Best Cell Phone Car Mount Reviews 2018

Cell phone car mounts are, for the most part, affordable. The price range is usually between $8 and $30. The steeper priced models have more sophisticated designs with more features. That notwithstanding, all the products we have considered within the price range are of high quality, practical and durable. We did come across some cheap cell phone car mounts but had to disregard them because of their poor quality.

A cell phone car mount is one of the best things to happen to road drivers since the advent of smartphones. But it could be a curse just as much as it could be a blessing if you end up with the wrong one. To ensure you get one that’s compatible with your car and cell phone or other devices, and still meets your personal preferences, here are the important features to look for:

• Type
• Design
• Mount
• Size

Let’s look at these in some details.

For the part that attaches to the phone, there are basically two types of clips: the cradle and the magnetic clip. The cradle usually has an extending arm that grips the phone by the sides. These arms are adjustable to fit multiple phone types and sizes, or it could be fixed for just a particular type of phone. While some come with one-touch grab-and-release lever, others require both hands to unclip the phone which some people may not find so convenient.

The magnetic clip type makes it easy to put the phone on and off the mount which makes them preferred by most people. It requires a magnetic plate on the phone or phone case to hold the phone in place. Because it does not have the restricted borders of a cradle-type clip, it can accommodate a larger variety of phone and tablets alike. It doesn’t damage your phone in any significant way but it could mess with your compass, if you have that in your phone. The only issue with magnetic clips is their losing grip on heavy devices when on rough terrain.

You should also consider the type of phone you have before deciding on which cell phone car mount to go for as there are some designed for certain types and shapes of phones. While most manufacturers strive to make universal cell phone car mounts, others still have some sort of preference for certain phones. Also, you must know the width of your phone (as there are mounts with fixed widths and those with stretchable width) and also if the mount can be used in both portrait and landscape position. Car mounts with this capability are 360 degrees rotatable.

Your mounting options can be grouped into 5 different areas, namely: driver side window, rear view mirror and center dash area, vent, console area, and lastly cup holder. Here’s a brief look on them:

• The driver side window is a good place to mount your phone if you want it to be out of the way, and it especially works for left-handed people. It is also a good place to mount your phone for vlogging and time lapses. However, because it’s generally a small area, it doesn’t really work well with large phones as they tend to take up a lot of space. The phone also tends to overheat on warm days as is the case with any windshield or dashboard mount.
• The rear view mirror and center dash area is a popular choice among drivers because of the level at which the phone sits – it’s out of the way and the screen can be checked by anyone in the vehicle. However, phones mounted on the center dashboard area also tend to overheat on warm days, and not everyone likes the view of their center screen blocked.
• The vent is a good choice for people that don’t need to mount all the time such as for navigation purposes. It’s a stable mount but you have to forego which ever vent you choose to mount your device on or you could, for example, risk overheating your device in winter if you turn on the heater.
• The console area does not get heated up on warm days. However, the mount designs for this area are semi-permanent mounts with strong adhesive that may permanently damage the area in your car that they are stuck on. Another issue with this set-up is that it tends to cover up a lot of the buttons on the console. As long as you don’t have any use for the control buttons there, it shouldn’t be a problem.
• The cup holder is not the easiest place to mount your phone if you drive a small vehicle, as it gets in the way of the gear shift for manual car drivers. It is, however, ideal for large vehicles such as a truck, because of the large console area.

After deciding on where in your car you want to fix the cell phone car mount, you can then decide how you want to attach the mount to your car. This could either be by a suction cup, adhesive connection or both, slots that fit around car vents or tabs that fit in CD slots. These options, though efficient, do not work equally well in every car.

A suction cup is the preferred choice by many because of its flexible positioning as it can be used on the windshield, dashboard, side window and sun roof. However, it is a poor option for windshields with steep angles, as this greatly hinders flexibility and stumps its ability to position the phone at an acceptable viewing angle. It’s also not ideal for leather surfaces. Adhesive usually attaches to dashboards, consoles and curved surfaces. However, when it is not strong enough, it tends to come off too quickly, and when it is too strong, it tends to cause permanent damage to whichever area it was stuck on.

Vent and CD mounts only fit into a car vent and CD slot respectively. A vent mount is stable and effective provided the vents have the right amount of tension required to hold the mount firmly in place. Heavier phones and weaker hinges in a vent would be a poor combination with the resultant effect being the phone falling off with every sharp turn or bump in the road. The CD mount is stable and least likely to pull out when driving but it also depends on where your CD player is positioned in your car, so be sure to verify for compatibility. If it’s so low that it’s close to your hand brake, it may not be ideal. Its installation does not affect the function of your CD player but you have to always remember to take it off before slotting in or ejecting a CD to avoid damage to the CD or player.

There are also some other unique designs that do not use any of these four mechanisms. They are fashioned more like clamps and are usually attached to the rear view mirror or the steering wheel.

Having said all that, it’s important you get a cell phone car mount that’s; easy to use (to avoid fumbling with your phone while driving), convenient (does not constrain you in anyway), easily installed with strong connectivity, durable (made with high quality material that won’t disintegrate in extreme temperature and pressure), and is aesthetically pleasing (matches the interior of your car).