OQTIQ Magnetic Phone Holder for Car - Hollow Ring Design CD Slot Mount Compatible with iPhone 16/15/14/13 Pro Max/Mini/Plus & MagSafe Cases - Perfect for Hands-Free Driving & Navigation

This is I think the 5th one I've bought in the last couple weeks, trying to find a solid replacement for the one that just broke. I kinda liked the one that broke, but it had a shortcoming that made me not want to buy it again. My pickiness is partially just my preferences, but also partly the challenges of my specific application. I bought this for my 2016 Mercedes E350, so if you have one of the versions of that car then hopefully this helps you.My last one of these gadgets worked okay, but it didn't have a tightening mechanism on the collar around the ball adjustment thing that lets you aim the holder whatever direction you want it. Without the tightening mechanism, it started out okay and then slowly lost tension over time until it really didn't do a good job holding my phone up reliably. And then the collar cracked and it became useless.This one about which I am writing this review has a tightening mechanism on the collar that seems to hold the ball snugly in place. Score one for this thing!Next, the particular fitment of my car causes issues with these CD slot devices. The power button/volume knob is directly below the CD slot and really needs to be at least somewhat accessible. So that eliminates many of the contenders since many of them have the really wide bases that fit in the slot. The wide ones won't work because they pretty much all have the slot tightening mechanism that is a large plastic key you use to turn a screw that widens the teeth to hold the whole things in place once you get it in the slot. The large key/screw thing on the bottom is a showstopper for this car since it would block the power button/volume knob.This one about which I am writing this review is the narrower size. The teeth that fit in the CD slot are a total of about half the width of the larger ones you see advertised on Amazon and elsewhere. The narrow ones work in my car because you can install them to the side of the CD slot and it leaves the button/knob open (see picture above). It isn't centered though, so that might offend people with more OCD-ish sensibilities. If it does then basically you have to find a different phone holder solution because you can't use the CD slot.Many of the narrower CD slot phone holders use a convenient button you press to squeeze the spring-loaded teeth together while you insert the device into the CD slot. My last one was like that and it worked just fine. This one, however, has a manual tightening screw on the top which actually was slightly difficult to tighten because this particular car has a trim piece right above the slot that interferes with the turning (see the other picture above). I thought for a minute I was going to have to go looking for a different device again, but it ended up working fine. I was able to tighten it to where it holds just fine.Oh, and some of the other ones I bought in the past week or so had magnets that just weren't strong enough (in spite of their claims). One of the ones I bought was absolutely perfect for all my car's eccentricities, but the magnet was weak enough that my phone would slide around. I have a case on my phone but it is relatively thin so it really shouldn't have been the problem. I tried several different flavors of metal inserts (I've got a million of them since I've bought so many of these phone holder things recently!), but it didn't matter, it was just a weak magnet.This one about which I am writing this review, however, has a wonderfully strong magnet. Strong enough that I actually wondered if the teeth holding the whole thing in the CD slot were going to be powerful enough, but they are. The whole thing sits very snugly in place and I'm very happy with it.As I said in the title -- FINALLY!! One that works!!If you have a post-facelift W212 Mercedes, I can highly recommend this one. Or if your particular car doesn't require this level of pickiness, I imagine you'll love this thing too!!