A car phone mount makes controlling your GPS, music, texts and voice communication easier and safer, since it keeps your phone visible and out of your hands. In this article, we reviewed the five best car phone mounts to help you decide what type works best for you, your device, and your car.
In this article:
Review Standards
The car phone mounts went through two rounds of reviews. In order to select the top five options for in-depth testing, we narrowed products down by looking at factors, such as rating, number of reviews, price, and recommendations from other ecommerce websites.
A member of the Motor1 reviews team went for test drives using each of the mounts. They looked at how easy the mount was to set up, how well it worked with their phone, if there was space to use a charger or an AUX cord, if it was adjustable, if it obstructed their view of the road, and how easy it was to take the phone on and off the mount. Each mount was given a rating out of 5 stars based on these factors, and the ratings helped rank the mounts in the order they are listed in our review.
Best Overall: Mpow CD Slot Car Phone Holder
This car phone mount takes first place because of its high rating by customers and by our team. It’s a useful way to repurpose your car’s CD player that you likely no longer use. The plastic slot holder sticks into the player and expands to fit the size of your specific CD slot.
Not only does the CD slot holder stay in place, but so does your phone with the grips on either side of the phone holder. The grips on the left and right adjust to fit a wide range of phones, and the open bottom leaves room for a charger or AUX cord.
- CD slot holder that expands and locks into place
- Adjustable grips on 2 sides
- Button on side to release phone
- 360-degree rotation
- 3 color options
Mpow’s CD slot car phone mount received a rating of 4.4 stars on Amazon from over 27,000 reviews. This is 0.1 stars above the Amazon average for all of the car phone mounts reviewed. Its rating increased to 4.5 stars once customer reviews from other leading ecommerce websites were included, which is the highest overall rating of any of the car phone mounts reviewed.
Customers were pleased with this phone mount because it works well and repurposes the CD slot that almost no one uses anymore. Customers said this mount may or may not work for your car depending on where the CD slot is located, but the company includes an image on Amazon that shows which CD slot locations work best with it. The main complaint was that the product stops working as effectively over time. For some customers, the sides wouldn’t grip as closely to the phone as desired, making it easy for the phone to fall out. For others, the release button stopped working, so they had to pry open the side grips to get the phone out. However, several customers said that the company has good customer service and will send a replacement for any reason.
Set Up
This mount comes in two pieces: the phone holder part and the CD slot part. The CD slot part has a round ball at the end that we attached to the back of the phone holder part. We then twisted the plastic piece attached to the ball to make sure the two pieces were tight and secure. The CD slot part slid into the CD player, and we tightened it using the knob on top.
Phone Compatibility
We tried this mount with both a Samsung Galaxy S7 and an iPhone 11. Both phones had a case on them, and the iPhone even had a pop socket on the back. The mount still held both of them secure despite the increased thickness.
Road Visibility
This mount didn’t block any of the road visibility during the test drive. The CD player on our team member’s sedan is low enough that you can see over it to look out of the windshield without any obstruction.
Ease of Use
The phones were easy to put on and take off. The button on the side expands the side grips, which is how you expand it enough to put your phone in and take it out. Once your phone is in the mount, you can push the side grips inward until they are tight against the phone. When you’re ready to leave your car, you just press the button again to release the sides enough to pull out your phone.
Adjustability
Since the two pieces are connected together with a ball, we were able to rotate the phones in whatever direction we wanted. This meant we could change the orientation of the phone from portrait to landscape, and we could slightly tilt the phone one way or the other to get rid of glare.
Charger/Audio Jack Compatibility
There aren’t any grips on the bottom of this car phone mount, so you can easily plug in a charger or AUX cord.
This is the only car phone mount we gave 5 out of 5 stars on our rating system. It received full points across the board for phone compatibility, road visibility, ease of use, adjustability, and charger/audio jack compatibility.
Most Discreet: WizGear Magnetic Phone Car Mount
If you don’t like the bulky look of the other plastic car phone mounts, this one may be for you. The small, black magnet clips onto your air vent, keeping it out of the way and making it virtually unnoticeable when it’s not in use.
