Hey guys, welcome to our review of Peak Design
Mobile. It might be a bit of a stretch for this hiking channel, but hey: we’re pretty mobile, we
all have phones and we do enjoy the occasional peak. This was launched on Kickstarter, as most
Peak Design products are, and I supported that campaign and went for the full kit because, well,
because I was intrigued I guess, and I didn’t have a phone case I was really happy with, I didn’t
have a bike mount and I do a lot of this kind of YouTubey video and I wondered if maybe with the
right mounting tools, I could swap my mirrorless camera for a smartphone camera. Also, I’m not
gonna lie: this little tripod was just too nerdy fantastic for me to ignore. So, Kickstarter. Peak
Design has done a lot of crowdfunding campaigns, so you’d figure they would have this stuff down
to a science by now. But there were a few hiccups: one was Apple releasing MagSafe, which is also
magnet based, and the other was a little virus that you may have heard about on the news.
So I backed this way back in October of 2020, when the idea was to ship in the spring of 2021.
And so that didn’t really work out.
But you know: it’s Kickstarter, it’s crowdfunding, it kind of
comes with the territory. So I bought the complete set and I’m here to give you my thoughts about
what works, what doesn’t and whether Mobile is worth your hard earned cash. Because it is a bit
of an investment. Peak Design is many things, but cheap ain’t really one of them. I unfortunately
can’t tell you what it costs exactly, since my wife occasionally watches my YouTube stuff, but
I did put some links in the description, which, don’t click ’em honey, keep your
mouse pointer where I can see it! Before I get to the meat of this review, I
just want to briefly share my experiences as a Peak Design customer, because
I own quite a few of their products and through the years I’ve contacted their support
for three separate issues. And the funny thing is: none of those were really Peak Design’s fault.
First occasion was me dropping a camera tripod on its head, the second was about a sling bag
that I sold second hand and the guy who bought it from me, years later, wanted to use the lifetime
warranty and thirdly I once had to deliberately tear part of a tote bag because we were
at the airport and there was no other way to separate it from the check-in luggage – long
story.
But in each of those occasions Peak Design were just so gracefully helpful and so focused
on just making it right without really asking too many questions, that they’ve earned a lot of
goodwill in my household. So that is part of why I – perhaps impulsively – bought the whole set
and it’s probably useful if you’re watching this to know that I as a reviewer may have a slight
positive bias. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s go over the different parts of the set and
onto my likes and dislikes. It all starts with a case. Are you on the case? Who’s on the case? It’s
not really the most exciting part of the ecosystem but it is the cornerstone, obviously, and if
the case were to suck, well then there would be no point in getting any of it. Thankfully, it
does not suck. I’m still a bit lukewarm about the aesthetics of the design, but I can’t deny that
it is extremely functional and well-made with a lot of attention to detail.
It hugs the phone
extremely well, there’s nothing that flexes, it doesn’t feel like something that could even
come off really, it just feels like part of the phone. As advertised, it adds very little
bulk. I’ve got an iPhone 12 mini, so relatively speaking this is the biggest size increase of any
compatible phone, but it does have a very slight chin at the bottom. I’m guessing this is meant as
a bumper in case of gravity issues, but it’s also very useful for gunk and lint storage.
The cutout
worked with all my cables, though some were a bit tighter than others. There’s also a very slight
lip or front-facing bumper around the sides, about a millimeter, maybe two, which is
very useful when you drop your phone face first i personally wouldn’t have objected to a
slightly higher front-facing bumper because in my experience quite often perfectly good smartphones
get thrown away when the screen shatters. So any case that can prevent such a thing is worth it in
my book. Other small stuff: I love the buttons! Phone makers spend a lot of time designing this
stuff, and it’s just such a shame when phone cases turn that perfect click into some kind of mushy
half-press where you don’t even know if you’ve managed to click at all. So I’m happy to say that
these work flawlessly. Both the fabric on the back and the rubber on the sides are nice as well, soft
to the touch but still with plenty of grip.
And they are also pretty great at not showing dirt.
Important to know is that Peak Design makes the everyday case for the last three generations of
iPhones as well as for the Samsung Galaxy S21. So that’s really just a very small number of
phones, but apparently those together represent the vast majority of the users backing their
Kickstarter campaign. If you have a different phone, you can still use all the accessories,
but you need the universal adapter. This works on pretty much any phone case, though the result
will of course be bulkier and you do have to trust the case to be a tight enough fit if you intend
to use it, for example, on the bike mount. You can also stick it straight onto the phone if you like
to live dangerously.
