Tested: Best Phone Mounts for Your Vehicle

Collin Morgan, AmazonCar and Driver

Cellphones are integral to our daily lives; we use them for work, for fun, and, of course, for communication. They’ve even infiltrated our vehicles, where they provide music, maps, and hands-free messaging. Since holding a phone in your hand is far too distracting when driving, when you must use yours for navigation or selecting the right music, a phone mount is the tool you need.

Another solution is phone mirroring, and almost every new car today has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability, which can broadcast information from your phone onto a screen in the car, either via a USB cable or, in some cases, wirelessly. But if your car doesn’t have it, or you want to display an app that isn’t part of the limited number that work with these features, a phone mount is still a great option.

The idea of a phone mount is simple: display necessary information while minimizing distraction. To combat the distraction factor, phone mounts have been engineered to hold your phone close to your line of sight to the road. Three main types of phone mounts have emerged: cupholder, vent, and window/dash. All perform the same basic function, but in different locations that cater to your vehicle.

In general, mounts range in price from $20 to $70. The pricing seems to correlate more with the number of features than the quality of the mount. Surprisingly, one of our favorites was among the cheapest.

Cupholder Mounts

Collin MorganCar and Driver

Right off the bat, cupholder mounts are practically useless unless you have raised cupholders up by your radio and HVAC controls. They’re great for truckers, cargo vans, and some pickups, where they can provide a nearly ideal position for your phone—with a drawback being one less spot for that gas-station slushy.

Pros:
—great for vehicles with raised cupholders
—ideal phone positioning and adjustability

Cons:
—only usable in certain vehicles
—takes up a cupholder place

Vent Mounts

Collin MorganCar and Driver

Vent mounts blend some attractive perks to create a cheap and useful place to secure your phone. They come in all kinds of variations, including magnets and clamp types, and they might include wireless charging. The line of sight is excellent, but you will lose out on some air-conditioned airflow.

Pros:
—great line of sight
—works with just about every kind of vehicle

Cons:
—clamping, which varies greatly among designs, is sometimes inadequate
—blocks airflow from the vent it’s mounted to

Window/Dash Mounts

Collin MorganCar and Driver

If you’re looking for the best line of sight to your phone, a window/dash mount is hard to beat. In either location, you can adjust your eyes between the phone and the road in the shortest distance. This comes in handy during tricky city driving, where taking your eyes off the road can cause you to miss a turn. However, the excellent line of sight to your phone comes with diminished road visibility, and any blockage increases risk.

Pros:
—fantastic line of sight
—flexibility to mount on windshield or dashboard

Cons:
—impedes road visibility
—can leave a residue ring on windshield
—dash mounting requires a sticky mounting plate

Testing Parameters

When testing these mounts, we used five parameters: mounting strength, phone grip strength, grip adjustability, magnet strength (if applicable), and charging operation (if applicable). These parameters were tested under aggressive driving on curves and simple hand tests to simulate jarring driving.

We used the base iPhone 13 and, when testing with a case, an OtterBox Commuter. During testing of magnet strength and charging operation, we tested each applicable mount with both case-on and case-off tests and noted the results.

For the magnet test in particular, none of the mounts had magnets powerful enough to hold the phone through the case. To combat this, a stick-on magnet is included with most magnetic mounts—but this adds an accessory to your case, which some folks don’t necessarily want. In short, to fully enjoy the strength of a magnetic phone mount, removal of the case or installation of the sticky magnet is required.

Our Picks for the Best Car Phone Mounts

Best Cup Mount

Wireless-Charging Cupholder Car Mount

Wireless charging, simple expansion in the cupholder, and automatic clamping on the phone. Excellent cup mount at an affordable price.

Cup holder grip: Excellent
Phone grip: Great
Grip adjustability: Excellent
Charging: Charges through case

Collin Morgan

Very easily expands in cupholder
Automatic phone-grip function

Needed to adjust bottom feet to align wireless charger with phone battery

Best Vent Mount

Active Wireless Car Mount

Top-notch vent grip with adjustable knob, strong magnet without case, looks sharp, braided cord. Does not come with a cigarette-lighter adapter, only a USB-C connection. Will also need a separate sticky magnet, as this lacks one in the package.

Vent grip: Excellent
Magnet strength: Great without case, decent through thick case (you will need a separate sticky magnet)
Charging: Charges through case

Collin Morgan

Excellent vent grip
Design looks great

Mount does not come with stick-on magnet

Best Window/Dash Mount

Universal Car Mount

Fantastic budget-friendly window/dash mount. The suction-cup operation is easy to attach and remove. The head telescopes for easy adjustment. However, the tabs require two-hand operation.