The kit comes with four different metal plates to either attach to your phone or stick inside your phone case. This lets you choose the plate that works best for the size of your phone. It also comes with protective films to provide a layer of protection between your phone and the metal plate.
- Rubber base and magnetic head
- 360-degree rotation
- Available in black
- 2 magnetic vent clips
- 2 rectangular and 2 circular metal plates to attach to phone
- 2 rectangular and 2 circular protective films to put in between phone and metal plate
Just over 19,000 Amazon customers reviewed this product to give it a rating of 4.4 stars, which puts it just above the 4.3-star Amazon average rating for car phone mounts. Its rating did decrease to 4.2 stars after accounting for reviews from other ecommerce companies, but it remains equal to the overall average for the car phone mounts reviewed across several ecommerce retailers.
Customers complimented how strong the magnets were. They also liked how discreet this car phone mount was compared to other ones that have bulky pieces of plastic. Some customers did mention that they wish the clip was a little longer so that the magnet was further from the air vent, which allows for more tilting. Others complained that the clips don’t grip thinner vent slats tight enough, so every time they took a turn, the phone and magnet fell off. The rubber also wears down with use. As it wears down, the metal underneath is exposed, which can scratch the air vents they’re attached to.
Set Up
The set up for this phone mount was easy. We slid the magnet with the clip into one of the air vents in the center part where all of the buttons for audio and air are. We then stuck one of the square metal plates inside the case for the phones.
Phone Compatibility
This mount worked with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and iPhone 11, but that’s not a surprise. Because the phone isn’t put into a phone holder end, it will work with any phone. All you have to do is stick the metal plate to your phone of choice, and it will easily attach to the magnet.
Road Visibility
The air vent in our team member’s car is just below the dashboard. Because of how small this mount is and its location below the dashboard, none of the road’s view was blocked during the test drive.
Ease of Use
The mount is easy to take on and off. Due to the strength of the magnet, sometimes the magnet comes off with the phone when trying to remove the phone from the mount. However, we didn’t feel like this was an issue considering how easy it is to replace the magnet in the vent.
Adjustability
This is the category where we felt this mount fell short. We agree with other customers’ complaints about the length of the clip. Because the clip is so short, it’s difficult to adjust the phone on the mount because the phone hits the vent slats when you turn it.
Charger/Audio Jack Compatibility
Because the phone is only secured in the back with the mount, it didn’t obstruct the use of the charging port or audio jack.
We gave this car phone mount a score of 4.5 stars. It received full points for phone compatibility, road visibility, ease of use, and charger/audio jack compatibility, but we took off half a point for adjustability. We still think this mount is a viable option. It not only keeps your phone secure with its strength, but it’s small and discreet compared to other mounts.
Best Value: Beam Electronics Universal Smartphone Car Air Vent Mount Holder
Like the WizGear car phone mount, this product clips onto your air vent. However, this mount will stay on your vent even better because of the clamp that allows you to tighten the grip around the vent slat.
The design of this mount serves two functions: to keep your phone in place and scratch-free. You place your phone in the grip on the bottom, and the grips on either side adjust to fit your phone. The inner layer also contains cushioning to keep the plastic from scratching it.
- Vent clip with clamp for tightening
- Adjustable grips on two sides
- Grips on the bottom
- Button on back to release phone
- 360-degree rotation
Beam Electronics’ air vent mount has an Amazon rating of 4.3 stars after over 27,000 customers reviewed it, which is equal to the Amazon average. Its rating decreased to 4 stars after including reviews from other ecommerce websites, putting it 0.2 stars below the overall average for car phone mounts.
Customers said this product was of better quality than similar car phone mounts because it has the cushion interior to protect the phone. Some customers mentioned that although this has 360-degree rotation to allow for landscape orientation, it doesn’t work well that way. The side that doesn’t have the bottom clip ends up weighing more, causing it to droop. Customers also had the same complaint as the WizGear air vent product. Although this one has a clamp to tighten it to the air vent, it still isn’t tight enough, and customers complained about it flopping around or falling off completely. However, the company closely watches customer reviews, and if you leave a poor review, they will contact you and send you several other mount options for free to help you find one that you like.