The everyday case supports wireless, charging the universal adapter doesn’t
– at least for the phones that I tested it with. The out-front bike mount was one of the main
reasons that I bought the full kit, because I ride a fast e-bike. Not usually off-road, but still:
when you hit a bump in the road at 45 kilometers an hour, everything, including your phone, is
gonna take a hit. So I was a bit anxious to see how well the out-front bike mount performed, and
I’m happy to say that it does deliver. Putting it on the bike and taking it off is really a very
easy and very satisfying experience. The magnets guide it, so it’s well-aligned, and then the
clasps fasten everything with a satisfying click. I feel pretty confident that when it’s fastened,
it’s going to stay put. It is probably a good idea though to make sure that it clicks the first
couple of dozen times that you use it though, because on rare occasions, when you’re not
used to this system and you put it on at an angle to attach, it sticks to the magnets
without the clasps really kicking in.
Just something to be aware of. As with all the mounts
in this system you can choose either portrait or landscape orientation, and I was planning
to mostly use it in landscape – a bit like Apple CarPlay – but it turns out that smartphones
aren’t as good at switching to landscape mode as they used to be. With few exceptions, none of
my most used apps have landscape mode anymore. So back to portrait iI guess? Or if anyone at
Apple is watching: how about apple BikePlay guys? One last thing that I thought was kind of nifty is
the fact that if you use the manual screw version that you can shift it upwards to either film your
bike ride or use your smartphone as a bike light. Okay what else? The universal bar mount! You might
say ‘wait didn’t we just cover a bike mount?’ and the answer is: yes, this also works as a bike
mount. But it’s arguably a little more versatile. Honestly guys, if pockets hadn’t been invented
yet they would sell billions of these. The rubber band is a bit chunkier than you might
expect.
It cleans up nicely by clipping the end of the band like this, which is nice but it makes
it surprisingly hard to get it off. The universal bar mount also has a trick up its sleeve that
none of the other accessories have, and that is the fact that it swivels. I haven’t needed it
yet but it could be handy in some situations. Ah, the tripod. I think this is probably the thing
that the designers at Peak had the most fun with. It’s certainly the thing that appeals
most to my inner eight-year-old. It’s probably a bit over engineered,
but that’s also part of the fun. It’s aluminum with rubberized feet, nice and
grippy. It’s quite easy to set up and to aim, but keep in mind that this is very much a tabletop
tripod: it does need a level surface. If you’re going on a holiday and you want a very small
tripod for outdoors pictures then I’m guessing one of these mini gorillapod things will serve
you better.
Surprisingly, you can piggyback the accessories if you want to take the whole
enchilada with you, which i wasn’t expecting but it’s kind of nice. This also works with the
wireless charging stand: probably not recommended but hey: living on the edge! One thing I will say
about the tripod is that it’s not necessarily the best match with the iPhone mini. It kind of sticks
out a little at the bottom and it has a wedge shape that makes it look like it’s put on some
weight. No body shaming though, this is of course still absurdly small for a tripod, but I think
if I were to sell these, put them in a showroom setting, I’d probably go for a much bigger
phone because that makes for a more sensible pairing. The mobile tripod also has an included
hex tool to adjust the tension of the ball head. Like I said: the designers had their fun with
this.
The wireless charging stand is probably the least mobile thing in the whole kit, meant to stay
on your desk or nightstand. It’s moderately heavy, and that’s a good thing because of course if it
were too light you’d pick up the stand every time you mean to pick up the phone. It’s secure but not
too sticky. Did that logo really have to be quite that big? Or maybe I’m just a little biased
by the fact that PD or PD is not really an abbreviation with positive connotations in the
French speaking world.
Speaking about logos: they even put them on these tiny cable clips,
which is kind of cute I guess. I think it’s their way of saying “we are proud to have made
this” and sure enough: they are fine cable clips, they really are! So I get it, but maybe dial
it down a little guys? Maybe get a PD tattoo? I’m guessing the car mount will be among the most
popular products in the system, but I honestly don’t have much to say about it.
It’s the same
mount as the charging stand and the wall mount, so non-locking. You glue it to the
dashboard and it feels quite sturdy to me. There’s two versions and if you choose the
charging version you get an additional cable, some clips for routing and a 12-volt adapter. I
did get the charging version but in the end I just chucked everything in the glove box because
I’m not sure that I want that cable running along the console. I might still install it later
though. Definitely maybe. Okay, the mobile creator kit.
