Logitech’s Case+Drive offers a premium in-car mounting and case protection system for your iPhone at a premium price.
Logitech Case+Drive: On the plus side
The Logitech Case+Drive is a combined slim iPhone 5/5s case and a car mount built into a circular screen mount that, if nothing else, looks unlike any other car mount you’ve ever seen. The +drive mount is one part Close Encounters, one part metallic mountain.
The reason for this is magnetism; where most car mounting systems use either sticky substrates or simple stands to hold the phone in place, the +Drive mount uses magnetism based on the fact that the rear of the Case+ is brushed steel.
The result is an extremely strong magnetic latch that’ll easily grab the phone out of your hands even before you’ve fully put it in place. The top of the +Drive mount opens up to reveal the press switch for its suction cup holder as well as allowing a variety of viewing angles for a connected phone.
The one thing that a car mount needs to do is hold your phone of choice securely, and here I absolutely cannot fault the Case+Drive system. I’ve driven it slowly and quickly, with the phone in both portrait and landscape and over potholes, and it holds the phone very securely indeed.
It’s easy to remove the phone when you’re done as well, because it’ll simply slide off; you don’t have to fight the magnets to remove it.
Logitech Case+Drive: On the minus side
I’ve really only got two gripes against the Case+Drive. Firstly, the magnets on the +Drive mount are very strong, and if you’re not aware of this it’s all too easy to trap your fingers in the gap between.
The second is an aesthetic observation. The Case+ case itself has a rather brutal industrial aesthetic that simply won’t suit every iPhone user.
(Note: May void warranty of both case and phone.)
The back rather obviously has a degree of rigid protection, but the front offers no protection whatsoever for your iPhone.
Logitech Case+Drive: Pricing
The Logitech Case+Drive RRP is $69.95 with additional Case+ units retailing at $29.95 and additional +Drive mounts costing $49.95
Logitech Case+Drive: Fat Duck verdict
The Case+Drive unit is genuinely nice to use, but it’s not exactly a budget option.
I really shouldn’t have to say this, but a screen mount for your smartphone in-car should be an assumed purchase, not just something optional, unless you like the combination of both traffic fines and crashing off the road. Frankly, if you do, you simply shouldn’t be driving.
It’s perfectly feasible to get a cheaper unit that will do largely the same thing as the Case+Drive, although not with the same degree of style and functionality. The Case+Drive is premium priced, but it’s priced according to the quality of what it delivers.
You think thats secure? You should check out the Quad Lock – http://www.quadlockcase.com
The hardest part, I think, is trying to take it off the windshield. There is no way to use the same slider/button to secure it because it’s so strong (which is probably a good thing because it’ll never fall off). If you rarely have to take it off your windshield, it’s no big deal
I’ve just been given the +Drive – but there is no case that matches available for my phone. I use a speck credit card case – if I place the magnet against my phone, near the credit cards – will they be demagnetized??
I certainly wouldn’t risk that. The Case+Drive is designed as a complete system, so using a half-and-half approach isn’t likely to work.