Our phones have a lot of great features which now allow us to use them as a multifunctional device such as a sat nav or speakerphone for taking calls in the car. A car phone mount is designed to hold your device in the optimum position for safe viewing of the screen while driving. Belkin Car Vent Mount A low profile phone mount that leaves your windscreen clear of screens and smudges Specifications Best for: Subtlety Attachment: Air vent clip Compatible with: Smartphones up to 5.5 inches Adjustable: Yes Reasons to buy + Grips securely but gently + Low profile Reasons to avoid – You’ll need to switch the vent off if the car heating is running TODAY’S BEST DEALS View at Amazon View at Amazon 566 Amazon customer reviews ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Kenu Airframe Qi Wireless Charging Car Vent Mount Support your phone and recharge wirelessly Specifications Best for: Charging Attachment: Air vent clip Compatible with: Both Adjustable: Yes Reasons to buy + Qi compatibility + Slim and well made + Dual QC 3.0 adapter Reasons to avoid – Not all phones are wireless charging TODAY’S BEST DEALS View at Amazon 85 Amazon customer reviews ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
This sleek option from Kenu is just the ticket, with 10W Qi wireless charging built in, saving you from having to mess around with unsightly cables. Logitech ZeroTouch A voice assisted car phone mount for hands free navigation Specifications Best for: Hands free control Attachment: Air vent clip Compatible with: Android Adjustable: No Reasons to buy + Compatible with Alexa + No touching required Reasons to avoid – Need to download the app There is no adjustment features on this mount, but the air vent clip is sturdy and allows your phone to be at the perfect angle for viewing. You’ll also get 360 degree ball adjustment which will allow you to find the perfect position and orientation of your screen, holding any smartphone up to 6 inches. Yosh Magnetic Car Mount A simple yet effective design for easily mounting your phone Specifications Best for: Design Attachment: Air vent clip Compatible with: All smartphones Adjustable: No Reasons to buy + Magnetic attachment + Can hold a tablet Reasons to avoid – Requires you to stick a sticker on the back of your phone TODAY’S BEST DEALS View at Amazon 39 Amazon customer reviews ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ You do have to stick a magnetic sticker to the back of your phone in order for it to work, which can be a little unsightly if you have a pretty cover or coloured case. Some had trouble initially sticking this mount to their dashboard, but found a little bit of water helps it grip nicely. Owners found this small mount to hold even larger phones very well, but some had trouble with the sticky pad staying put on their dashboard.
Mpow Grip Pro 2 This mount slots into your CD player for a secure hold Specifications Best for: Anti-slip Attachment: CD insert Compatible with: Screens up to 3.5 inches Adjustable: Yes Reasons to buy + Can still play CDs + Solid and sturdy Reasons to avoid – Can obstruct view in portrait position TODAY’S BEST DEALS View at Amazon 665 Amazon customer reviews ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ If you’re not convinced by the sticky pads or suction clips, then this car phone mount is a sturdy and solid alternative.
It is fully adjustable via swivel and tilt, although users with bigger screens have said that in a portrait position it can obstruct their view. The mount clips to most dashboard air vents and comes with a pair of magnetic plates (one circular and one square) for sticking to the back of your phone.
The Best Car Phone Mounts for 2021
A good car phone mount is an essential accessory for any vehicle that doesn’t include a built-in navigation system. Your vehicle’s DC port powers these mounts and save you from needing to plug in your phone each time you hop in the car.
This budget-friendly model works on most standard car vents and can easily accommodate phones with displays up to 6.7 inches wide, including those with thick cases.
Simply slide your phone in the mount and the clamps automatically slip into place for a perfect fit. When you’re ready to remove your phone, tap the button on the bottom of the mount to release the clamps. Beam Electronics Universal Smartphone Car Air Vent Mount $9.99 at Amazon See It The Beam Electronics Universal Smartphone Car Air Vent Mount features a bottom bracket for support, along with arms you press into place.
And there’s no need to worry about draining your phone’s battery, as the mount offers built-in 10W Qi wireless charging. It works with Alexa’s Auto Mode and turns your phone’s display into a mini navigation panel.
Built-in microphones can easily hear your voice prompts over music and road noise, and the dock connects to your car’s speaker system via the aux jack or Bluetooth. In addition to its support for Alexa, the Aivo Connect features 10W Qi wireless charging, an IR proximity sensor that automatically opens and grips your phone, and a twist locking mount that can attach to your dashboard or windshield.
