Review: Magnetic Power 2 XVIDA Qi Charger - The perfect Model 3 mount?

[MikeATL]

I could be wrong, but that YouTube video was made in January, before the amperage of the front USB ports was bumped to 2A.

Possible it's been changed... that would be good. Tesla can change things like this so much faster than any other car company can or would! I still think I am going to grab more USB ports from the cigarette outlet so I can charge other things (iPad, Kindle, portable battery) from the front console.

I'm looking to charge similar to RPM

Take a look at http://a.co/4M1PMU7
You can use the RPM method to bring 5 more outlets up into the front console!

 

[MikeATL]

Yes! You just loosen the knob behind the ball joint, rotate it, and re-tighten.

Do you need to rotate the mount to rotate the phone? Or is the magnet strong enough that you can just temporarily rotate the phone perpendicular to the charging head and it will stick even though the magnet is not 100% in contact with head?

Also, any reason why you couldn't mount it below the M3 Screen instead of the top corner? Only issue I see is that in vertical orientation you'd possibly block a little of the M3 screen?

 

[fseir]

Do you need to rotate the mount to rotate the phone? Or is the magnet strong enough that you can just temporarily rotate the phone perpendicular to the charging head and it will stick even though the magnet is not 100% in contact with head?

Also, any reason why you couldn't mount it below the M3 Screen instead of the top corner? Only issue I see is that in vertical orientation you'd possibly block a little of the M3 screen?

You have to rotate the charging head to allow portrait mode. If the head were square, what you suggest would work, but unfortunately, because the head is a rectangle, and the magnets are in the corners of the rectangle, they won’t align sufficiently to hold the phone. I tried it, and while I could get it to grip slightly, if I let go, I’m sure my phone would drop. It’s a great idea, though! A square charging head would make a lot of sense, as long as it didn’t cause any problems with charging (not sure if induction charging is susceptible to changes in polarity??).

 

[fseir]

Also, any reason why you couldn't mount it below the M3 Screen instead of the top corner? Only issue I see is that in vertical orientation you'd possibly block a little of the M3 screen?

I tried this, but couldn’t get the suction cup to stick on the lower 1/3 of the screen, due to the curvature (if you look behind the screen, you’ll see what I mean — the mounting arm of the screen results in an irregular countour). This was where I originally planned to place it, but now that I’ve had it in the upper left corner, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Visibility and ease of access is unbeatable.

 

[MikeATL]

Just ordered it. 15% off with promo code “GET15”

I also have a Jeep and it uses a Proclips base and mount. I ordered the XVIDA charging pad (just the Qi magnetic part of the suction mount) and I’m going to use that mount with the Proclips base in the Jeep so I’ll be wireless/magnetic in both!

 

[gzerninplatz]

One question - is it obvious how best to route the cable from the mount to the front USB jack?

Haven't received my Xvida yet...and got the M3 yesterday...I've ordered the USB splitter, so can leave it all in the front jacks...

 

[MikeATL]

I don’t have my M3 yet, but I ordered this http://a.co/4M1PMU7 USB hub and plan to bring it from the armrest compartment where the cigarette charger is up into the main console compartment using this install method

The magnetic charging mount will connect to one of the 5 high power ports in the hub (which will be in the front console compartment) and then I need to route that USB cable out of the console probably under the driver side trim before I put it all back together.

The easiest way out of the compartment might just be above the top compartment door assuming there’s a little gap there.... or through the door (there’s already a opening to route the cables) ...don’t have my M3 so can’t check what works.

 

[gzerninplatz]

Dang...that video has been removed...not even on the RPMTesla site any more...

 

[MikeATL]

Dang...that video has been removed...not even on the RPMTesla site any more...

This covers the removal of the console side trim also...

 

[gzerninplatz]

thanks....but how do you get the wire from the phone mount into the front compartment?????

 

[MikeATL]

thanks....but how do you get the wire from the phone mount into the front compartment?????

I won’t have my M3 for a month, but I’d think you could go under the side trim then over the lip into the front compartment (in the RPM video, they made a small cut of the plastic to get it over the lip, but that was then covered when the trim went back on.)

