[General Accessories] vectron:
This is a review of Spiderpodium mount for your smartphone and tablet. http://usa.breffo.com/

Available in two sizes with various color options, one universal size to fit any smartphone: http://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Universal-Holder-iPhone-Andriod/dp/B003Y419K4/ and the other one for tablets: http://www.amazon.com/Breffo-Spiderpodium-Tablet-Stand-Black/dp/B004NFNQWM/

It has been awhile since I reviewed any mount/stand accessories for smartphone or tablets. One of the reasons is that after reviewing a number of suction cup phone grip mounts and general folding stands, everything starts to blend into a similar looking and functioning gadget with a slight variation in design. There is nothing wrong with that except it becomes just another bland gadget with universal fit. Sounds boring? Well, Breffo guys came up with a FUN way how to break this mold and to give you a tool to customize your own car mount or stand for use with any smartphone or tablet. Here is more about it.

Though I heard about Breffo in the past, I never really looked closely into their product until I was contacted recently by one of my readers who suggested to give them a chance. And to be honest, I'm glad I did! Arrived in a very basic package, I received both Spiderpodium smartphone and tablet versions. What a clever name for a gadget. As you probably aware, "podium" refers to a small platform which you can actually shape with this product using its 8 "spider" legs. Design is very simple, you have a middle non-flexible part where the legs are attached to, and 4 flexible legs on each side. Legs itself made out of flexible wire which actually is not very soft and able to hold the shape quite well, and at the same time not very hard to bend. The wires and the middle piece are all covered in soft molded rubber material where the coating on the legs kind of partitioned in 4 links for easy guidance when you shape them.

The phone and tablet mounts are very similar in design, where tablet one has a thicker wires/coating and overall scaled up in size to accommodate bigger/heavier tablets. As I mentioned above, the packaging was very basic, but I'm glad it had a printed "instruction" pictures how to set it up. That was very helpful because right out of the box Spiderpodium looks a little toyish and you need to use your imagination how/where to start. After that you are only limited by your imagination! The basic idea is to use some of the "spider" legs to make a stand for leaning against the surface and other legs to make a mount wrapped around your device. Rubber coating of the wires (basically, a tight rubber tubing) has a very good grip with a surface so you don't have to worry about your mount slipping and sliding due to increased friction, even on a glass tabletop surface.

Another functionality Breffo suggests for their product is for use in the car. You can see a number of instructional videos on their website with a guidance of how to set this up. Obviously, there is no suction cup mount for attachment to your windshield or dashboard, and you have to use four inner legs by inserting them between the blades of dashboard vent. This is where I run into a little problem since the only usable vent opening in my car was between two narrow spaced blades where I wasn't able to insert legs all the way in. After managing to jam it in, I was able to hold my Note 2 in landscape orientation, and as you aware it's rather a large/heavier smartphone in comparison to something like original small iPhone. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the mount was secure enough as I started driving and especially going over the bumps or potholes. Under the weight of my phablet and limitation of my car's dashboard vent design, I didn't feel comfortable using it for an extended period of my trip. I would consider this as an exception because if you have a regular smaller and lighter <5" screen phone and don't have limitation of your car vent design - this would be a really neat portable phone mount to keep it close by as you driving. With a tablet Spiderpodium, you can also wrap it around your front seat headrest and mount your tablet for back seat entertainment.

Overall, there are not too many car mounts/stands you can refer to as "fun" unless you are looking into Breffo Spiderpodium mounts. For mounting your phone or tablet in a portrait or a landscape position to be used on any even or uneven surface this could come very handy!!! You can also get creative using it as a car mount, though you might be limited by your dashboard vent design or the size of your phone, especially if you are using a phablet in a bulky case or with extended battery. Either way, it's a fun little gadget for yourself or to give to someone as a gift. As a matter of fact, if you choose to order it directly from their website, you will also get a neat earpone "tidy" which is a flexible shaped piece of rubber with a cleverly designed short slits to insert your earbuds on one side, tie the wire around the middle, and attach headphone plug on the other side.

Here are the pictures.