The mount supports both landscape and portrait modes; the ball joint pivots so that you can adjust your phone to any viewing angle. The 10W Qi wireless charging pad features foreign object detection and automatically turns off in hot conditions to protect your phone from overheating.
In addition to a spring-loaded arm to hold your phone in place, the Miracase has a bottom ledge for extra protection. A 360-degree rotating head allows you to quickly switch between vertical and horizontal orientations, as well as adjust the tilt angle of your phone.
The mount supports wireless charging up to 10W and uses a powerful magnet array to hold your phone. With a rubberized anchor that attaches to standard air conditioning vents, the Steadiboost takes seconds to install and is easy to adjust.
The 4 Best Car Phone Mounts in 2021
Only the large 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max gave them some trouble when held horizontally, although the mounts were rock solid with a 6-inch Pixel 2 XL. And it can tilt a full 90 degrees back or to the sides, which makes it ideal for sloping or vertical surfaces.
The MagicMount Dash’s magnetic attachment performed the best in our testing, holding even a large iPhone XS Max securely everywhere we drove. The latest iOttie models offer the best combination of fast charging, serious stability, and easy adjustability.
Best car phone holder 2021: The easiest to use and most secure windscreen, vent and dashboard mounts
Today’s smartphones can give you easy access to satnav features with up-to-date maps and traffic info, while also allowing you to play music and podcasts as you travel. Just be aware, though, that the law is expected to change later this year, and that a wider range of interactions with your phone will be made illegal. You should stay out of trouble as long as you remain hands-free, but if you appear to be distracted by calls or by the phone screen, then you can still end up in an uncomfortable conversation at the roadside. Set your satnav route before leaving home, and steer clear of the TikToks, WhatsApp messages and in-car selfies.
These are ideal for lighter smartphones, but the grip might not be firm enough to hold heavier devices and it also obstructs the airflow. There will, of course, have to be a cable between your car’s USB port or 12V socket and the charger, so make sure it doesn’t dangle anywhere it might obstruct your driving.
There’s also no maximum phone size to worry about – it’ll handle devices of up to 650g – and the joint means it works at a decent range of angles. Key specs – Weight: 46g; Mounting: Suction cup on windscreen; Max phone width: N/A; Colours: Black Key specs – Weight: 130g; Mounting: Grip on air vent; Max phone width: 88mm; Colours: Black
This isn’t a massive issue if you’re happy with your phone in the conventional portrait mode, but if you’re using your smartphone as a satnav, having more horizontal screen space to work with makes more sense. Key specs – Weight: 37g; Mounting: Grip on air vent; Max phone width: 93mm; Colours: Black and Aluminium The mount itself keeps a sure grip on your vent, rotating into horizontal and vertical positions, and there’s a little play in the ball joint to get a decent viewing angle for the screen.
Key specs – Weight: 90g; Mounting: Grip on air vent; Max phone width: iPhone 12 series and upwards only; Colours: Black The actual holder connects via a ball and socket joint into the supplied vent mount or dashboard/windscreen arm, while a suction cup on the latter hooks onto the windscreen or an adhesive silicone disc.
What’s more, you’ve got the option to extend the arm through a nifty sliding bracket, giving you a good range of positions and viewing angles to work with. Key specs – Weight: 260g; Mounting: Grip on air vent/windscreen and dashboard suction cup; Max phone width: 112mm; Colours: Black This simple, compact phone holder can be attached via its suction grip to either a windscreen or a dashboard (simply turn it upside-down to switch between the two modes). Key specs – Weight: 91g; Mounting: Suction cup to windscreen or dashboard; Max phone width: 89mm; Colours: Black, red
Objectively, this is the best smartphone mount available: it’s small, avoids blocking your view, can be attached to the windscreen or dashboard and is easily moved to between vehicles. It’s also extremely stable, keeping your phone steady as you crash over Britain’s potholed streets, and has a ball and socket joint for easy adjustment.
Your phone is secured in the mount with a magnet, meaning there’s no width restriction and it’s easy to put it in place and remove it at either end of your journey. Key specs – Weight: 118g; Mounting: Suction cup to windscreen or dashboard; Max phone width: N/A; Colours: Black
Key specs – Weight: 59g; Mounting: Clip to air vent; Max phone width: N/A; Colours: Black, grey The spring-loaded arms and adjustable foot hold it firmly in place, and it’ll cope with devices up to 93mm in width, aligning the phone dead-centre to give you the best wireless charging connection.
