The Best Car Phone Mounts of 2024

You should put down your telephone if you drive. There’s a cause why it’s unlawful in 19 U.S. states to maintain an digital machine whereas driving. The very best automotive telephone mounts assist drivers in every single place comply with the legal guidelines and keep secure, whether or not they wish to comply with a map, maintain a hands-free dialog, hearken to a podcast, or rock out to music.

Our specialists have been writing about mobile telephones, auto equipment, and secure driving for over twenty years. Through the years, we’ve tried dozens of telephone holders mounted to numerous places inside numerous automobiles. We’ve seen what occurs to window-mounted suction cups within the warmth of summer time (and the useless of winter). And on a number of events, we’ve needed to pull over to the facet of the street to retrieve a telephone that we thought was safe from wherever it tumbled onto the ground.

After vetting dozens from spec sheets and on-line critiques, we selected 11 telephone mounts. These ranged in worth from $14 to $100. A number of had been overlooked of this closing information for numerous causes. Some had been too tough to make use of, didn’t cost telephones, or wouldn’t be launched to the general public for some time. The remaining had been evaluated in a wide range of real-world street circumstances to see how nicely the telephone mounts held their very own.

Under are the perfect automotive telephone mounts primarily based on our testing. That can assist you discover the perfect automotive telephone mount to your distinctive wants, we’ve included a Buyer’s Guide, a Price & Value part, and a Comparison Chart.

For our November 7, 2024 replace, we added a Value & Worth part to point out what patrons get with completely different worth factors.

The Finest Automobile Cellphone Mounts of 2024

Automobile Cellphone Mount Comparability Chart

How We Examined Automobile Cellphone Mounts

Our Knowledgeable Tester

GearJunkie is aware of automobiles, and our employees is aware of their autos inside and outside. Lead tester Scott Tharler has been writing about automotive equipment for 25 of the 35 years he’s been a licensed driver.

In that point, he’s logged a whole lot of 1000’s of miles behind the wheel, crisscrossing the U.S. within the early days and, extra lately, taking his three youngsters to their day by day actions. Alongside the best way, Tharler has used and written about myriad units, together with third-party Bluetooth speakerphones, backup cameras, cellphone boosters, and plenty of different devices that plug into audio jacks, USB, 12-volt adapters, and OBD-II ports.

Our Testing Course of

Throughout a number of weeks of real-world testing, we put in eight automotive telephone mounts — often with a number of items side-by-side. We caught an encased Google Pixel 6 Professional and iPhone 15 loaded into a number of mounts. With these secured, we drove over curbs, speedbumps, and gravelly stretches of street (along with easy pavement simply round city). The goal was to imitate the circumstances the typical driver faces day by day whereas bouncing the rides round a bit.

If a telephone holder failed by not staying mounted or simply dumping the telephone, it didn’t make our checklist. We rated those that did primarily based on elements equivalent to ease of set up, steadiness, adjustability, worth, and particular options. We’ll proceed to evaluate further telephone mounts for future iterations of this information.

Purchaser’s Information: Methods to Select a Automobile Cellphone Mount

Choosing a automotive telephone mount isn’t simple — or, let’s face it, enjoyable. It’s a type of merchandise that, when it’s doing its job, simply fades into the background. Conversely, when it fails, the outcomes can vary from offputting to actually disastrous.

To make issues worse, seemingly each electronics, workplace provide, and grocery retailer carries telephone mounts to not point out the numerous on-line retailers. You may even be tempted to stroll in or click on by way of and simply seize the primary one you see. However discovering the correct automotive telephone mount for you requires some thought and analysis.

This helpful how-to-choose information has all of the important info compiled to seek out the perfect answer that matches your wants. We focus on why it’s best to and shouldn’t take into account specific varieties of telephone mounts and which options matter most. Under, you’ll discover all the pieces you might want to know to resolve which automotive telephone mount will work finest for you.

Common vs. Customized Mounts

Customized mounts are made for specific autos. As an illustration, a model of the Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 solely suits the air vents of two particular Tesla fashions. And when ordering the ProClip USA Center Dash Mount, you point out your automobile’s make, mannequin, and 12 months, and so they ship a base that clips into a selected spot in your actual automobile.

You may anticipate that customized mounts are prohibitively costly, however not essentially. As an illustration, the ProClip we examined was $75, and the Pitaka was simply $60. They had been a bit of greater than a number of the common mounts we examined, however positively price it if you happen to care about clear, purposeful design.

Window, Vent, and Sprint Mounts

Though different mounting places exist, these three are collectively the most well-liked, every with pluses and minuses.

Window mounts can’t assist however be in the best way. Even with a protracted sufficient extension arm, a telephone mounted to the middle of your windshield will considerably lower your area of view. For those who mount it a bit of out of the best way on the left facet, you’ll nonetheless must marvel when it’ll merely peel off on a sizzling day.

Even when they keep caught to your windshield with suction and/or stickiness, window mounts aren’t at all times very secure. Additionally they put your telephone in an uncovered space the place it might probably get so sizzling that it shuts down. So, evidently, we’re not followers of window mounts as a rule.

Vent mounts are a combined bag. As talked about above, they have an inclination to place your telephone at an affordable peak. However the issue is how they connect. As an illustration, the alligator clamp fashion looks as if a good suggestion. However the issue is the awkward dexterity; it might probably require pinching to open and/or tighten them. Both means, the telephone’s weight in such a holder might shut the vent, immediately affecting your air circulation.

