With decades of combined experience covering the latest news, reviewing the greatest gear, and advising you on your next car purchase, The Drive is the leading authority on all things automotive. Today’s smartphones pack over 100,000 times more power than the computers that guided astronauts to the moon and back 50 years ago. Read on for what we hope is at least a partial answer to the smartphone take on the space-age phrase: If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we make a car phone mount that works?
THIS IS A DRIVE HANDS-ON REVIEW Mike Bumbeck When he’s not wrestling with one or more first-generation Mitsubishi Monteros and other fine ‘80s-era Japanese cars and motorcycles, Mike Bumbeck evaluates a constant variety of automotive products from The Drive’s clandestine Science Barn testing facility in New England. Why Trust Us Our reviews are driven by a combination of hands-on testing, expert input, “wisdom of the crowd” assessments from actual buyers, and our own expertise. These fakes were surprisingly accurate, with metal frames, glass backs, and ports and controls in the right places, just like their fully operational counterparts.
We used adhesive wheel balancing weights to hit the desired number, and even threw on a bit extra to account for cases and screen protectors. Mike Bumbeck Our heavyweight faux display phones tower over our daily driven Google Pixel 3A XL with cloth case.
We know some new car dashboards are expansive enough to create their own mirages, but a long gooseneck with a heavy slab of metal and glass mounted on one end is going to wobble. We know some new car dashboards are expansive enough to create their own mirages, but a long gooseneck with a heavy slab of metal and glass mounted on one end is going to wobble. That mirror mount phone holder is all fine and good until the windshield adhesive or ball joint fails and drops the lot into your morning coffee. Besides, while laws against hanging things from rearview mirrors vary by state and are rarely enforced, you don’t want to give the authorities a visible reason to pull you over.
That mirror mount phone holder is all fine and good until the windshield adhesive or ball joint fails and drops the lot into your morning coffee. Besides, while laws against hanging things from rearview mirrors vary by state and are rarely enforced, you don’t want to give the authorities a visible reason to pull you over.
Best Overall iOttie Easy One Touch Check Latest Price High-quality materials, a washable and reusable suction cup car mount, and an innovative snap-tight phone holder earned the iOttie Easy One Touch our best overall car phone mount pick. A quick cleanup, positioning, and one push on the locking lever fixed the suction cup firmly in place. If the suction cup doesn’t work out, the vent-type car mount features a beefy wingnut with a threaded brass insert that cinches the jaws onto the vanes with authority. Squeezing the ratcheting side clamps secures the phone in the holder, and pressing a button releases tension for removal. Adjusting the cradle for the right viewing angle was a cinch, and the padded jaws maintained a firm grip without fail. The faux carbon fiber finish left us wishing for a grippier material, but dual mounting options and stable operation make the Anobil Easy Clamp a secure and versatile choice. This setup is far easier to adjust and tighten down than others that put the ball joint cup and threaded ring on the phone holder’s back. The clip mounts seemed like an excellent idea for our application, but none of the rectangular dash shapes were compatible with the built-in curve of the top arm of the clamp. The tension phone holder worked well once we peeled off a metal logo plate inexplicably stuck onto the silicone pad. Despite our best efforts, we glued on the base in the wrong direction for vertical adjustment and ran into viewing angle issues.
The magnetic phone holders have a soft-touch plastic coating with a threaded ring collar on the back for adjustment. The machined aluminum alloy mount and magnet housing had a black anodized finish, and the steel ball joint allowed for 360-degree unidirectional adjustment. Alloy construction gave the Coolpow mounts a premium feel, and the steel ball joint offered just the right amount of resistance during adjustment and held fast while driving.
Powerful magnets underneath a soft silicone pad grabbed onto the steel plate and held onto the heaviest and largest phones without slipping over rough terrain.
Mike Bumbeck Our best overall car phone holder in action with an operational Samsung Galaxy Note 9 flagship heavyweight.
December 2021 Reviews & Comparison
The product that had the best rating was the Air Vent Cell Phone Holder Mount for Car by AUKEY.
The 12 Best Car Phone Mounts on Amazon Right Now
The JunDa car phone holder clips onto your dashboard in front of your steering wheel, so you can keep it close while you’re driving. This is especially helpful if you find yourself straining your eyes trying to read things off your phone from behind the wheel when it’s too far away from your line of sight. In addition to adding a pop of color to your dashboard with its air vent-compatible clip, this vibrant magnetic car mount is able to steadily hold every smartphone and boasts 360-degree rotating functionality so you can safely view your screen at any angle no matter how bumpy or windy the road ahead is.
Increased and continuous activity can heat up a phone to the point that it feels like you could cook an egg on it (but, you know, please don’t do that).
iOttie Easy One Touch 4 Dash & Windshield Car Mount Phone Holder Credit: Courtesy of Amazon With over 33,000 five-star ratings on Amazon, the iOttie one-touch car phone mount is one of the highest-rated options out there, and for good reasons: It’s simple, and it works.
This is especially helpful for phones with a glass backing (like most of the newer iPhones), as those are the most at risk of cracking or shattering under pressure. Beam Electronics Universal Smartphone Car Air Vent Mount Holder Cradle Compatible Credit: Courtesy of Amazon
The Beam Electronics mount has a pretty simplistic design, but its quick-release feature makes it one of the best options on the market.
You can pretty much take the more than 15,000 positive Amazon reviews raving about its flexibility and customizability as a guarantee that this product is a hit. Its “gooseneck” detail extends up 8 inches high and offers 360-degree swiveling action, so you can move your phone to the height and angle that aligns with your line of vision. Equipped with wide-reaching, auto-locking clamps that instantly expand to the size of your phone, this top-rated gadget firmly grips bulky cases for a budge-proof hold.
For added security, its rounded rubber clamps and double-layer branch design allow it to get as close as possible to your phone, so you don’t have to worry about it falling mid-drive.
Best mobile phone holders 2020
Just about all of us carry phones in our cars, but holding a mobile behind the wheel is a serious offence, with penalties of up to six points and a £200 fine, plus an automatic ban for new drivers. With any, make sure your forward visionisn’t obstructed; and with phones getting ever bigger, it’s wise to check yours will fit before you buy. Allowing phones to be easily and safely fitted and removed one-handed gained extra marks. We also entered a route into a sat-nav app and checked if vibrations made it hard to read the screen.
It came with two steel plates (circular and oblong) for fitting to the phone or case so it would ‘stick’ to the large magnet which could be twisted to any position on the ball and socket joint. Easy to fit single-handed, it worked well in landscape or portrait positions, plus was rock-solid down bumpy roads and when tapping the screen.
The phone bracket was simple, with both arms springing out manually, so two hands were required to fit, although with practice we could remove it one-handed. The bracket slotted into a base on the end of its 130mm flexible arm, the obvious benefit being that it could be turned every which way as required.
Buy now from Amazon Olixar inVent Gravity Auto-Grip Universal Smartphone Car Holder 9 Price: Around £10Rating: 3 starsContact: www.mobilefun.co.ukMounting: Air vent
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