The mount fits onto the windscreen or dashboard using an ultra-strong suction cup, while the telescopic arm pivots and extends in a wide range of positions, so you can keep your phone out of the way but in view. Key specs – Weight: 430g; Mounting: Suction cup to windscreen or dashboard; Max phone width: 93mm; Colours: Black
The best phone holders for your car
It’s not a bad idea to keep your phone handy in the car for navigation or in case of emergencies. You often have to place a small magnetic pad inside of your case to keep the bond strong. The other popular type of mount pinches onto the sides — and sometimes the bottom — of your phone for a tighter grip. Some options attach directly to your dashboard, while others slot nicely into your air conditioning vents.
If you don’t mind a larger mount, you can even pick up adjustable versions that suction to your windshield. Belkin’s universal vent mount is our current favorite car phone holder because it offers a little bit of everything.
It brings a simple design to the table, and it slots right into your car’s air conditioning vents. That simple design hides a durable construction, with arms made from aluminum rather than the more popular plastic approach. However, Edgar found that he could push the car phone holder much further with his Pixel 3 XL and Galaxy S10 Plus. Belkin’s clever design also hides a handy cable clip, which means you can keep your phone at full power while on the go.
The Belkin vent mount isn’t cheap at $24.99, but it’s worth the money without a doubt. If you don’t have large enough or deep enough air conditioning vents, you may have trouble keeping the mount in place.
Adjustable for a variety of devices Cons Requires sturdy air vents Check out our full review to learn more about the Belkin universal vent mount. While the Belkin universal vent mount is our top recommendation, keep reading below for other choices worth considering. Topgo cup holder phone mount: If you really want to keep your dash and your vents clear, why not use your cupholder?
Aukey has had a turbulent year since its removal from Amazon, but the magnetic car phone holder remains one of our favorites. Once you attach the suction cup to your dashboard or windshield, you can adjust the curved arm for the perfect view. Edgar had the chance to test this mount out and found that its design is the perfect solution to freeing up dashboard space. Right now, the Aukey magnetic mount will set you back $25.99, and you’ll have to head straight to the source to pick it up. Edgar found that the materials and overall build felt cheap, and there’s always the drawback of attaching a plate to your phone. In front of the main slot, you’ll also find a small notch to store your charging cable.
The Loncaster mount offers a small amount of tray space, which is handy for loose change and parking validation. Loncaster’s extra grip can be a double-edged sword, however, as the silicone tends to pick up dirt and dust quickly.
According to Edgar, you can toss the car phone holder around and put it through a lot, just be ready for a long cleaning process. The flexible arm works a bit like a bendy straw in that you can twist it and wiggle it into any position you can imagine.
Just be careful if you let your kids sit in the front seat — they may find completely new ways to reposition the arm. Scosche’s MagicMount Dash is a bit like the iOttie iTap in that it sits right on your dashboard and relies on a magnet.
Scosche added a small rubber grip to the backplate, which is gentler on your expensive devices than plastic or metal. There aren’t too many moving parts on the MagicMount Dash, but that doesn’t mean you lose flexibility.
You can adjust the ball-shaped head for tons of different angles, and your phone always stays tight to the dashboard. Scosche picked a tough magnet, too, and Edgar had no troubles keeping his phone in place on rocky roads. You may also dash your hopes of wireless charging due to the metal plate on the back. Automatic mounting and an adjustable arm make the Easy One Touch 4 stand out from the crowd. The large silver iOttie button hides a mechanism that tightens when pressed, instantly trapping your phone in place. The Logitech Plus Trip is a tiny gray disk that attaches to your air conditioning vent and uses a single magnet for stability.
The vent prongs actually house a small cable management slot, but you’d never know at first glance. However, you’ll have to make sure that your charging cable is all the way in the slot, otherwise, it may weaken the grip on your vent.
Vent mounts tend to skew small to keep the weight down, but Mpow is large and in charge.
Mpow’s car phone holder costs just $15.20 at Walmart, but you won’t find the retailer on Amazon these days.
Check out our full review to learn more about the Mpow air vent mount.
Best Car Phone Mount (Review) in 2021
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.
