The Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 securely fits your dashboard air vent, magnetically grabs your phone, charges at up to 18W, and even features three built-in NFC tags that you can switch between. Unfortunately, while it sounds like the perfect MagSafe car mount, Pitaka charges a premium for an accessory with numerous drawbacks and a missing power adaptor.
Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2
The MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 secures well to any vent with a ratcheting clamp, and the MagSafe pad keeps your iPhone attached and charging wirelessly. Uniquely, a toggle switch lets you swap between three built-in NFC tags, allowing you to launch your Shortcut actions. Unfortunately, these aren’t enough to justify the high price, and could be easily replicated with either Siri or some sticky NFC tags.
What’s in the Box?
Inside, you’ll find the MagSafe mount, separate swivel ball vent attachment, two rubber cable clips, and a USB-C to C cable.
Note the absence of an actual carport/cigarette lighter adaptor. It’s just assumed you have a USB-C port somewhere on your dashboard. I don’t—and my car isn’t that old (a 2014 Mitsubishi Outland PHEV). Luckily, I had an older charger that came with my now broken dashcam, but even so. The fact that neither an alternative cable for a USB-A port nor an actual 12V car port charger is included in a $60 car mount is baffling. So you may need to factor in another $10 cost for a USB car power adaptor.
Fitting the Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2
The MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 features a secure ratchet clip. Just put it into a straight air vent, make sure the red hook can grab onto one of the vent leaves, then turn the ratchet to tighten it.
I had some trouble getting the clip to latch on, and ended up having to fit it upside down, but it was secure regardless. This terminates in a ball head, which the EZMag mount clicks onto, giving you full freedom to adjust the angle.
This is the universal version of the mount, but Pitaka also sells aTesla Model 3/Y versionbecause, of course, a Tesla has unique air vents.
NFC Actions
The main unique feature of the Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 over any other generic MagSafe car mount is the inclusion of three switchable NFC tags. Each can be assigned a different Shortcut or Automation, but switching between each can be a bit fiddly if you have fat fingers, like I do.
You’ll need to stick your fingernail in there and toggle the inset switch. you’re able to see at a glance which one is currently set, as the color will change; red, white, then blue, on the left, center, and right, respectively. Each one is a unique tag that can be assigned a different action.
By default, each NFC tag is programmed with a URL pointing toward the Pitaka website.
Assigning these actions is suprisingly easy, using the built-in Shortcuts app on iOS. Android offers similar functionality, though I haven’t tested it there.
Shortcuts can be powerful tools, performing a string of unrelated tasks, waiting for user input, and adjusting key system settings; but they can also be completely useless, depending on what app you want to interact with. For instance, I had hoped I could program an NFC tag to open Spotify and start playing my favorite Lo-Fi playlist. I got as far as “open Spotify.” Neither Play nor Play a specific playlist are supported within Spotify.
It’s not entirely clear who’s at fault here, but given there’s a whole bunch of apps that are supported by Shortcuts and Automation, my guess would be lazy Spotify developers. Opening up the app is better than nothing, I suppose.
I also added a Shortcut that would open Maps and add a new destination for Home. Apple’s native apps have much better support, of course.
Still, given the high cost and the fact that the switchable NFC is one of the few standout features of the Pitaka MagSafe Mount Pro 2, it’s worth trying to create those Shortcuts or Automations before you buy this. And remember that you don’t really need NFC anyway: a Siri command is equally as functional.
Unfortunately, even after adding a shortcut to each NFC tag, it still insisted on showing the open website notification when the tag was tapped. This URL is hardcoded into the tag itself, and not required when triggering a Shortcut (which merely reads the ID).
There is a way to fix this without messing up your created Shortcuts: download thefree NFC Tools app. You’ll find the option toErase Tagin there underOther. Do this for each switchable tag, and the URL encoded will be removed. It’s a minor annoyance, and there’s no reason for this to be programmed in, anyway. The Pitaka instructions for setting up Shortcuts doesn’t say how to remove the URL either, so I can only assume they didn’t actually test these with an iPhone. From what I can tell, this isn’t an issue on Android, which overwrites any existing information when creating the Routine (the Android equivalent of Shortcuts).
Should You Buy the Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2?
The Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 is overpriced. I could almost forgive that if it included a suitable car port charger; but it doesn’t. The switching NFC tag functionality is a clever unique selling point, but certainly doesn’t justify the price, and can easily be replaced by voice commands anyway.
From a core functionality standpoint, it secures well to an air vent, and my iPhone happily sat magnetically there and charged using the power of MagSafe, even through the average bumpy Cornish lane. No issues there. But you’ll find competing MagSafe car mounts that can do that for half the price.
The question is then: do you want to pay twice as much for some NFC tags? If you’re desperate for that functionality (which can be cool—if the app supports it), thenhere are fifty NFC stickers for $13—print your own neat labels and plaster your car with them.
As it is, there’s little reason to recommend the Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 over any of the cheaper competitors. It’s not a flawed product—it just isn’t worth it.
