Vehicle phone holder?

[JimS]

Looking for a good phone holder for a vehicle. I have a CD player in the older vehicle and have a fairly good one that fits in the slot. It clamps the sides of the phone. Recently used a magnetic one that uses a small steel plate in the case and liked the ease of use - just place it on the magnet on the mount. The clamp ones need two hands.

For the newer vehicle need a good solution. The surface just below the windshield is non-magnetic - a magnet doesn't stick. There is a section just above the radio that sticks a couple inches above the rest of the surface and the side facing the windshield is steel so a magnet does stick to that.

There are a number of stick on holders but I am concerned with the adhesive breaking down over time and heat of sun on it. Most of them say they are moveable and don't leave residue but I am very skeptical of those claims. I don't long term marks on the dash.

There are some that have a small J hook that clamp to a vent vane. I checked how sturdy the vent vanes are in both vehicles and they are quite rigid. There is some risk of breakage of course but I think it is minimal. One ad for this type holder shows 10 lbs hanging from it. I wouldn't want to try that but this type seem like the best. They have a magnet for holding the phone although there may be models with spring clamp too.

Another option is suction cup to the windshield. These work fairly well until they fall off. They block the view a little, especially for shorter people.

What have others found that work well?

 

[sic0048]

I use one of the sticky suction cup types in my vehicles. They do stay put very well, even in the hot sun. I might have the mount fall off once a year in each vehicle. They will leave a sticky residue if you remove it, but I've never had any trouble cleaning it up with a little cleaner and elbow grease. Certainly nothing that has permanently marred my dash in any way.

I just checked any the version i have is no longer available, but has been replaced by this......

https://smile.amazon.com/iOttie-Dashboard-Windshield-Samsung-Smartphones-dp-B0875RKTQF/dp/B0875RKTQF/ref=dp_ob_title_wld

 

[pete_c]

Here just purchased a side mount phone holders (Panavise) for my two bimmers and lexus. You have to remove the trim to mount these all metal holders. Also purchased a plastic wedge kit to remove the trim.

For the phone itself use an iBOLT clip and power the phone via a small Bucky transformer and with the thin cable to the bottom of the phone mount. The metal mount was more than the iBolt clip.

Everything purchased on Amazon. Just installed a Panavise in Lexus with the iBOLT clip. I had to remove the trim around the radio in the Lexus and bimmers. The metal mounts used one of the radio mount screws and bolts under trim. Very sturdy. Tapped the power there too.

Looks harder to do that it really is.

For power to Android phone purchased these.