Mobile phone cases aren’t often exciting news, but Peak Design’s new Mobile is a bit unique in offering a single, thin case that offers strong mechanical locking AND easier to manage magnetic attachment for less demanding use. Click Mobile onto to your handlebar for secure ride tracking, then simply pop in onto a magnetic desktop stand, car dashboard mount, or home charging pad once you finish your ride. Plus, there are many other great accessories, like a killer compact folding tripod, a chest mount for filming & more…
Mobile by Peak Design adaptable phone charging case & sport mounts
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peak-design/mobile-by-peak-design-phone-cases-mounts-chargers-magsafe
Mobile by Peak Design is a crowdfunding project that went live less than 24 hours ago, and is blowing up on Kickstarter. Peak Design who make plenty of other camera mounts and bags, decide to use Kickstarter to gauge interest in their first complete phone case & mount system. They’ve already blown 8x past their $100,000 funding goal.
The heart of Peak Design’s Mobile ecosystem is a pretty standard-looking mobile phone Everyday Case, that incorporates a “slim-link” mounting attachment on the back. What slim link means to you is the combination of a fast and easy to use magnetic soft-lock, and a more secure mechanical hard-lock latch. Low stress mounts like sitting on your desk use just the magnet, but high stress mounts like the bike mount add a mechanical latch as well, so your phone won’t go flying no matter how bumpy the trail gets.
Mobile Everyday Case or Universal Adapter
The back of the polycarbonate + laminated nylon canvas case is just 2.4mm thick, and features a rubberized plastic TPU bumper around the sides to protect your phone from drops day-to-day. The mechanical “slim-link” latch on the back is reinforced with a molded-in ceramic layer to stand up to regular wear and tear, with magnets embedded around it in the body of the case.
For now, the Everyday Case is available for iPhone 11s, 12s & the Samsung Galaxy S20, with more on the way. If your phone isn’t one of those, you can also get a Universal Adapter that has all the same tech, but sticks onto the back of your regular smooth-finish phone case with 3M VHB adhesive.
The Everyday Case also works with all of Peak Design’s existing wireless charging devices as well as many other 3rd-party wireless chargers. The Universal Adapter may work with wireless charging, but Peak Design is still testing it with several different base cases to see how they vary.
The soft-locking magnetic mounts will also work with Apple’s standard iPhone 12 MagSafe phone and/or case setups. You won’t even need a Mobile by Peak Design case, but you won’t be able to use the more secure sports mounts.
Cycling specific mounts
On the cycling side of things, Mobile offers two different bike mounts, both of which use the soft-lock magnetic attachment and hard-lock mechanical latch and are rated for all on or off-road biking.
The Mobile Out-Front Bike Mount is pretty much what we’ve come to know as standard for this type of mounts, using an offset alloy arm with a 31.8mm mount to put your phone in front of the bar. It also comes with adapters to fit smaller bars, and a removable go-pro-style adapter mount.
The $50 Out-Front mount normally sits above the bar, so that you can flip it around to use your phone together with a standard GPS & out-front mount in front of the bar.
But the actual Peak Design Mobile mounting point can also be flipped over on the Out-Front arm, to lower your phone down for flush mounting in-line with the handlebar.
The $40 Universal Bike Mount uses an integrated stretchy rubber strap to attach the Peak Design Mobile phone case to most round tubes, like your bar, stem, or even toptube.
The system magnets self-align your phone case and mount, then the mechanical locks secure it in place. To remove the phone, you just have to press one of the two release buttons on the side of the mount.
Mobile Tripod
The $45 Mobile Tripod is made entirely from anodized aluminum, with three wide-set legs and ball-joint that allows easy adjustment and secure positioning (plus an integrated tool to adjust how tight you prefer the ball movement). It can even work as a simple, quick phone stand with all of the legs still folded together.
It features the Peak Design Mobile magnetic soft-lock, and you can latch your phone on in either portrait or landscape mode to record video, take photos, or just use your phone for things like video calls or regular web browsing.
The compact Mobile Tripod folds down flat, adding just a few millimeters to the back of your phone case, meaning you can keep it on the phone anytime you thing you might need it.
Universal mounts
A number of other Peak Design Mobile mounts let you carry your phone, snap photos & shoot video on and off the bike. The $32 Mobile Creator Kit mount is especially interesting, attaching to their proven Capture camera mount design (sold separately) to tripods or GoPro mounts to let you attach your phone to many different setups, like the Capture’s backpack shoulder strap that works like many action cam chest mounts.
Standard $32, and charging-enabled $58 car mounts stick your phone to the dashboard as you drive with the magnetic lock. A similar magnetic stick-on wall mount $24 (pair) does the same at home, and a $72 adjustable-angle charging stand powers your phone back up on your desktop in the office.
There are also a pair of motorcycle-specific mounts too, and a snap on $40 Mobile Kickstand Wallet that holds a few credit cards, some cash, and stands your phone up to face you.
Mobile by Peak Design phone case & mounts – Options, pricing & availability
All of the new Mobile by Peak Design cases & mounts are available for pre-order now via Kickstarter, with delivery slated for next spring in May 2021 (two months later for charging mounts). An entirely employee-owned company, this is Peak Design’s 10th Kickstarter campaign, making them the “world’s most successfully crowdfunded company”. They say that allows them the freedom to create products that they are passionate about (without any outside investors controlling their development), but is also means that this project is a pretty safe bet to back in the world of crowdfunding campaigns.
Peak Design’s Mobile crowdfunding lets you pick & choose the kit you want at pre-sale savings of 17-20% off. The Universal Adapter costs $16, Everyday Case $32, then you add those options you need (above). Or you can get the entire assortment for $332 if you somehow need everything.
All of the mounts are made from quality materials (mostly anodized aluminum) and as with all of Peak Design products come with a lifetime guarantee.
