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Griffin TuneFlex AUX Mount and Charger with SmartClick Remote for iPod and iPhone Black
Product: Amazon’s Griffin TuneFlex AUX Mount and Charger with SmartClick Remote for iPod and iPhone Black Reviewed.
List Price: $79.99
Amazon Price: $47.27
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TuneFlex AUX is the perfect in-car solution, with a flexible steel stem for your iPod and a steering-wheel-mounted remote control. Position the mount on the steering wheel near your fingers for convenient control that never makes you take your eyes off the road. The remote is held on the mount magnetically, and can be removed for handheld use by anyone in the car. TuneFlex plugs securely into the auto accessory port or cigarette lighter to charge and power your iPod or iPhone. The lighted ring at the base of TuneFlex¿s stem shows charging status at a glance. An included 1/8¿(3.5mm) stereo mini cable connects TuneFlex to AUX-input-equipped stereos for clean, interference-free sound. The package includes a set of snap-on adapters to ensure a secure mount for full-size iPod and iPod nano models. Included cable strap prevents tangles.
- Color: Black
- Brand: Griffin Technology
- Model: 9563-TFLXSMCK
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.89″ h x 2.17″ w x 9.25″ l, 1.00 pounds
Features
- Mount, charge and play iPod in your car
- Wireless remote control comes with magnetic steering wheel mount
- Flexible steel neck and swiveling cradle let you position your iPod where you want
- Line out port and included audio cable connect TuneFlex to AUX In-equipped car stereos
Good iPhone AUX mount
My Griffin TuneFlex AUX with SmartClick replaces a Kensington Liquid AUX Deluxe unit, which my wife accidentally broke while driving my car. I think this sort of accident is much less likely with the Griffin.
The big disadvantage of the Kensington (and the cause of its ultimate demise) were the adjustable arms that clamped on the iPod/iPhone; while it allowed adapting to any model, the clamp and release mechanism were “temperamental”. The ratchet mechanism was hard to adjust “just right”, and if too tight would rattle loudly as the car moved. It needed to be re-adjusted frequently, as it worked loose gradually. The Griffin in contrast comes with a whole array of plastic “heads” designed to perfectly fit and support various models with no slack or vibration. The heads are unlabeled; you just need to try your iPod or iPhone in each one that vaguely looks like it might fit until you get the right one. If you switch often between various models you’d want to carry the appropriate adapters, and need to switch them out… and the next new model probably won’t be covered. (Luckily, I rarely use anything but my iPhone 3G in the car, and it turns out that my daughter’s 3rd gen iPod nano can fit the iPhone sleeve. This may however be an issue if, for example, I upgrade to a “next gen iPhone” when such a thing is released, but we’ll have to wait and see.)
Like the Kensington, the Griffin has a wireless remote that can velcro onto the steering wheel. I thought this was silly on the Kensington, but found that it quickly became a necessity. The convenience of being able to play, pause, and skip tracks without moving my eyes or taking a hand off the wheel is great. The reliability of the Kensington remote was “inconsistent”, however. The Griffin seems to work consistently, but has a very “firm” touch and doesn’t always respond when buttons are pressed casually. I do like the button to manually activate the backlight, when it’s gone out. The Griffin remote is detachable from a magnetic base, which I find pointless: I see no need to remove it, and several times it’s been knocked off accidentally and I need to search for it on the floor.
The flexible neck is stiff and stable, but reasonably easily adjustable; it’s longer than the Kensington’s neck, and that makes the iPhone more visible and accessible. The AUX cable has jacks on both ends so it can be replaced (unlike the Kensington’s). It’s much longer than the Kensington’s, which might be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your car. (Way more cord than I really need.)
Some glitch in the Kensington occasionally caused my iPhone 3G to complain that the charger wasn’t compatible. It still played through the AUX, and charged, but the remote was apparently disabled. Sometimes removing and re-inserting would resolve the problem, and sometimes it wouldn’t. I haven’t (at least yet) seen that issue with the Griffin, which is a “plus”.