The Scosche MagicMount Pro 2 4-in-1 Vent/Dash‘s rubber prong fashion, which we examined, was advantageous. However we desire those that additionally make use of a retractable hook arm for further stability, such because the Peak Design and Pitaka fashions featured. Simply watch out to not overtighten the arm, lest the primary large bump you go over pop the air vent slat proper off.

Sprint mounts, sadly, undergo from a number of the similar quibbles as window mounts by way of visible obstruction and susceptibility to warmth. On prime of that, they’re even much less dependable on a textured dashboard. However their saving grace, as with the Nite Ize, is that these mounts will be positioned on a easy floor farther from the windshield and even on a vertical/angled a part of your dashboard.

Measurement

The small stature of the Peak Design and the Nite Ize was an enormous consider our highlighting these mounts, however solely together with how rock-solid they perform. In different phrases, being a small telephone mount doesn’t make it good. Be sure you try how a lot steel (vs. plastic) is utilized in its building.

Adjustability

Cellphone mounts will be adjustable in a number of methods. For instance, the Scosche MagicMount equipment consists of a number of mounting choices on the vent and sprint. The Baseus mount will be adjusted in a number of instructions, sliding, pushing, pulling, tilting, and swiveling it into simply the correct place.

And the Nite Ize will be pivoted round that metal ball in tiny increments. However even the mounted, stiff ProClip may very well be slid left or proper inside the dashboard seams. Most automotive telephone mounts are adjustable ultimately, however some greater than others.

Portability

Though a telephone mount’s portability does have one thing to do with its measurement, it has extra to do with how simple or painful it’s to take away and reinstall. So if you happen to get a telephone mount that’s simple to uninstall, toss in a bag with out it breaking or taking over an excessive amount of area, and reinstall, that’s actually a bonus.

It’s additionally another excuse to not wish to cope with the messy, sticky pads and suction cups discovered on sprint and window mounts, although they’ll generally be washed and reused.

Charging

Juicing up your machine on the go looks as if a no brainer. However if you’d like a charging mount, there are some things to contemplate.

Wired charging can occur in one in all a number of methods. The mount can merely place your telephone in a means that exposes your telephone’s charging port, to which you’ll be able to connect a twine and adapter you provide. Some telephone mounts — such because the wired charging model of the ProClip — embrace these equipment and place the charging twine in a means that if you slide the telephone into the mount, it goes proper onto the twine and is able to cost. We didn’t take a look at any techniques like this, so we are able to’t communicate to how a lot finagling they’d take.

Wi-fi charging mounts are nice for a way simple they’re to connect your telephone and rotate it to no matter orientation you need. However you might want to watch out about a few issues. First, MagSafe doesn’t at all times imply it’s a charger, as with the Scosche MagicMount. Second, telephones and instances range significantly of their magnetic sticking energy.

Which means that though MagSafe is a handy attachment methodology, your telephone/case combo could not stick as strongly as others. Because of this, we appreciated with the ability to take a look at the Peak Design along with one in all their particular, tremendous magnetic telephone instances. Equally, if you happen to rock an Android or older iPhone, to do wi-fi charging you’ll want a MagSafe adapter, ideally included with the telephone mount.

One other key factor to search for with wi-fi charging is whether or not it’s the older, slower model (7.5 watts) or the newer, sooner model (15 W). On product pages and web sites, search for “Qi2” as a characteristic. And identical to with the wired variations, it’s clearly nicer when the mount comes with a 12V adapter and charging twine.

Bonus factors if the adapter presents extra volts, the twine is USB-C and the equipment consists of stick-on cable guides to maintain your dashboard as uncluttered as attainable.

Design

The minimalist appears to be like of the Peak Design and Nite Ize may communicate to you. Or maybe the carbon fiber look of the Pitaka matches your design sense. However past the aesthetics, how well-built the mount is issues. We’d go to battle any day with both the ProClip or the Tackform. They feel and appear so nicely conceived with high-quality components which can be as heavy, sturdy, and dependable because the autos we drive.

Value & Worth

Finances

On the finances vary, you’ll be able to anticipate to spend anyplace from $15 to $50. You could not get perks like premium supplies, wi-fi charging choices, and inventive mounting places, however you’ll be able to nonetheless discover strong, dependable holders on this worth vary. For instance, The Baseus JoyRide Pro Car Backseat Mount ($14) has labored nicely and hasn’t given us any issues with stability or reliability all through weeks of testing.

Mid-Tier

The common worth of our eight examined mounts is $62. This mid-tier vary can be utilized as a normal guideline about how a lot you could wish to spend on an incredible automotive telephone mount. On this vary, you’ll discover automotive telephone holders that supply charging, extra mount adjustability, and burlier supplies. The Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 Qi2 ($60), for instance, is MagSafe suitable, has wi-fi charging, and NFC customized features.

Premium

Whereas you may get glorious automotive telephone holders with out breaking the financial institution, there’s nonetheless a correlation between worth and construct high quality. The three highest-priced fashions we examined — Peak Design Car Vent Mount ($100), Tackform Car Seat Phone Holder ($80), and ProClip USA Center Dash Mount ($75) — are every fantastically designed and constructed. Every presents a particularly safe maintain, a satisfying aesthetic, a number of charging choices, and MagSafe compatibility.

Often Requested Questions