The name makes it sound like you’re getting
gimbals and drones and all kinds of crazy stuff, but in essence this is just a couple of small
accessories and adapters that let you mount your everyday case to stuff that you’re likely
to already own if you’re into making videos. For the GoPro crowd there is this connector that
lets you mount to just about every action-oriented accessory on the market: things like helmets,
suction cups, harnesses, animals, you name it. Secondly, it also connects to this ubiquitous
1/4 inch thread. That is the same thread you’ll find on the bottom of just about every camera
on the planet, so that’s a really useful one. And lastly, it also mounts to
Peak’s standard plate and that means you can mount it to their capture
clips and Peaks excellent tripods. I was planning on maybe using this combination
for filming hikes, but it turns out that it’s a bit on the heavy side: my smartphone weighs
135 grams, this whole system is 185 grams.
If you’re just looking for a convenient
way to attach your phone to a backpack i would recommend the universal bar mount, since
that is less than half the weight. Unfortunately you can’t very well use that for filming,
because the main camera is facing the wrong way. The wallet comes in two versions: this
here is the slim wallet and there is also a stand wallet that – you guessed it –
turns into a stand. The wallet holds about six to seven standard-sized cards, so the
question quickly becomes “is that enough”? And i’m sure a lot of people are not even going to
consider switching to something as small as this, but I actually already made that switch
back in 2020 when I got me one of these. And if you’re anything like me, you may not need
as many cards as you think you do. The slim wallet aligns very nicely and the magnets are
surprisingly strong.
When you’re taking it off, your best bet is to twist rather than try to pull
them apart. Opening and closing is pretty easy, it takes a few times to learn how to best hold it
and where to apply force, but all in all a nice well-thought-out interaction. Simple, sleek,
hard-wearing, lifetime warranty: I like it. I’m assuming that Peak didn’t actually invent the
stick-your-phone-to-the-wall product category but I’ve got to admit I had never seen one before. I
got myself two wall mounts, one in each color, and I can definitely see some use cases, like watching
a movie while you’re doing the dishes or just having a dedicated place for your phone in your
office or maybe using it like a wall mounted Alexa or Google Home device. I use one in the kitchen,
I’m still wondering where to put the second one. From a design or functionality perspective
there’s not much here for me to criticize.
The glue on the back side is quite quite strong and
so are the magnets. You will not have to wonder if it will hold your phone. Phones are obviously
getting bigger and heavier, but even extrapolating that trend, according to my calculations you’ll be
set until at least 2028 when the iPhone Max will be approximately 13 inches. Speaking of which,
since I have a rickety old iPad lying around, as well as a leftover universal adapter and one
extra wall mount, I was sorely tempted to turn my bathroom into a Netflix viewing station. But since
Peak Design doesn’t recommend it and I watch too much Netflix already, I’ll just wait until some
other guy on YouTube does something like that and either puts my mind at ease or wrecks
his iPad.
The mobile line also includes a wall power adapter that I have very few
thoughts about other than the fact that it’s tiny and it gives you 20 watts of charging,
which is a fair amount of power for the size. You could argue that Peak Design picks boring
objects to reimagine: things like backpacks, pouches, the occasional tripod,… Not exactly the
product categories that usually make your heart beat faster. But they pour so much attention
to detail and so much love into this stuff that it does impact people, if only because these
boring objects are things that you use all the time. I read somewhere that the average person
picks up and unlocks their smartphone 90 times a day, and I thought that was a bit excessive until
I found out that I am not that far off myself. And so even if no part of Peak
Mobile is earth-shattering by itself, the quality of those interactions,
multiplied by how often you use it and the way everything works together,
all add up to a very non-boring product.
It works great as a system, it’s very solid
and it’s just very satisfying to use. So does that mean that it’s perfect? Is it for
everyone? No, not necessarily. For one, considering the size of Apple’s ecosystem
and the huge cottage industry around, it you could argue that if you don’t need
your phone to be mounted very securely then you might be perfectly happy with regular
MagSafe accessories. That’s especially true for things like the charging stand the car mount
and maybe the wallet: they’re fine, great even, but if they’re all you need then there are a ton
of other options out there, some by Apple itself and some considerably cheaper.
But if you’re like
me and you need secure mounting as well as those other everyday mounting options, then yeah, you
could certainly do a lot worse than Peak Mobile. Knowing what I know now, would I have bought
the whole kit? That’s an interesting question, and to be honest: I’m not entirely sure about the
tripod. Because even though I like it, I find that too often I don’t have it with me when I need
it, because it’s still on my desk or in the car. And since I tend to always bring the wallet, and
since the stand wall works as sort of tripod too, I guess maybe that would have been a better
fit for me, Even if I am pretty happy with the slim wallet just the way it is.
That was by far
the longest review i’ve ever done on anything, sorry about that. If you’re still here, you’re
still awake, then you have my heartfelt gratitude and I hope you will drop me a line if you’ve
any questions whatsoever. See you next time! you.
