Administrator 
Introduction:
In this article i will go over an absolute nessesity for bikers who use their smartphones often while they ride their motorcycle - A water proof smartphone case. This little gadget has saved me personally many times from pulling over under a bridge in a rainy day just to get my smarhpone out of my bag\pocket for navigation purposes before hopefully memorizing the correct path and getting back to driving in the rain.
Packaging:
The product comes in two parts: A handlebar bracket and a device cradle. Both were packaged within transparent nylon bags.
Parts:
The handlebar bracket is pretty simple and to the point. its "neck" leading to the cradle connector is not so long though, not that it needs to be any longer than it is. Though, an option to extend it would've been welcomed just in case a rider needs the device to be a bit close to his face. The unit comes with two tighteners, one for the handlebar and one for the cradle male connector's round axis. The round axis makes it possible to adjust the cradle unit's posture.
The bracket connector comes with 4 boldged male pins which at first glance seem pretty universal, though, some cradles out there come with 3 male pins. It basically means that this handlebar bracket could potentially be used with other cradles and/or products, which is good.
The cradle part is very light, made mostly of very thin plastic and sythetic fabric.It is basically two parts of an enclosure , seperated by a zipper. The back part of the cradle is where the cradle female connector is attached, the front part is made almsot entirely out of a transparent, thick and elastic material. The entire cradle itself is very elastic, which kind of worried me when it came to how safe could it keep my mobile device in case it falls off in a middle of a ride or god forbids, due to an accidant.
As a mattef of fact, just by looking at the cradle unit i could already see that this solution is not going to survive more than maybe 2 winters. These cheap materials, zipper and outside weather conditions could easily weatr and tear this unit given enough time.
Quick Overview:
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Openning up the cradle unit is done pretty easily by using the zipper, though, when going around the corners, moving the zipper gets a bit harder and more force is need to be applied in the right direction in order to continue unzipping the zipper. This quality of the cradle isn't positive to begin with since applying more than needed force could easily break the zipper or damage its teeth.
Upon openning the cradle unit i noticed it contains some sort of a spungy piece of a cut material. It is likely is was used to prevent the unit from getting flattened during shipping. Though, i belive it could be used as support when using the cradle to house devices not thick enough to expand it to its fullest volume. I have noticed that when using thin or smaller than intended devices with this cradle, their screens don't stick well enough to the transparent part of the cradle, making it hard to see the screen during the day and making it impossible to use the touch feature of these screens, especially when using bulky motorcycle gloves...
The stiches and the overall built of the cradle unit don't really give out a good sense of confidence and i could already see my beloved smartphone getting wet along with me while riding in the rain. This unit is very fragile. Brute force and blunt usage would render it unusable very fast.
The unit opens all the way to 180 degrees and even more so when the zipper is used all the way, Though, i find this to be unessecary mostly since most appropriate size devices would be able to be slided in from the top, openning the zipper only a fourth of the way. Just for appearance sake, i wanted to see how my LG-G4 device would fit if i open the zipper all the way.
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Assembly:
Since this product is pretty cheap and to the point , assembling it was very easy and it was basically split into two main parts: Assembling of the handlebar bracket and attaching the cradle part onto it. Note - the second part could be integrated into the first one by attaching the cradle unit onto the handlebar cradle prior conneting the handlebar bracket.
Prior to assembley, i played around with the possibility of having the old and the new cradles at the same time. Suffice it to say that i did not need both since, first - i didn't need both, second - both of them together made my motorcycle look really cluttered, not to mention my Odometer could almsot not be seen.
Assembling the Handlebar Bracket:
This is part is pretty easy. Use the lower tightener to expand the round handlebar openning, that is, the actual part that holds onto the handlebar, and slide it gently through the handlebar. Make sure while doing so that the inner rubber layer doesn't slip out and stays in one line with the round openning. After sliding it to the desired area of the handlebar - tighten the tightener.
NOTE: The handlebar bracket could be opened all the way by unscrewing its tightener's screw all the way out, in cases that slipping it onto the handlebar is not possible.
Assembling the Device Cradle:
This part is the easiest. Position the cradle's back part above the handlebar bracket's cradle connector, slide all the 4 pins in and lock it in place by applying force onto the cradle in the direction of insertion, while hodling the handlebar bracket with the other hand as support. Loose the second tightener a bit and make sure the you can move the cradle around its round axile freely without it getting ditached from the bracket.
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Prior Usage:
Hop on your motorcycle, unlock the handlebar and see if the device cradle obstructs any important instrumentation like for example the Odometer or the Speedometer.
Make sure the device cradle and the handlebar bracket at tightly secured and do not tilt freely.
Make sure your mobile device fits the device cradle. If the device is bigger than the size of the cradle, forcing it in might not be a good idea and might strain the zipper and the stiches.
Close the device cradle using the zipper and while its empty, pour water over it. Open it, make sure the inner part of the cradle is dry.
Usage:
As mentioned in the previous part of this article, you don't have to open the zipper all the way through in order to insert your mobile device into the device cradle. Do not apply too much force on the zipper, use it with care, gently and always apply force in the direction of the zip line, especially when approaching the cradle's corners.
When using the device cradle in hot summer days - MAKE SURE TO OPEN THE FRONT FACING SIDE OF THE ZIPPER just a bit due to heat accumilating inside the cradle, especially when driving in urban areas with not enough head-wind to go into the cradle through the opened part of the zipper.
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Cons:
-Fragile
- Needs to be used with same size device
- Cheap materials
- Gets easily broken and damaged
- Devices get overheated while driving when inserted into the cradle during hot weather
Pros:
- Cheap
- Easy to install
- Light
- Does its job - protects devices against water
- Could be used with other products and vehicles
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Summary:
For its price - this product is good enough. It protected my mobile phone against water and rain during winter rides and the zipper has yet to get damaged. The bracket though got broken after 1.5 years or usage due to wear and tear. It is definately a good solutioin for those who look for a cheap protection against water and rain while they ride. The over-heating of the devices in hot days is a downside, but then again, this device was mainly intended to be used during the winter.
