Earlier this year we took a road trip and used our phones for directions. I remembered that I had gotten a car mount phone holder a few years ago and searched for it in our Sprinter camper’s “junk drawer”. We mounted it on the windshield so we could easily see the map and where our next turn would be.
Sure, it was convenient to have it right there, but putting it on and taking it off was a hassle every time. You had to fiddle with the arms to make sure the holder held the phone tightly and wouldn’t fall out going over bumpy roads.
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YOU TOO?
My experience has told me that when I’m having an issue with something, other people are as well. I decided that before our next trip I’d find a better solution. I eliminated all the models which mounted on the car’s vent. We had one of those in the past with an ultra-strong magnetic holder. The magnet part was great. It held even over the bumpiest of roads. But, every time we needed to move it, we broke off one of the vents.
So: window or dash mount with a magnetic holder. (I wanted to make picking the phone up and putting it back as easy as possible while driving.) Plus I only selected holders with 4+ star reviews on Amazon.
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I tried out four different models. Here they are my order of preference:
PKYAA Magnetic Car Mount Phone Holder – NOT Recommended
The PKYAA is the smallest one and it folds flat when not in use. It lists at $7. The Amazon page said it could mount on the Dashboard or Windshield which is what I was looking for. However, when I received it, the box indicated that it was mounted on the air vent. It came with a metal pad to install on the back of the phone to work with the magnetic holder. My iPhone comes with MagSafe, so it SHOULD work without the metal pad.
This one never even made it to the car. It magnetically attached to the MagSafe on my phone, but when I shook it a little to emulate normal driving, it fell right off. It was returned to next day.
Talk Works Magnetic Window/Dash Mount
The Talk Works car mount phone holder is also a MagSafe charger and is listed for $25. I liked that it charged my iPhone while I was driving. (Map programs use a LOT of juice!) I liked that I could stick it to the windshield or the dashboard. But the gooseneck was very wobbly. Too wobbly. I returned this one too.
Note that this one also had over 4 stars when I purchased it 2 months ago. Today it’s down to 3.2 stars.
OtterBox Performance Car Dash & Windshield Mount for MagSafe
The OtterBox is the only name-brand model I looked at. It lists for $50. Was it worth it?
I liked that it held firmly to the windshield and didn’t bounce around under normal driving conditions. You could position it easily which was a nice touch. What I didn’t like is that it didn’t have built-in charging capability like others that I reviewed. This one was kept as a backup for the other car.
The OtterBox received an average rating of 4.3 stars from over 1000 reviewers.
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Conclusion:
After trying out all four of these Car mount phone holders, I like the MagSafe Charger the best.
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MagSafe Car Mount Charger – Get This One!
The MagSafe Charger lists for $30 and received an average of 4.1 stars from 52 reviewers. It works specifically with the iPhone MagSafe system. This model will also charge your phone while it’s on the magnetic holder, so that’s a plus! The magnetic holder is charged via a USB-C cable that lights it up with pretty colors when the phone isn’t on it.
This one is my favorite and the one I use today. My only knock is that when the car is parked and the windshield gets hot, the holder falls off. Sometimes it lands on the floor and picks up pieces of grit on the sticky side.