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For many of us, the single most important car accessory is the one we jam into the old, disused CD slot. Our cell phone car mounts help our older vehicles interface with our 2019 lives. Even though these plastic contraptions cost less than the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday’s, they’re pretty much indispensable for any drive longer than 20 minutes. Whether you use yours for tunes, GPS, or making illegal texts, almost every driver needs a cell phone car mount.
The question is: Which cell phone car mount is the best? The market is flooded, and cheap knockoffs abound. We’ll do our best to separate the wheat from the chaff in the product review to come.
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BE Universal Smartphone Car Mount - This high quality car mount works with vents, and vertical ones at that. Vertical vents are one of the most underserved car alignments, at least by car mount manufacturers. Those with round vents will be out of luck, but if you’re in this select demographic, you’ll enjoy the quality of this BE unit. It grips tight without requiring excessive turning of the knob, and has enough cushion to adapt to slight variation of shape. At less than $10, you really can’t go wrong.
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Koomus CD-Air Car Mount - Hey, you! Yes you, over there in the 2004 Scion XB. Don’t worry, we’ve got a car mount for you and your obsolete CD player. This Koomus unit is large enough for all major models of smartphone, even those housed in those clunky protective cases. It’s so large that some users might find it impedes access to various controls, but this won’t be a problem for everybody. It holds tight with minimal fiddling, and you can even clamp your phone in its grasp with only one hand.
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iOttie One Touch Mount - This vent mount features lush 360 viewing, so you can always get that perfect angle no matter where you are in the vehicle. At $20-$25, it’s on the pricier end of our consideration, but we’ve found no defects or performance issues. Of course, only time will tell when it comes to single use devices like these, but we are proud to include iOttie in this top 5.
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Kenu Airframe - This larger unit is built for smartphones of all types, and tablets. If you want to mount your freakin’ iPad to your car’s air conditioner, you can do so with Kenu, and for less than $20 we might add. This unit is simply too big for smaller phones, but most current iPhone and Apple models will be just fine. What’s more, if you have a device that’s prone to overheating (particularly in you’re driving in the hot summer weather), you may find that using an air conditioning vent mount will keep its temperature in the usable range.
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Square Jellyfish Jelly Grip - This is another excellent vent car mount for everyone but you unfortunates with round air vents. The Jellyfish Jelly grip will accommodate just about any other vent shape. This unit is great for larger devices; any phone up to 6 inches wide will do (and that would be quite the phone). You’ll find yourself able to “slide” your phone in and out, if you wish, but do be conscious that any buttons located on the side may be pressed when dismounting in this fashion.
Car mounts for cell phones are one of the modern essentials. For many of us, there’s no better bang for your buck than a $15 plastic contraption that turns your old Toyota into a smart car. Choose the right car mount for you, and you’ll feel like you’re driving in 2019, no matter what kind of vehicle you have.
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