<b>Review</b>: Kenu Airframe+ <b>car</b> mount for iPhone 6 Plus | 9to5Mac |
| <b>Review</b>: Kenu Airframe+ <b>car</b> mount for iPhone 6 Plus | 9to5Mac Posted: 01 Oct 2014 09:49 AM PDT One of the problems the new iPhone 6 models present is where to put it when you're in the car. You may not want to keep it in your pocket for obvious reasons, especially the iPhone 6 Plus, and the new models are larger and slipperier than ever. Keeping it in the seat next to you probably means it'll end up on the floor. With the larger displays and new features introduced with iOS 8, using a car mount is more useful than ever. I've been trying out Kenu's Airframe+, which supports even the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus (with a case too), and I've found using a car mount offers up a number of benefits. I've used other car mounts before including ones that sit in the cup holder and ones that (try to) stick to the windshield. Airframe+, however, clips to the air vent on your dash. Kenu says the Airframe+ supports several different styles of air vents (see chart below), and I found both connecting and disconnecting it from the vent very easy. There is a limiting factor to this style, though: you can't use the mount and your car's heater together. This downside rules out use in a cold climate, but I did find that clipping to the air vent is more reliable than windshield mounts or dashboard mounts.  Supported vent types The Airframe+ mount is especially useful as it rotates in any orientation. You can quickly change between portrait orientation for the home screen to landscape orientation for navigation without having to remove and adjust the mount. The iPhone 6 Plus home screen even supports landscape orientation making your iPhone resemble in-dash car displays, although the touch targets are still rather small from a distance so I wouldn't rely on anything but voice control. Docking and removing your phone is also easy with the Airframe+. The mount features an adjusting arm, which is how it can support your iPhone 4 or your iPhone 6 Plus, and this makes adding and removing your phone painless. It also puts a tight grip on your iPhone so it doesn't fall out when you're driving on less-than-smooth roads. Although it grips your iPhone tightly, the mount is lined with soft material to protect against scratching your phone. I've used it without a case during my testing. If you do use a case, though, the Airframe+ has depth to support using a Mophie, Otterbox, or other thick iPhone case as well. Features added to iOS 8 make both the new iPhones and previous models more useful during navigation. For example, Hey Siri, which allows you to activate Siri by just using your voice while your iPhone is charging, makes using your iPhone for navigation much safer. I've used Hey Siri with my iPhone 6 mounted in the Airframe to use voice controls like navigating to an address, playing music or podcasts, and setting Reminders all hands-free.
The size of the Airframe+ makes it portable too, especially since the adjusting arm defaults to being narrow. You can easily remove the Airmount+ from your vent and keep it in your pocket or bag for using as an iPhone stand out of the car. Kenu suggests using a card from your wallet for supporting the Airframe+ as a portable stand for watching movies or gaming out of the car. If you live in a climate where you never rely on using heat in your car, the Kenu Airframe+ is a light and reliable mount for your iPhone of any size. iPhone 6 Plus users will especially want to check out the Airframe+ which retails for $29.95. Kenu also makes a standard Airframe car mount which supports up to a 5-inch smartphone (iPhone 6 but not iPhone 6 Plus), but for now the only benefit is the option to have a white version. Both models are pocket-sized without a phone attached.  |
| On the road: Mercedes E400 AMG Sport Plus Coupe – <b>car review</b> <b>...</b> Posted: 19 Sep 2014 10:00 PM PDT Mercedes E400 AMG Sport Plus Coupé: 'In the sludgy traffic of rush-hour London, it feels a touch cumbersome.' Photograph: Simon Stuart-Miller for the Guardian 'This car is like a house on wheels," Bob Mortimer says as we climb into the new Mercedes E400. It does indeed appear more palatial than your average motor – a car so sprawling, I half expect to chance upon a billiards room and a scullery tucked away somewhere beyond the back seats. What it definitely does have is a hybrid engine that sounds so tasteful, so perfectly modulated, it seems more fitting to discuss it in terms of nose and palate. With its handsome, square-jawed exterior and luxurious interior, the Merc is too big to feel truly comfortable; it makes me feel like a child trying to walk in her mother's heels. There is plenty of technological zip to counter its air of stately deportment: sport-tuned suspension, designed for sharper handling, and acceleration that delivers an unexpected rush of speed. It handles elegantly, and out on the motorway feels quite majestic. But heading south in the sludgy traffic of rush-hour London, it feels a touch cumbersome – even in super-throttly sport mode. Mortimer drives a Mercedes himself. "I'm on probably my ninth S Class on the trot," he says. "It's my least favourite of all the ones I've had. It's only 15 miles to the gallon; the last one was a diesel, and you got about 34." At 37.7mpg, the E400's combined fuel consumption is vastly more impressive. Most mornings, Mortimer drives 50 or so miles to write with his comedy partner Vic Reeves (who drives a Jaguar), but today we are roving around rural Surrey, close to his production company offices. He tells me about the live tour he and Reeves are preparing, as well as a feature film and and a new show he has in development called OAP-PI, in which "we get old age pensioners to do private investigations work". We pass under a railway bridge. "It's such a thin line between doing what we do and it just being Rentaghost. And I hated Rentaghost." For Mortimer, the allure of the Mercedes is its space and comfort. "I've never found a better car for sleeping in. And I spend hours and hours asleep in cars." Had we taken this drive around his home town of Tunbridge Wells, he says, he'd have guided me to his three favourite sleeping spots. "Finding somewhere to sleep is really tricky these days, where it's reasonably quiet and you don't get moved on." He sleeps "more intensely" in a car: "You wake up and you get that real richness, like your blood's got thick." Later, he shows me his own Merc. "I've got a fridge," he says, opening a cubbyhole in the back seat that's big enough to hold two bottles of Lucozade. "And night vision," he adds, gesturing at the dashboard. "You flick that down and drive via that screen." What if a fox ran out in front of him? "That's exactly what it's for. It was designed by foxes." We regard the dashboard dubiously. "I'm sure it must be safe," he says, looking unconvinced. "And it's probably the future." The E400 may not offer a fridge or fox-endorsed night vision, but it's still a fine example of Mercedes design. There's all the space, comfort and attention to detail you'd want if you're spending long stretches in a car, whether driving great distances, or taking a nap in Tunbridge Wells.  Price £52,250 • Follow Laura on Twitter. |
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