Set Up
This product is the easiest to set up because it comes in one piece. We just slid the clip onto a vent slat and then used the clamp on top to tighten it to the slat. We liked how the clamp had two tightening options to accommodate different slat thicknesses.
Phone Compatibility
This mount worked with both the iPhone and Galaxy with cases and pop sockets still on. The phones remained secure during the test drive.
Road Visibility
Like the WizGear mount, this mount attaches to the air vent, so it remains out of view while driving.
Ease of Use
The process of taking the phone in and out functions similarly to the first mount by Mpow. The button opens up the sides, and you push the side grips in against the phone. The only difference is that the button is on the back of the phone holder piece instead of on the side. This makes it a little difficult to reach when it comes time to take the phone out.
Adjustability
This mount rotates on a ball like Mpow’s, so it has that same 360-degree rotation. Our only complaint is about the shortness of the back that the phone rests against. Because it is so short, the bottom grips where the phone rests are only a few inches below the side grips, meaning that most of the phone is above the side grips. This relates to customers commenting on how the mount doesn’t work well in landscape orientation. Because most of the phone rests at the top, when you tilt it to the side, the side with the top of the phone weighs more, causing it to sag or slip.
Charger/Audio Jack Compatibility
We were worried initially that we wouldn’t be able to fit a charger and AUX cord because the two bottom grips are thick and close to the center. However, when it came time to test it with those cords, we didn’t have any issues fitting them in between the two grips.
We gave this mount a score of 4.5 stars. We took off points for two categories: ease of use and adjustability. The button on the back makes it difficult to remove the phone, and the length of the back makes it difficult to use in landscape orientation.
#4 AUKEY 360 Degree Rotation Dashboard Magnetic Cell Phone Holder
Every piece of this car phone mount is adjustable from the adhesive base that rotates 360 degrees to the arm that moves up and down. Even the magnet at the end of the arm can be tilted to adjust your phone’s angle.
AUKEY does everything possible to ensure this mount will stay stuck to your dashboard. Not only is the suction cup base adhesive, but it also comes with a sticker to place in between the dashboard and base. This helps create an even surface for the base to stick to.
- Adhesive base that attaches to dashboard
- Arm with magnet at the end to attach to phone
- Circular sticker to place in between dashboard and adhesive base
- One rectangular and one circular magnet to attach to phone
- 360-degree rotation of adhesive base and magnet
- Up and down movement of arm
AUKEY’s mount had significantly fewer customer reviews at just below 2,000. These customers gave it an average rating of 4.3 stars, which is equal to the Amazon average for the car phone mounts reviewed. Its rating stayed the same after adding in customer reviews from other top ecommerce websites, which puts it 0.1 stars above the average.
Customers liked the design of the car phone mount, especially how adjustable all of the pieces were. They even mentioned how you could bend the arm down so that it obstructed less of the view out of the front windshield. Several customers made the point that this doesn’t work well with heavier phones for two reasons. One, the magnet isn’t strong enough to keep the heavy phone attached while driving. The weight of the phone also pulls down on the arm, which causes the adhesive base to pop off. Like the Beam Electronics and Mpow phone mounts, customers have said the company helped them find a replacement when the mount they were sent was defective or didn’t work with their car or phone.
Set Up
This mount was the most difficult to set up, mostly because the instructions were confusing. The only reason we were able to figure it out was because it was the last one we tested. The adhesive base was like the iOttie one, so we knew to stick the circular sticker in between the base and dashboard. And the magnet end was like WizGear, so we knew where to put the metal plates.
Phone Compatibility
Because the end of this car phone mount is a magnet, you can use any phone with it as long as you stick one of the metal plates inside the phone case or attach it to the back of the phone. Therefore, it worked with both the iPhone and Galaxy phones.
Road Visibility
Because this mount attaches to the dashboard, it did obstruct some of the driver’s view out of the front windshield. However, like other customers mentioned, the arm moves up and down, so we were able to bend the arm down pretty far so that it didn’t obstruct as much.