 

[plasmo]

TL;DR, this is my review of the Power 2 XVIDA Car Charger Suction Mount

Great recommendation. Just purchased this for my iPhone X.
Anything special with the placement of the USB cable? Just let it hang down and plug it into the center console?

oh and Coupon Code "GET15" still saves 15%! I saved $14.70 on the order

 

[gzerninplatz]

OK...it turned out to be easy. Use a spudger to pop the side panel away just a bit (you can see where I impatiently marred the panel edge). Very slightly enlarge the slot that the top cover hinge rides in. route cable into spaces between trim pieces and into front compartment....plug into USB jack. (start at USB end so you are routing the microUSB small end up, not the big USB plug down...). thanks, fseir, for discovering this mount - it's great!!!

 

[gzerninplatz]

 

[plasmo]

Thx for the explanation and the pic. If you could shoot a quick video of this it would be super helpful

 

[tmlee84]

thx fseir - just got mine.

 

[fseir]

Great recommendation. Just purchased this for my iPhone X.
Anything special with the placement of the USB cable? Just let it hang down and plug it into the center console?

oh and Coupon Code "GET15" still saves 15%! I saved $14.70 on the order

I just have the cable hanging down through the open flip lid, and since it’s black on black, it doesn’t bother me. But @gzerninplatz has an intriguing solution that I may look into.

I also do have an update to my review, concerning charging while using GPS and streaming music over Bluetooth on iPhones. Importantly, this is not unique to XVIDA, it’s the same for Jeda, Nomad, and all other Qi chargers — the iPhone can only qi charge at 7.5 watts —which may not be enough to keep up with demand. I noticed a very slow loss of charge when running waze and streaming pandora, with a screen brightness of 100%. When I killed some other apps that were running in the background, and reduced my screen brightness to 50%, the charge slowly began ticking up. So the bottom line, is that if you do a lot of power intensive stuff with your phone, you may have to compromise screen brightness, and maybe prioritize what you want to run, in order to keep a positive charge flowing.

Android phones that can qi charge at 15 watts, shouldn’t have this problem. Wish Apple would catch up on this front. Maybe we’ll see faster charging announced at the Sep 12 event.

Anyway, happy to see you folks are starting to get your XVIDAs, and hope you like them, too!

 

[plasmo]

I also do have an update to my review, concerning charging while using GPS and streaming music over Bluetooth on iPhones. Importantly, this is not unique to XVIDA, it’s the same for Jeda, Nomad, and all other Qi chargers — the iPhone can only qi charge at 7.5 watts —which may not be enough to keep up with demand. I noticed a very slow loss of charge when running waze and streaming pandora, with a screen brightness of 100%. When I killed some other apps that were running in the background, and reduced my screen brightness to 50%, the charge slowly began ticking up. So the bottom line, is that if you do a lot of power intensive stuff with your phone, you may have to compromise screen brightness, and maybe prioritize what you want to run, in order to keep a charge

Dang. I was hoping that this wasn’t going to be an issue.

 

[fseir]

Dang. I was hoping that this wasn’t going to be an issue.

Yeah, it’s a bummer, but until Apple allows faster Qi charging, this will be our reality.

One suggestion is to install a battery monitoring app (I’ve been using Battery Life, but maybe there are better ones), that provides more granular data, like mAh, so you can see if the battery is gaining or losing charge over short periods of time, then playing with different use scenarios, to see what you need to do to keep the balance tipped slightly in the positive territory (or at the very least, neutral).

If you drive a lot, this will be more important for you. For me, most of my drives are short, so if I very slowly lose charge, it’s better than nothing, but if I’m really low on power, I just drive with the screen turned down, and I gain charge gradually. Turning off the screen, or listening to slacker on the Tesla, are other ways of reducing power draw and improving charging rates, when necessary.

 

[plasmo]

Yeah, it’s a bummer, but until Apple allows faster Qi charging

If you drive a lot, this will be more important for you.

Or I guess you could just plug in a lightning cable to the other usb source (while you are driving long distances) to maintain power ... but that is defeating the purpose of the wireless charging. I never tried it, but can the iPhone charge using the plug and wireless at the same time?