Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsVery worthy mount. Only minor gripes.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 4, 2022
This is a very good TV mount. I used it for a 65in LG OLED C1 TV which weights around 75lbs.
I had already owned a different full motion mount for my prior TV but given the required placement of the mount on that TV (much lower), I was going to have to move the old one anyway. The specs on that one suggested that it maxed out on a 60inch TV. I'm sure it would've worked but that other mount was somewhat tough to move when the TV was actually on it so I decided to get a new one. In comes the ECHOGEAR mount...
Everything needed for mounting was included. Especially important are the lag bolts for the portion that mounts to the wall. I don't believe I received those with the prior mount so that's an extra cost (and trip) to factor in for other mounts. Also appreciated the template provided. Instructions were clear, well written and entertaining. I really don't know why that is so hard for many companies but they could take a cue from ECHOGEAR on how to write instructions.
Overall, installing the mount was not difficult. The hardest part is just making sure you find studs in the wall and are relatively centered on them. And I guess holding the mount while installing the first couple of lag bolts. My installation has the TV located in a cutout over my fireplace -- i.e. a recessed nook. My TV is 57in wide, the cutout is about 59in wide so there isn't a lot of clearance on the sides. After mounting the brackets to the TV, I measured from the bracket hooks on the TV to the top and bottom of the TV to ensure I was placing it at the right height in the cutout. Marked the height in the nook, grabbed the template and marked where my lag bolts would go in. I pre-drilled the holes and then held up the mount while screwing in the lag bolts, making sure it was level along the way. After that, it's just a matter of extending the mount, setting the TV brackets on the front top of the mount and securing the bottom. As another reviewer stated, it's a good idea to tighten down the tilt mechanism prior to putting on the TV, it can always be adjusted later.
Overall, this could probably be done in about 20 minutes but I probably took an hour just to measure multiple times and think thru what I was doing. As I said, I only had about an inch clearance on either side so I was worried that my slightly off-center studs were going to make it very difficult. Based on where the holes in the backplate are and where my studs were located, the mount was an inch closer on one side then the other, so I was still worried about being centered. Turns out, that was all for naught -- while it's good to be as centered as possible, there is sufficient lateral movement in the mount to get the TV centered even if the mount isn't.
You might be asking, why only 4 stars? Well, I have a couple of small gripes. Some may be fair, some less so:
1. This mount moves easily, even with a 75lb mounted. Much, much better then my last one. I wanted this feature but now that it's mounted, I'm not as convinced I do. I only need the movement when first mounting it to pull the TV out, connect everything and then push the TV back into the cutout. After that, I'd prefer it didn't move again until I replace it. WIth this mount, if you touch the TV, it will move -- no real force needed. Given my minimal clearance on the sides and the fact that my TV is a thin piece of glass, I have minor concerns that I'm going to bounce it into the walls when cleaning. Hard to blame the mount for being too fluid but it's a thing.
2. The paper template is nice for marking your holes. My minor gripe there is that it's hard to hold a piece of paper against a wall, put a level on it and mark the spots for you lag bolts at the same time. Very minor complaint and there may be some trick to this that I'm missing but it would be lovely if some clever person came up with a solution to that -- like a thicker edge on the template.
3. Another minor complaint that may be more on LG then ECHOGEAR -- which screw should I use to mount the brackets to the TV? ECHOGEAR provides several different sizes with different lengths and widths. Ideally, you want to use the longest one that will fit in your TV. The problem is, that if you use one that is too long, you break your TV. If you use one too short, your TV may dismount prematurely. This is probably on the TV manufacturer to provide since I'm sure it varies. But a note in the instructions would be nice on how best to determine this. I struggled with this longer then I should have. For me, I took a medium length M10 bolt, attempted to thread it slowly and gently into the TV to see if it would fit all the way. It did, so I went with that. Could I have used a longer one? Perhaps, but we'll never know.
4. The last gripe is cost. My previous mount was about $50. This one was closer to $120. They are both equally heavy duty and built very similarly. This one has much more fluid motion so it's worth extra $$. But is it worth over double? Probably not. But given how much I spent on the TV, I'm not going to lose sleep over the cost of the mount but I feel like it would be a better value around $80 and that would have warranted a 5th star from me.
In summary, I listed gripes but the reality is that there are many more features of this mount that are good and it's definitely something I would purchase again or recommend to a friend. However, I would also have them watch to see if they could get it a little cheaper than list price.
