Wireless car charger

I decided I wanted a wireless car charger for my Droid Maxx - it annoyed me that I that could stream music and handsfree telephone/nav etc via blutooth but I still had to plug it in to a wire AND mount it to a holder.  I had a charging pad already that I replaced with the Tylt so I decided to recycle it rather than buy a new car accessory.  No modification was necessary to the charging pad, so I can easily remove it and use it in the house if I want.  Total time was about 30 minutes all-in.

Parts I used:

• Samsung Wireless Charging Pad $49.99 at a local sprint store.  I like this charging pad because its power source is micro-USB which means I can use any old 12vold micro usb cigarette adapter to power it in the car.  It does NOT come with a cigarette adapter.  Also with my Droid Maxx, the bottom of the maxx has to be aligned with the bottom of the charging pad rather than centered vertically. 
   

• Bracketron Suction Cup Holder: $15 at Best Buy.  The updated one I have has a ball joint but is basically the same as below.  I think I could have source something that would have worked equally well for about $8.

A large medicine bottle: This is what I used to go in the cup holder.  Anything you have that fits in your cup holder that you could screw into the top of would work (an old travel mug with a Top for example

One long  screw - I used a 1 1/2" drywall screw.

Rapid Set Cement (Concrete).  If you use something for your cupholder that has a strong top and fits tightly so it wont tip over, you might not need this. Its your call.

I don't have any pictures in progress, but it was really easy and seeing the final product you can figure it out.  FYI - this would have worked as a Wireless suction cup mount but I just don't like stuff stuck to my window.  You also could use the Bracketron vent mount or dash mount I suppose.

First I took the ball joint mount off the adjustable arm of suction cup.  This was held in by a single screw and just slid off.

I then took the large wood screw (about a 1.5" sheetrock screw) and screwed it down through the mount into the top of the medicine bottle.  The top of the bottle isn't super strong but it didn't matter for me since the screw tip stuck down about 1/2 inch into the bottle. 

II filled the bottle with cement to the brim, then screwed the cap on.  The end of the screw now goes 1/2 into the cement which is why the strength of the bottle top didn't matter but the length of the screw did.

Next  increased the size of the support arms using an piece of an old cd case I trimmed to size. The fact that my Droid Maxx had to line up with the bottom of the charging pad is perfect.

The I trimmed away the padding on the holder itself to make a little room for the charging pad.    I also had to build out the padding a bit since the charging pad is so much wider than my phone.

Extra Support

See trimmed and added padding

Finally I just put the mount on my medicine cup holder and I'm done.

Yes I am going to dress up the medicine bottle and the replace the padding with something black - I just didn't have anything handy at the time.

Quick thoughts on Razr Maxx HD vs. Droid Maxx

I've used the Verizon Razr Maxx HD for about a year now... and have been totally spoiled by the fantastic battery life it provided.  On average I had about 5 hours screen on time per day and was generally at about 10% charge by the end of the day.  This is with WiFi and Bluetooth both on, listening to music for about 2 hours a day, WWF, backgammon, emails, web browsing, the occasional tethering of my MacBook Air... I never worried about running out of juice during the day (for the first time since touch screen phone).

Of course all good things come to an end, and the Razr MaxxHD met its match getting thrown against the corner of a coffee table which smashed the screen.  Since repairing the screen was the same price as getting a new phone, I opted for the latter and replaced it with the Droid Maxx.

I've had the new Maxx for about three days and here's my skinny:

• I'm getting about 1 more hour per day on the same full charge - so now I get about 6 hours screen time.  I rooted it and disabled a few pre-installed apps but not many.  I have all the sensors on (so it responds to voice, has the active notifications on etc).  basically I've done nothing to try to maximize battery life and am sure I could do a lot to improve this by killing all the bells and whistles that eat processor time. As of this writing, the phone has been off its charger for 6 hours, the screen has been on for 2 hours, and I still have 75% battery left.
• It is noticeably faster doing everything. 
• Bluetooth is improved - syncing with my Volkswagen it now shares the address book (which the MaxxHD would not) and gives song information when streaming music over Bluetooth (where the MaxxHD always told the radio it was playing a voicemail.wav file when it was actually playing Google Music.)
• The RAM (now 2gb instead of 1gb) means things like real racing 3 is that much smoother.
• It is a tiny bit bigger - the MaxxHD was already huge in my opinion and this is bordering on uncomfortable to reach the upper corners of the screen.  At 6' tall, I don't have small hands but they aren't huge either.
• I love that it turns on without the power button when I pick it up  or take it out of the holster - saves me wearing out the on button. (I had hacked the MaxxHD to turn on with the volume keys and may do the same here).
• The camera is significantly improved over the Raxr MaxxHD - faster to open, focus, better low light performance, easier to access options, don't need to toggle between video/camera mode... the list goes on.  The shake the phone to quickly access the camera doesn't really work for me however.  I've gotten it to open 2 or 3 times that way - but there must be a trick to it because I've shaken it pretty vigorously and the camera didn't open... I just looked like an idiot shaking his phone.
• The extra processors really help with voice commands.  on the MaxxHD, if I said "Ok Google..." then some command, I would have to wait 3 seconds before giving the command or it would miss the first few words.  With the new Maxx, I just talk in a continuous stream and it picks it all up.

I use the Verizon hard case - which is the same type of case I used for the Maxx HD.  While it does make the phone larger and heavier, I love the slide out stand.  It is perfect for commuting on the subway since I can slide my finger through it and end up with a very secure grip on the phone.  I also use it vertically on my desk for quick speaker phone access and quick access to notifications.

If you are on the fence about purchasing this phone, or hate your current smartphones battery life... I highly recommend this phone.