Peak Design, best known for its camera bags and accessories, is turning its sights on the camera you always have on you—your smartphone. Mobile by Peak Design is an ecosystem of mounts, chargers, and even a wallet that connect using magnets.
The new collection of accessories from Peak Design center around the company’s Everyday Case (as seen above). The case is 2.4 mm thick, has TPU sidewalls, is constructed out of polycarbonate, and is covered in water and stain-resistant fabric. But what makes it special is the cutout located centrally on the rear of the device.
Peak Design calls its locking mechanism “SlimLink.” It includes a machined piece of zirconium ceramic and an array of magnets surrounding the cutout to help align accessories. Despite the addition of metallic pieces, Qi wireless charging is not affected.
Some of Peak Design’s add-ons, like the tripod mount shown below, magnetically “soft-lock” onto the back of the phone. Others, like the bike mount, mechanically “hard-lock” to the ceramic inlay and require a physical button release to be pressed to disconnect the accessory.
Justin DuinoBelow are a handful of the accessories Peak Design is launching with Mobile. These include a tripod mount (shown holding the phone in landscape and portrait orientations), a bike mount, a car mount, and a wall mount. Other products include wireless chargers, a kickstand wallet, and more.
Peak Design plans to manufacture cases for every iPhone 11, the upcoming iPhone 12 family, and the Samsung Galaxy S20 series at launch. More handsets will be added down the road, but specifics are not currently available.
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Although we haven’t been able to test this, Peak Design states that its soft-locking accessories and mounts will work interchangeably with MagSafe on the iPhone 12. According to what we’ve been told, Apple’s accessories (like the leather wallet) will work with the Everyday Case and Peak Design’s soft-locking products will be able to connect to MagSafe phones and cases.
If you have a phone that isn’t currently supported (or don’t like Peak Design’s case), you can attach the semi-permanent universal adaptor to the back of your device. Do keep in mind that wireless charging may or may not work with the adaptor attached. While I had luck with my Pixel 4, the Qi coils in your phone might be misaligned with your wireless charger with the SlimLock secured to your handset.
Justin DuinoI have been testing pre-production versions of Mobile by Peak design for the last two weeks, and I can say the hardware is as solid as the company’s other camera products. But as designs and finishes tend to change during the manufacturing process, I will hold final judgment until we can test finalized hardware.
Check out Mobile by Peak Design on Kickstarter if you’re interested in backing the project and purchasing accessories at early bird pricing. The Everyday Case will retail for $39.95 but is currently discounted to $32 on Kickstarter. Pricing for the other accessories can be found on Peak Design’s Kickstarter listing.
Unfortunately, Peak Design doesn’t expect to start shipping the Everyday Case, mounts, and accessories until May 2021. The company’s wireless chargers will come later in the year.