Ease of Use
The phones were easy to put on and pull off of the magnet, but they weren’t always secure once on. We agree with customers that the magnet is weak, so when we took a turn during the test drive, the phone would sometimes fall off. This was especially an issue with the iPhone 11 because it’s larger and weighs more than the Galaxy S7.
Adjustability
The manufacturer did a good job of making every part of this mount adjustable. The base spins in any direction, the arm moves up and down, and the magnet rotates on a ball in 360 degrees. This means you can set up your phone exactly how you like it.
Charger/Audio Jack Compatibility
Like WizGear, the magnet means that there aren’t any grips on the bottom that may obstruct the use of the charging port or audio jack.
We gave this mount a score of 4.5 stars. We took off a quarter of a point for road visibility because even though the arm bends downward to show more of the road, it will still block some of the visibility because of its location on the dashboard. We also took off a quarter of a point because of the weakness of the magnet.
#5 iOttie Easy One Touch 2 Car Mount Holder
This version of iOttie’s One Touch phone mount was made to be versatile. You can stick it to your windshield or your dashboard. If you opt for the dashboard, it comes with a sticker to place in between the base and dashboard to create an even surface.
This mount comes with two unique features. If your phone is too far away to see, you can use the extendable arm to bring it two inches closer to you. The grip on the bottom also moves left or right to allow you to plug in a charger or AUX cord.
- Adhesive base that attaches to dashboard or windshield
- Circular sticker to place in between dashboard and adhesive base
- Adjustable arm
- Adjustable grips on three sides
- Button on inside to release phone
- 360-degree rotation
iOttie’s One Touch 2 car phone mount received a rating of 4.1 stars after close to 19,000 customers reviewed it. This is below the 4.3-star Amazon average. Its rating remained the same after including customer reviews from other ecommerce companies, which puts it just below the overall average of 4.2 stars.
Customers said they liked how the car phone mount was compatible with both the dashboard and windshield. The circular sticker allows for a second use once the original adhesive on the base wears off. Multiple customers complained about the adhesive. Under temperate weather conditions, this adhesive is sticky and impossible to get off, so you have to pick the right placement on the first try. However, in the heat, the adhesive stops working, and the mount falls off. They also said that the adhesive can leave an O-ring residue on your dashboard, which is difficult to clean away. Therefore, if you want to order this product, it’s best to use it on the windshield instead.
Set Up
We tested this mount on the front windshield, but you can opt to put it on your dashboard also. It comes with two pieces: the adhesive base with the arm and the phone holder. You attach the base to the phone holder using the same ball that the Mpow CD slot mount had. The base is really sticky and easily attaches to the windshield. If you decide to use it on the dashboard, it also comes with a sticker to put in between the dashboard and base.
Phone Compatibility
Both the iPhone and Galaxy fit in this holder. However, if you have a bulky case or a wider phone, you may have an issue. The side grips don’t open up as large as the Beam Electronics or Mpow mounts that have the same phone holder piece.
Road Visibility
Because this mount attaches to the windshield or dashboard, it will naturally obstruct some of your view out of the front windshield. However, the arm doesn’t bend down as much as the AUKEY one, so it blocks more of your view.
Ease of Use
There are buttons on either side of the phone holder that open up the side grips when you push them. This makes it easy to put the phone in the mount. However, the release button is on the inside where the back of the phone rests. We think this is poor design because once the phone is in there, it’s hard to reach the button to release the phone from the mount.
Adjustability
This mount has similar adjustability to the AUKEY in that it doesn’t allow you to spin the base, but the arm is extendable and can be moved up and down. The phone holder piece also rotates on a ball, so you can move it around in any direction.
Charger/Audio Jack Compatibility
This mount does a good job of accommodating the charging port and audio jack. There is a grip on the bottom that you can move to the left or right. If the audio jack of your phone is on the left side, the grip can be moved to the right to make room for an AUX cord.
We gave this car phone mount a score of 4 stars. We took off points in three categories: phone compatibility, road visibility, and ease of use. Because the side grips don’t open up as wide, wider phones and phones with bulky cases won’t fit as easily. Its placement on the windshield or dashboard blocks some of the view of the road. Additionally, the button on the inside makes it difficult to release the phone once you reach your destination.