Suction-cup strength: Great
Phone grip: Excellent
Grip adjustability: Decent; requires two hands

Collin Morgan

Twist-to-lock suction is very easy to use
Strong phone grip

Side tabs open together, inserting phone requires two hands

Test Vehicle

The Genesis G70 3.3T Sport Prestige looked brilliant in Havana Red.

Collin MorganCar and Driver

The interior blended performance with comfort well, and the red stitching was a sporty touch.

Collin MorganCar and Driver

To test all of these phone mounts, we took a trip behind the wheel of a Genesis G70 3.3T Sport Prestige. The four-door sports sedan proved to be adaptable on the journey, which included roads through cities and mountains. Hearing the twin-turbo 3.3-liter V-6’s bellow bouncing off buildings provided just as much enjoyment as carving up the Blue Ridge Parkway. The front seats were comfortable for long stints, and the side bolsters stiffened in Sport and Sport+ modes for more spirited driving. The back seat’s lack of legroom, however, makes the G70 a poor choice for a people mover. For the driver, Brembo brakes, two turbos, and a raucous exhaust will enhance an off-the-beaten-path road trip.

The Trip

To test the phone mounts, we took a road trip from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Norfolk, Virginia, with various stops along the way. We went through Pittsburgh, where we enjoyed a nice view of the Steel City, then stopped at the Flight 93 National Memorial in the hills of central Pennsylvania. Onward we darted down back roads through the foothills of Appalachia, skirting the Potomac, until we reached the I-95 corridor and Norfolk.

Returning to Michigan, we took a different path. We traversed westward through Virginia until we reached the northern gateway to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here, the Genesis was at home—relishing the curves and giving voice to its throaty exhaust. A few mounts didn’t survive the g-loading here. At Buena Vista, we left the parkway and danced around the mountains of West Virginia to Charleston, blaring John Denver the whole way. Throughout the state’s rural countryside, the Genesis stuck out like a sore thumb. A quick skip up to Columbus returned us to flat terrain, and we stayed on the highway for the rest of the trip back to Grand Rapids.

The Best of the Rest

Cupholder Mounts

CupFone Duo

Cupholder grip: Good once you manage to separate the adapters to find the correct size
Phone grip: Great
Grip adjustability: Excellent

Supreme phone-grip adjustability. Unsure how necessary two phone slots are. Built well. Nesting cup design is a royal pain.

CupFone Two View with Hand-Sanitizer Holder

Cupholder grip: Good once you manage to separate the adapters to find the correct size
Phone grip: Great
Grip adjustability: Excellent

Awesome choice for ride-sharing. Excellent adjustability. Nesting cup design is difficult to use. Comes with two containers of Purell hand sanitizer that fit perfectly in the slot.

Vent Mounts

Car Vent Mount Pro with MagSafe

Vent grip: Poor
Magnet strength: Excellent

MagSafe compatible. Slides off over bumps and will take your phone with it.

Airframe Magnetic

Vent grip: Great
Magnet strength: Decent, better with included stick-on magnet

Buttons to open and close the vent grips are strong and easy to use.

MagicMount Pro Charge5 Dash/Vent

Vent grip: Poor
Magnet strength: Good, better with included magnet
Charging: Charges through case

MagSafe compatible. Vent grip very difficult to rotate initially—we thought it was defective at first.

Easy One Touch 5 Air-Vent Mount

Vent grip: Poor
Phone grip: Great
Grip adjustments: Excellent, easy one-handed operation

iTap 2 Wireless Magnetic Vent Mount

Vent grip: Good
Magnet strength: Decent without case, better with included sticky magnet
Charging: Charges through case

Premium Car Vent Mount

Vent grip: Good
Phone grip: Good
Grip adjustment: Decent, requires two hands

Velox Magnetic Wireless-Charging Vent Mount

Vent grip: Decent
Magnet strength: Good without case, decent with case
Charging: Charges through case

Only compatible with MagSafe iPhones.

Airframe Vent Mount

Vent grip: Great
Phone grip: Good
Grip adjustment: Decent, requires two hands

Rotates fine, but tilting is limited thanks to stubby design.

Window/Dash Mounts

iTap 2 Magnetic

Suction grip: Great
Magnet strength: Decent, stronger with included sticky magnet