach once, and while the main cup can be removed and reapplied, it too will rapidly lose strength. This is a little upsetting, but not uncommon. As with other windshield mounts, you’ll have to commit to one position to get the most out of this charger.

User Experience: Inconvenient at Times

Once you’ve set the mount down where you want it, you can adjust it via the rotating ball joint, level, and pivot knob to get the right angle for your phone. But while you can stick it to either your dashboard or your windshield, I recommend the former.

The arm and cable took up too much space regardless of where I placed them. That 5-feet (1.52-meters) of cable doesn’t disappear just because you’ve attached it to your dashboard, and with the mount protruding another 3.58-inches (90.93mm), that’s a noticeable amount of the device obscuring either your vision, movement, or both. Full stop, you’re going to need a pretty big windshield to accommodate this charging mount.

The charger pushes out 7.5W, which is certainly a respectable number. The wireless plate on the mount does a perfectly fine job—but it’s not really wireless. You have to attach your device to the plate which is connected to the mount linked to the USB-C cable that runs to the power source.

Velox does have an alternative vent-mount that takes up far less space and, in my opinion, is a much better purchase for the majority of users. But if you’re someone who has the extra vertical space, I don’t think this is a bad option.

If you really want a MagSafe mount for your phone, check out other options like the Belkin MagSafe Car Vent Mount PRO Alternatively, you could save a lot of money by opting for a normal car charger and connecting that to your phone.

Too Clunky for Most

At $60, I don’t think iOttie’s Velox Magnetic Wireless Charging Dash & Windshield Mount is a reasonable purchase for most people. The MagSafe functionality is a great feature to have, but the model is just a bit too big and clunky. This isn’t just competing with other MagSafe windshield and dashboard mounts, it’s competing with every other mount on the market.

As it stands now, the only difference between this and something like the SCOSCHE Stick-On Mount is the charger, and that’s not worth the extra $50 in my eyes. Pick this up on sale.