Types of Car Phone Mounts
A vent mount connects to your air vent using a clip. This type of mount is easy to install and keeps your phone secure. It is also safe for drivers because it doesn’t obstruct your view of the road. However, you’ll have limited use of the air vent it’s attached to.
This type of phone mount attaches to your windshield with either a suction cup or adhesive. The suction or adhesive will lose its effectiveness over time, meaning you will have to replace the mount after using it for a while. It also obstructs your view out of the front windshield.
This type of mount is similar to the windshield mount in that it attaches with a suction cup or adhesive to the dashboard. Like the windshield mount, it won’t last as long as other types, and it affects your visibility of the road.
CD mounts attach to the slot with a piece of plastic that fits into the hole and can be tightened. It keeps your phone secure and in place and doesn’t affect your visibility out of the front windshield because of its lower location on the car.
This type of mount usually has two clips that attach to either side of the rearview mirror. It’s secure and durable, but it does obstruct some of the driver’s view of the right side of the front windshield because it hangs down.
This type of mount serves a dual purpose: mount and charging station. You plug it into the cigarette lighter, and it has a USB port that allows you to plug in a charging cable. It works best in cars with a vertical cigarette lighter, but it’s easy to install, keeps your phone secure, and doesn’t affect road visibility.
These mounts have a round plastic piece that fits into your cup holder. It’s adjustable so that it doesn’t move around while you drive. While it doesn’t affect your visibility and is easy to install, it does take up one of your cup holders.
Buying A Car Phone Mount: Factors to Consider
Most car phone mounts can be adjusted to fit popular Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel phones. However, there are some that only adjust so far and won’t fit bigger models. Therefore, it’s best to read the product description before purchasing.
Certain types of phone mounts will block some of your road visibility because of where they are placed. These include the windshield, dashboard, and rearview mirror mounts. Other mounts, like the vent, CD slot, cigarette lighter, and cup holder, are low enough that they don’t block any of your view out of the front windshield. It’s important to consider your state’s laws regarding objects that obstruct view before purchasing one.
You should be able to get into your car, pull up Google Maps or Waze, and pop the phone into the mount. If it takes you more than a few seconds to put your phone into place, then the mount isn’t user friendly.
You’ll want the option to bend the mount one way or the other so that you can better see the phone. The type of car mount you purchase will affect how far it is from you, which will affect your phone visibility. The time of day could also create a glare across your phone, which will make the adjust function useful.
Having your phone on for hours at a time will quickly drain your battery, so you’ll want a mount that has a hole to reach your charging port. If you connect your phone’s music to the car using an AUX cord, you’ll want a hole for the audio jack as well.
Car Phone Mount FAQ
Yes. Most cell phone hard drives aren’t made out of magnets anymore, so placing a magnetic phone mount near it won’t wipe its memory. While other parts of your phone, such as the camera and speaker, use small magnets to function, the magnet used in a car phone mount won’t be strong enough to damage any of those parts.
It depends on the type of mount. Suction cup mounts that attach to the windshield or dashboard are illegal in close to half of the United States. Other states don’t say that this type of mount is illegal, but they do place restrictions on where the mounts can be placed in order to control how much of the front windshield is blocked. When picking out your car phone mount, be sure to look into your specific state’s laws.
It is legal to use your phone as a sat nav as long as your phone isn’t in your hands, which is why a car phone mount is so useful. As long as your phone is mounted and you don’t touch it while you’re driving, you can use your phone’s GPS to navigate to an unfamiliar location.
There isn’t one car phone mount that works for every iPhone user because each person will have different preferences. However, because iPhones are so popular, almost every car phone mount on the market will fit an iPhone. All five of the mounts we tested in this article fit an iPhone 11, which is currently one of Apple’s largest phone models.
Some car phone mounts can be used with both phones and tablets. However, we wouldn’t recommend using a phone mount for a tablet. The tablet may fit with the magnetic mounts, but the magnet probably won’t be strong enough to hold the weight of it. Companies make car mounts that specifically fit tablets, so it’s best to buy one of those that you know will work for your device.
