Exogear Exomount2 Review

The Exogear Exomount2 is a universal car mount. The universal part of the name indicates that it can be used with a wide variety of devices including iPhones, iPods, smartphones and GPS. In fact, the grip on the Exomount2 can mount any device with a screen up to 5 inches.

I wrote a review on the original Exogear Exomount universal car mount about 6 months ago. I absolutely loved the original Exomount and now 6 months later on, my opinion of the Exomount has not changed one bit. It is still the best car mount that I have ever used by far.

When I read that Exogear had released a newer version of the Exomount, I immediately contacted them to inquire about doing a review on the new model. The kind folks at Exogear were very supportive and immediately dispatched a review unit to me. I have been using the Exomount2 almost every day for the past 2 weeks.

Disclaimer: The review unit used for this review is supplied and sponsored by Exogear. This review was written with the understanding that the review will be impartial. Exogear had no influence over the content of this review and they only got to see this review after publication

All images courtesy of Roy Yap and Exogear

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Exogear Exomount 2 Universal Car Mount - White - for iPhone, iPod Touch, Smart Phones, GPS devices and everything else in between.

The Exomount2 features the world's best suction technology so you can mount your smartphone or GPS device to almost any flat surface -glass, plastic, metal, wood, and even drywall. The wide-jaw clamp easily accommodates devices with screens up to 5" (even the 5.3" Samsung Galaxy Note) and rotates to your preferred viewing angle.

The Exogear Exomount2 came in a packaging that is very similar to the original Exomount packaging. The most noticeable difference is that the original Exomount claimed to have the "World's Best Suction" while the new Exomount2 proudly proclaims to be the "World's Best Universal Car Mount".

That is certainly a very bold claim and a step up from its original claim. However, if the Exomount2 is anything like the original, I readily testify that the Exomount2 is certainly deserving of the title.

For my review unit, I requested for a white unit as my original Exomount was black. Besides the color difference, I can see that the Exomount2 is very well built and is made from high quality plastic that is built to last.

Like the original, the Exomount2 is made in Korea. There are some slight differences in the design but overall the Exomount2 looks and feels very much like the original.

The first thing that I did was to make a side by side comparison with the original Exomount. The two main similarities of the two mounts are the patented sticky suction cup technology and the gripping jaw. These are the two defining technologies of the original Exomount that in my opinion made it the best car mount.

The suction cup pad still has the same sticky surface that helps the Exomount2 make a sealing and thus improve suction power. The same surface still picks up all kinds of dirt after awhile but you can still easily wash the dirt off by putting it under a running tap.

It is not surprising that Exogear has kept both these features relatively unchanged on the new Exomount2. The only changes are the slightly different shape of the suction cup base and adjusting knobs on the jaws to adjust the tension on the jaws.

The flattened top of the base does make it easier to flip the suction cup lever. However, I never really found this to be a problem on the original so it is more of a nice-to-have feature rather than a critical fix.

The new design of the base does allow for a wider angle of up-down rotation of the clamping jaws around the ball joint compared to the original Exomount.

The jaws tension adjustment feature is also not a feature I found lacking on the original so it is also a nice-to-have feature.

According to official information from Exogear the Exomount2 has sturdier holding positions handles 35lbs of pressure more than any other mount and a stronger suction cup allowing mounting on even porous, textured and curved surfaces.

I couldn't really tell if there is any real improvements to the amount of pressure or suction power but it is difficult for me to put either of these claims to the test so I will just have to take Exogear's word. I am not overly concern about this as my original Exomount's suction has yet to fail on me once in almost 2 years of usage.

I have been testing the Exomount2 car cradle for the last two weeks. I mounted the Exomount2 on the textured surface on the top of my car dash which incidentally is also slightly curved. This is a huge achievement on its own as besides the original Exomount, I have never been able to mount any other suction cup type dash mount on such a textured surface.

I have also chosen this location on the dash as it is located right under the car windscreen and it is exposed to direct sunlight. I live in a tropical country and during the day, external temperatures can hit a high of over 100 degrees F.

Temperatures inside the car can get much hotter than that. I once placed a plastic toy on the dash of my car and after a few hours under the hot sun, it actually melted so you can imagine the kind of extreme temperatures the Exomount2 was exposed to in those two weeks.

All the other car mounts that I have ever used eventually deteriorated and the suction cups will no longer function properly. Once that happens, the mount can fall off unexpectedly while in use. As you can imagine, this can cause dangerous distractions while driving.

I admit that 2 weeks is not long enough to determine if the Exomount2's suction cup will not deteriorate under high temperature but based on my experience with the original Exomount, I can safely say that the suction cup material and technology is resilient if not 100% immune to deterioration under the sun.

I've been using the Exomount2 for close to 3 months now under the same conditions as above. It still has not failed on me and is working great.

The biggest problem that was encountered on the original Exomount was that devices mounted on the jaw clamps tend to bop around when the ride is a little bumpy. This can be a big problem if you are constantly starring at the display while the car is moving like if you are watching a movie for example or trying to read an email or text message off the display. However, I don't think this is a big issue if you are only glancing at the screen now and then like when you are using a GPS for example.

The new base and neck design of the Exomount2 wasn't designed to eliminate this problem. The vibration and bopping is still there. To be fair to Exogear, there has always been some sort of movement with other car mounts as well so it is not a problem that is inherent to the Exomount2.

Another minor grouse with the Exomount was the fact that operating the clamp jaws require both hands. This prevents inserting or removing your mounted device which you are driving. Personally, I seldom have to remove or remount my devices while I am driving. Even if I am able to do so single-handedly, if is probably not a safe practice.

Overall, Exogear has decided not to repair something that is not broke. The design changes to the Exomount2 is more aesthetic than functional. None of the grouses have been fixed but I for one am not complaining much. For me, the most important function of a car mount is its ability to stay mounted and not fail on me unexpectedly. The Exomoount2 has passed this requirement with flying colors. Its ability to mount on a whole lot more surfaces gives me much more mounting options than any other car dashmount. These two factors alone makes the Exogear Exomount2 still the best universal car mount by far.

The Good

• The Exomount's best features of awesome suction cup technology and the user friendly clamping jaws system has been retained. The suction cup technology makes the Exomount2 the only suction cup mount that is able to mount securely on a textured and slightly curved surface.
• The up-down rotation angle of the clamping jaws has been increased to make it even easier to position your device the way you want it.
• In my opinion, the Exomount2 certainly lives up to its lofty "World's Best Universal Car Mount" claim.
• Suction cup is easy to clean.
• Based on the reliability of my original Exomount, the suction cup material and technology is more resilient to high temperatures than other suction cup mounts.

The Bad

• No huge design improvements from the original Exomount.
• The original Exomount's problem with vibration has not been fixed with the new design.
• Clamping jaw size has not been increased to accommodate screen sizes larger than 5 inches.
• Clamping jaw design prevents one handed operation when inserting or removing a device from the jaws.

The Ugly

• Once again, the gunk that gets accumulated on the sticky pad of the suction cup is still an ugly sight. Fortunately, cleaning it just requires putting it under a running tap and the gunk just washes right off.

Exogear Exomount 2 Universal Car Mount - White - for iPhone, iPod Touch, Smart Phones, GPS devices and everything else in between.

The Exomount2 features the world's best suction technology so you can mount your smartphone or GPS device to almost any flat surface -glass, plastic, metal, wood, and even drywall. The wide-jaw clamp easily accommodates devices with screens up to 5" (even the 5.3" Samsung Galaxy Note) and rotates to your preferred viewing angle.