Best Car Phone Mount of 2021
Stable Ease of use Great variety of mounting options Integrated cable management Semi-permanent installation Simple to set up Easy phone installation Small size and inexpensive Low stability score Requires adding magnets to your case If the magnet isn’t centered on the case, there is a decent chance the phone will spin on bumpy terrain.
We should note that we encountered both of these issues with every car vent phone mount with a similar design. Although the setup is more complicated than other vent mount options, the threaded pinch mechanism offers the most secure interface. Although this makes it much harder to adjust, once you find a viewing angle you like, it is much more secure and stable to touch.
But the same bulk adds some protection to prevent your phone from overheating on those cold days when the heater is blasting. Lots of adjustments Stable mount Doesn’t work on all dashboards Large size makes it hard to store The suction cup provides a lot of versatility for mounting positions on your windshield or dashboard.
We couldn’t get the suction mount to stick to some dashboards, especially cars with pebbled or sloped surfaces. Our reviewers did not love all the excess screws and hinges and buttons and clamps of this mount, but once it is set up and out of the way, feels more manageable to deal with. With a sticky adhesive bottom, this silicone cradle mounts easily on your dashboard, is unobtrusive, and keeps your phone at a perfect viewing angle with its charging port accessible.
Because there are no moving parts, it’s incredibly easy to use with one hand — simply place or remove your phone from its secure rubber groove. The manufacturer states that the sticky rubber bottom can be cleaned and reused, but we are skeptical of how long the adhesive will truly last. But so far, it has managed to survive hot days sitting in the sun without losing its adhesion, and overall we are quite pleased by the simplicity and performance of this product. Beam Electronics Universal Smartphone Car Air Vent Mount
The bottom supports to the cradle are not adjustable, which can be an issue for phones with headphone jacks or off-center charging ports. This means that if you flip the switch in the wrong direction, you have to go all the way back across to achieve the desired tightness.
It also has a spring-loaded mechanism that pinches the vent to increase its stability while keeping installation easy. Once installed, the spring-loaded phone interface is easy to operate with one hand and offers the ability to adjust the viewing angle with a swivel.
The biggest one we found is that on rougher roads, the clamp tends to lose its grip on the phone — and suddenly, you’re in a potentially dangerous situation.
Small form Inexpensive Easy to install Tends to slip out of the vent Expensive compared to similar designs
This is a great option for those with smaller cars and dash space or those who don’t like their vents to be blocked by a phone holder. Its base comes with attachments to help the phone mount fit snugly into different sized cup holders, and its gooseneck allows for endless viewing angles and adjustability.
However, this phone mount is large and bulky, taking up not only valuable cup holder space but also being a bit cumbersome with its long gooseneck, which comes very close to our gear shifter in our Toyota Tacoma. Our last gripe is that the cradle does not attach securely to the gooseneck, making it easy to come unattached while trying to adjust the viewing angle — a definite downside. Chris, along with Jason Peters and Miya Tsudome have been using car phone mounts for over a decade and have tested more than 30 different models throughout the years.
We then used each model independently on long drives and road trips to assess durability and identify any quirks that could only be revealed through extended use. Its adhesive back held fast to whatever we stuck it to, and it included the side benefit of being very versatile in its placement location. If you don’t mind a semi-permanent installation, the Scosche MagicMount Pro Universal is our favorite mount that keeps the vent clear.
Vent mount options typically keep the phone conveniently close to the driver, but can potentially block airflow. Made to adjust to different sized cup holders, the TOPGO phone mount is stable and easy to use. On smooth roads, the Scosche MagicMount Pro VNT and Maxboost Magnetic were stable enough, but when the terrain got rough, they seemed to be the first to fall off.
Because vent attachment models are secured to only a thin sheet of plastic, they are more prone to being impacted by a vehicle’s vibration.
This took an average of two minutes to clean the phone for a reliable connection, line up the placement just right, and then finally stick it on. The adhesive is strong enough that you don’t have to fuss with your tactics when taking the phone off — just pull it off in any direction.
The IOttie Dash & Windshield Mount had a small learning curve to figure out how to pinch and remove. Installing your phone is as simple as placing it in the silicone cradle, with no moving parts to adjust to put it in or take it out. The vent-pinching mechanism also adds security to the mount, making it easy to install and uninstall your phone. But because of its simple cradle design, it can accommodate larger phones with ease that may struggle to stay upright on other models.
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