Comparison / Quadlock vs Ram X

Modern days require modern solutions. The smartphone revolution changed our lives (for the better or the worse) and even motorcycling.

As we live almost in symbiosis with our portable devices, people have found themselves in need of a reliable and practical cellphone holder while riding motorcycles. I travel a lot with my bike and I do not use a dedicated GPS unit for navigation; hence, I do need to have my smartphone attached to my handlebar while riding, to check for routes and communication.

Many companies have joined the "cellphone holster battle" but only 3 of those have stood up to the toughest challenges of being able to withstand both onroad and offroad riding: Quadlock, Ram X-Grip and Ultimateaddon.

To hold a cellphone in position on an handlebar, while riding on paved road, doesn't require a massive amount of strength, but to hold it steady without damaging its components, while riding offroad—that's a different ball game.

I’ve used the good old X-Grip for almost 70,000 km (about 43,000 miles), and across 2 continents. It served me well and indeed was able to hold my phone steady even on the worst corrugated roads. The Ram system is quite simple and efficient. I got used to it after buying their double take mirrors, which are a must have for all enduro/offroad riders.

I then bought the Ram handlebar mount (2 screws clamp) and the ram extension, to extend the whole setup, and finally attach the X-Grip at the end. It worked like a charm in keeping the phone in place. But after only few days, the main flaw of the design presented itself: while removing my phone from the mount, one of the rubber pins came out and fell on the floor. Those 4 rubber pins are not glued in and if you want to keep those more than a week, one MUST glue them to the whole system after purchasing the mount. Also, the rear rubber net, which is used to keep the phone even firmer on the mount, ends up flapping around most of the time. It indeed provides extra safety (especially if one doesn't want the phone to fly off the bike when crashing), but I’ve never used it myself, because . . . well, it takes too much time to hook that part to each smartphone corner (especially with gloves on).

Overall, the Ram X-Grip could be one of the safest mounts on the market. It's stable, flexible and quite easy to use. The downside is that it requires 2 hands to release and attach you phone to the harness. So if you like to stop and take pictures frequently, this product may not be for you.

Ram has also introduced a new wireless charging dock for the latest generation smartphones. A smart addition to the whole setup if one used smartphones for navigation.

PRO:– No extra case needed– Potentially unbreakable– Offroad compliant

CONS:– Easy to loose rubber pins– Requires two hands to attach/detach device

TOTAL COST:Clamp + Extension + Mount = $75 USD

I think that this is one of the best products available for motorcyclists nowadays. The design is simple and quite efficient. It does require a lot of small parts to be joined together in order to operate at its best, but it does deliver what it promises.

The handlebar harness system is the same as the Ram one, with a U-shaped metal screw going over a plastic and rubber clamp. On top of that, one can attach an adjustable extension, which raises the final piece roughly 10 cm (about 4 inches), allowing some distance from the cellphone to the overall handlebar. One can even use the RAM clamp and extension, and simply attach the quadlock final harness at the very end.

What is required though, compared to its competitors, is a vibration absorber component. This piece has been implemented by Quadlock after many users complained about their phone cameras being damaged by motorcycle vibrations.The smartphone attaches to the vibration absorber piece thanks to a specifically designed case, which one has to buy according to the cellphone models used. This clearly limits the interoperability of different devices with the whole system.The harness is quite easy to use and it can be operated with one hand. This makes Quadlock stand out from the other two. The case is relatively OK, size wise, and it only increases the cellphone bulkiness by few millimeters. I wasn't happy about the increase of my phone size at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. Quadlock also sells a universal platform that can be stuck to the back of your phone case. This way you can still get the product even if you have an older smartphone. This increases the phone thickness by a lot though, since the clamp protrudes from the back of your case and it's not integrated with it. They also sell a "waterproof" silicon cover to put on top of your phone in case of rain, and a wireless charger kit.Overally I’ve ridden over 30,000 km (20,000 miles) with this system and it has been pretty much flawless.

PRO:– Easy to operate– One hand attach/detach

CONS:– Not cheap (because you need the cover and vibration absorber)

TOTAL COST:Clamp + Extension + Shock Absorber + Cover = $140 ($21 for just the vibration absorber)

Ultimate Addon is a Scottish brand which is trying to build momentum in this overly competitive motorcycle gadgets market. Their phone case is the toughest of them all, being actually an "enclosure case" that completely envelopes your smartphone.

The outer plastic shell is so big that it could even fit your phone with another case in it. This provides safety for your device not only in terms of rain, but also for dust and whatever other object may impact your phone (even yourself?).

The phone will sit inside this hard shell case; this system will make the phone impossible to operate in terms of side buttons, which is a bit of a downside. The touchscreen is protected with a semi-rigid plastic membrane, which allows one to operate the device, and the back with a shock absorbing silicon membrane, which protects the phone from scratches, mostly.

The case connects to the handlebar mount with a 3-hook harness system, which unfortunately is hard to operate with only one hand. The whole system is made of plastic, with a lot of small moving parts, which is a bit concerning in terms of durability.

I’ve been using the system for few months now and I have to say that I didn't have any issues.

The handlebar clamp is attached to the mount via a 2 cm (3/4 inch) ball, same as the RAM system.The main difference with the other 2 is that the UA phone case would probably not fit in your jeans front pocket. This system is designed to stay on the bike and be used as a smartphone holder, like the Ram X-grip, and have the navigation system always on.

PRO:– It really protects your smartphone against the element (IPX5)

CONS:– Bulky– Smartphone must be operated via touchscreen only

TOTAL COST:Case + Clamp + Extension = $88 USD