Advantages: long stiff neck, easy to adjust; custom fit “heads” for iPod/iPhone models; wireless remote
Disadvantages: custom fit “heads” may mean carrying more than one, and might be a problem for new models down the road; heads aren’t labeled so it can be tedious to find the right one; remote is too easily detachable
Good enough for me.
Well, the other reviewer here brings up some good points, but I think this charger is good enough given the other dross out there. I struggled doing lots of research online, and couldn’t find one charger/mount for the 3G that had positive (or even not all negative!) reviews. Finally saw this one got decent reviews from CNet and went with it.
GOOD
-Looks sharp if you have black/dark interior.
-Mount doesn’t move at all for me. Bounces a little, no big deal.
-Nice speaker wire. Holds the shape you move it to and stays out of the way.
-Remote actually works quite well & is very handy (no pun intended). I was surprised.
BAD
-Good luck figuring out how to velcro that remote to the steering wheel. Took me 15 minutes! (Disclosure: I can be a bit of an idiot.)
-The Aux out from the charger is rubbish. I can’t even get it to play sound. You need to run the wire from the line out on the iPhone, which is fine with me.
-None of the docks will fit your 3G if you have a protective case. I have a super slim case and I have to pop mine off when I get in the car. Not a big deal for my type of cover, but could be a hassle for some people.
-Once or twice got the This Device Does Not Work with iPhone message, but not a deal-breaker.
End of the day, it doesn’t seem like there are any perfect car mounts/chargers out there. But I will vouch for this one being good enough. The price is a little steep, but you get what you pay for, and this is a durable product that I don’t think will break on me any time soon.
Overall very good, a little room for improvement but no problems that would keep me from recommending
First, I’m guessing that many if not all the reviewers who complained about low volume level failed to notice the gain adjustment wheel next to the out jack. It is easily overlooked – almost didn’t see it myself. I needed to turn the adjustment to maximum to get the correct signal level, but it isjust fine then providing correct line level out signal that matched in volume level to other inputs (radio, CD, and so on). This is actually a thoughtful feature for Griffin to provide, but they should make it more noticeable and accessible – I can’t reach it when the Tuneflex is plugged in.
Which leads to my second minor gripe – the placement of the out jack on the outer edge of cigarette lighter plug makes it awkward due to the recessed placement of the light socket in my Acura TL. But, that may just be a peculiarity of the TL and it works fine once it is plugged in and adjusted. I also wish that the neck of the Tuneflex were a little shorter and/or more flexible so that it could be more easily adjusted to be out of the way.
I bought this mainly for the remote control. It works well enough, but I found that there is no place to attach it to the steering wheel where it is completely out of the way. I ended up with it strapped on at about the 10:00 position. I can reach it there easily with my thumb and it is not too much in the way. I think I will get used to it being there pretty quickly. Also, I don’t see how the remote magnet could easily/accidentally become detached as other reviewers have said.
My only other concern is that the adapter sleeve for the iPod Classic 160GB provides very little grip to hold the iPod securely and firmly. Having driven around a bit, this doesn’t really seem to be a problem but I would feel better if the sleeve provided more support. The iPhone 3G adapter sleeve seems nearly perfect.
My only complaints about the Tuneflex Aux with Smartclick are minor and some are particular to my car and the iPod classic. Even with minor concerns, I recommend it. Overall, I think this is a very good product and I will very likely end up keeping it and using it for a long time.
I also tested with my iPhone 3GS and it worked great – no “not designed for iPhone” message as I got with my older Belkin Tunecast.
And, again, complaints about the volume level are unfounded. I know the difference between a correct line out signal level and one that is too low or high. The Tuneflex gets it right- just be sure to use the adjustment wheel next to the out jack. Most car stereos that are expecting a true line level aux in will need to have the adjustment on the Tuneflex turned all the way up. That is as it should be and is not indicative of a problem.
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