Usage
A car holder for smartphone is a very useful accessory. It allows you to use your smartphone as a GPS, listen to music and make hands-free calls with a good bluetooth hands-free kit. It is also a great safety accessory because it allows you to look at the road instead of looking down or away from your smartphone.
If you already have a car mount that works well for your smartphone, there’s no reason to change it. But if your mount doesn’t work well or if you have a new, larger phone, you need to choose a new car mount. If you’ve upgraded from a small smartphone to a larger one, you’ll probably need a new mount. For a smartphone that supports induction charging, a wireless car charger is a solution that combines a charger with a car mount.
With an iPhone, a car mount allows you to take advantage of apps like Google Maps or Waze, which are reliable sources for mapping and displaying your real-time location and traffic. Other road navigation apps are also available.
Along with the car mount, a Bluetooth hands-free kit and a cigarette lighter charger are essential accessories for using your smartphone in the car.
A Bluetooth hands-free kit is a legal device for making calls while driving. Thanks to Bluetooth, it is possible to make hands-free calls with your smartphone while keeping your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
An FM transmitter can also be useful if you want to listen to music on your smartphone while driving. It connects to the car radio via the jack or FM signal. This allows you to listen to music with apps such as Deezer or Spotify.
Selection criteria
A car mount is useful for turning your iPhone or Samsung into a GPS. It is therefore a practical accessory for safety, as it allows you to look at the road instead of looking down or away to see your smartphone.
A good cell phone car mount should be first and foremost solid. The holder should not move or vibrate, even on bad roads. It should hold the smartphone securely while allowing you to change orientation with ease. It must be compatible with all sizes of smartphone.
A car phone mount should allow you to position your phone so that the screen is easy to see. Ideally, you should be able to easily change the angle and orientation of the phone in portrait or landscape mode.
Finally, a car phone holder for cell phones should be unobtrusive and easy to remove with one hand.
The different types of smartphone car mounts
There are different types of car holders for cell phones:
1. air vent car holder: this type of holder is small and very unobtrusive. It is easy to use. It usually fits all types of vents except round vents. Once the holder is fixed on a grille, the smartphone is attached to a magnetic magnet or a holding ring. The drawback of this system is that the smartphone gets hot if the heating is turned on. If the phone gets too hot, it can simply be turned off. And for newer smartphones that weigh more a mount like this may be too flimsy and not strong enough.
2. Car holder for CD player: this type of holder is a little less common. It fits the car’s CD player, which must be placed high enough on the dashboard. This is a practical solution if you don’t use the CD player at all. This is the most solid type of holder. Once properly mounted, the smartphone will not move or fall off. If your CD player is covered by a sliding door, this type of holder cannot be installed. The disadvantage of this system is that it can damage the player if the holder is not properly positioned.
3. Suction cup car mount: this type of mount is attached to the windshield or dashboard. But the attachment to the windshield is not always solid and blocks the view of the road. The suction cup leaves traces on the windshield. Some suction cup mounts attach directly to the dashboard. But you have to find a smooth place and the suction cup can also damage the dashboard. For all these reasons, a suction cup car mount is not a good solution.
The different ways to hang the phone
There are two ways to attach the cell phone to the car holder:
1. magnetic holder with magnet: Some holders for grills or CD players are magnetic. They allow you to attach the smartphone quickly and easily to a large magnet. This is the easiest type of holder to attach or remove the phone. This type of car holder is the most popular today. The advantage is that it is universal and fits smartphones of all sizes.
However, for the system to work it is necessary to stick a magnetic plate on the back of the smartphone or on its casing. This is a disadvantage: having a metal plate on the back of the phone is not very aesthetic. And if you want to use a wireless charger, the magnetic plate can get in the way.
2. Hang with a hoop: Unlike a magnet, a hoop mount has notches on each side that should hold the phone in place. These notches are expandable to fit the size of the phone. A good hoop mount will fit any type of phone and allows you to hold it with one hand.