Review: Annex's Quad Lock is an outstanding iPhone case/mount system
Thanks to an ever-growing, and increasingly diverse, array of apps for using your iPhone on the go—think GPS apps, cycling apps, and travel apps—one of the biggest questions iPhone owners have is, “How do I mount my iPhone [in my car/on my bike/wherever]?” The answer has generally been to buy a bike mount, and a car mount, and maybe even a separate dock or stand for your desk. Annex aims to fill all these needs with a single mounting system, and in my testing, it fits the bill.
The cases
The iPhone 5 version of the Quad Lock case
The system starts with the company’s unique case: the $30 Quad Lock Case for iPhone 5 or the $25 Quad Lock Case for iPhone 4/4S. (I list individual component prices in this review, but Annex offers various packages that include multiple components at a discount. For example, the $70 Bike Mount Kit for iPhone 5 includes the aforementioned iPhone 5 case, the $30 Bike Mount Pro, and the $25 iPhone 5 poncho, discussed below.)
Though the two versions of the case differ slightly, they’re very similar, and each is a very good shell-style case. Made of semi-rigid polycarbonate, the case is easy to put on and take off, and shock-absorbing enough to protect the iPhone from drops, but thin enough that it doesn’t add a huge amount of bulk to your phone. The surface is tacky enough for a good grip, but not so much that the case is tough to slide out of your pocket. Around the edges, the case extends a good way past the front of the screen—more than with most shell cases—to help protect the screen if your phone ends up face-down.
The iPhone 4/4S version of the Quad Lock case
But it’s the back of the case that makes it special. In the middle is a slightly raised section that hosts a recessed mount point—the Quad Lock Mounting System. This mount point looks like a circle with four notches spaced evenly around the perimeter. When attaching your phone to one of the Quad Lock mounts, you line up the mount’s four “teeth” with these notches, and then you rotate the encased phone 45 degrees to lock it in place. The design of the mounting system lets you attach your iPhone to a mount in any of four orientations.
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