Home Tachnologies Best Car Phone Mount for 2023

Best Car Phone Mount for 2023

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Best Car Phone Mount for 2023

$50 at Amazon

The iOttie Auto Sense Qi Wireless Car Charger has auto clamping arms

iOttie Auto Sense wireless car charger

Premium automatic clamping

$32 at Amazon

The Upgraded Zeehoo wireless car mount is an excellent value

Upgraded ZeeHoo wireless car charger

Best value for feature set

$21 at Amazon

The iOttie Easy One Touch 5 sells for less than $25.

iOttie Easy One Touch 5 (2nd Gen)

Top dashboard phone mount under $25

$39 at Walmart

The Scosche Magic Mount Pro 2 has an swing-arm and strong magnet

Scosche Magic Mount Pro 2

Top magnetic car mount with multiple mounting options

$20 at Amazon

The Awelbuy Car Phone Holder has a base that swivels

Awelbuy Cell Phone Holder for cars

Affordable collapsible dashboard mount

$42 at Amazon

The Belkin Boost Charge magnetic wireless charger is MagSafe compatible

Belkin BoostCharge Magnetic Wireless Car Charger

Best magnetic wireless car charger

$18 at Amazon

ZealSound Qi-Certified Car Charge Slim Pad Station Dock

Spigen Mag Fit phone holder car mount

Affordable Apple MagSafe wireless charger compatible mount

$16 at Amazon

The Tecknet cup phone holder has a flexible gooseneck

Tecknet Cup phone holder

Top cheap cup holder mount with gooseneck

$17 at Amazon

Ainope Mini Fast USB Car Charger

Ainope Mini Fast USB car charger

Best fast-charging USB-C cigarette lighter adapter

If you’re someone who spends a lot of time in your car, having a good car phone mount can be incredibly convenient. These days, you can find a variety of car phone mounts depending on the use case. For instance, some might need a car phone mount (aka a phone car mount) for their dashboard, while others might need a cupholder mount or a car vent mount. Some mounts have a sensor that automatically opens the arms when you place your phone near the mount. Others clamp manually or have a magnetic surface that requires a phone or case with a magnetic element. And some magnetic mounts are fully compatible with Apple MagSafe wireless charging (up to 15 watts), which means they’ve been certified by Apple as a MagSafe accessory.

Note that just because a mount offers wireless charging, that doesn’t mean there are no wires involved — you’ll still need to connect the charger to your vehicle, but you don’t have to plug the charger in to your phone each time to charge it. To get the fastest wired and wireless charging speeds available for iPhones and Android smartphones, you’ll need a power adapter that offers fast charging (most fast chargers have a USB-C connection and can deliver at least 20 watts of power). 

CNET experts have tested and reviewed all the products on this list in their own cars. We update this roundup periodically as new car phone mounts are released.  

Read more: Best MagSafe Accessories for 2023

The iOttie Auto Sense Qi Wireless Car Charger has auto clamping arms

Amazon

iOttie’s “autosense” automatic clamping wireless car charger with a phone mount is one of the best out there. While it’s pricey, we’ve seen some nice discounts on it recently. The Auto Sense Automatic Clamping Qi Charging Car Phone Mount is available in a dashboard mount version or a CD, cup holder and vent clip version (I tried the dashboard wireless charging mount). This wireless car charger mount has a nicely designed telescoping arm, a strong suction cup, and the wireless charging mount feature is compatible with most phone cases. You get 7.5-watt charging for an iPhone and 10-watt charging for Android phones, which is considered fast wireless charging.

Read more: 8 Best Wireless Car Chargers for 2023

The Upgraded Zeehoo wireless car mount is an excellent value

Amazon

If you don’t mind going with a no-name brand like ZeeHoo, its wireless car charger has most of the features you want for phone charging, including autoclamping, a secure suction cup that can be installed on your car’s air vent, windshield or dashboard. It has USB-C and up to 15-watt fast charging for Android phones that support it (iPhones are capped at 7.5-watt charging). This upgraded version has a sleeker design than the original (see below) and it costs about $20 less than the iOttie above. However, this wireless charger doesn’t come with a cigarette lighter adapter — only a USB-C cable.

The iOttie Easy One Touch 5 sells for less than $25.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

If you don’t want wireless charging or arms or a mount with arms that open automatically, iOttie’s tried and true Easy One Touch 5 is a solid mount for just under $25. You can pick up the first-gen version of the mount for $17, but this improved model has a telescoping arm.  

The Belkin Car Vent Mount Pro with MagSafe has a powerful magnet

Belkin

Belkin’s Car Vent Mount Pro with MagSafe technically isn’t a charger. It’s just a certified MagSafe vent mount. Belkin also has a wireless charging version of this (it costs $40 without the car charger, $60 with it), but you’d have to connect a cable to it anyway for charging. The advantage of a wireless version would be that unlike with this vent mount, you wouldn’t have to plug a cable into your phone every time you want to charge it. I have a USB-C-to-Lightning cable set up in the car for fast charging, but I don’t love the extra step of having to plug in the cable each time I want to charge the phone.

The Scosche Magic Mount Pro 2 has an swing-arm and strong magnet

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

I used the Scosche Magic Mount Pro 2 for a couple of weeks and it’s got a strong magnet (I have an iPhone 14 Pro with a MagSafe case) and the swing-arm allows for some good flexibility as far as positioning your phone goes. Note that this isn’t a wireless car mount, so you’ll have to plug a cable into your phone. The main advantage it has over other magnetic car mounts is the arm design. I use the car-vent option but you can mount it on a dashboard. Most people will use the air-vent option, though.

The Awelbuy Car Phone Holder has a base that swivels

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

I installed this phone holder  in my car because I didn’t want to have anything sticking up from my dashboard when I wasn’t using the holder. It’s got a clamshell design and you just open the top lid and set your phone inside. You can also prop your phone up vertically if you want, but I mainly keep my phone sitting horizontally in the holder. The base swivels, which is nice.

The Belkin Boost Charge magnetic wireless charger is MagSafe compatible

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

Belkin makes a MagSafe car-vent mount that costs around $40 (see above), as well as the BoostCharge Pro ($100), which is Apple-certified and wirelessly charges iPhones at up to 15 watts. And while this model — the Belkin BoostCharge Magnetic Wireless Car Charger — only charges iPhones at up to 10 watts, it’s more affordable at around $60. Its USB-C cable is removable (it’s integrated on BoostCharge Pro) and you get a 20-watt cigarette-lighter power adapter. I personally like a car power adapter with two USB-C ports so a passenger can plug in a cable and also charge his or her phone, but you can always opt to add that later. 

ZealSound Qi-Certified Car Charge Slim Pad Station Dock

Amazon

If you’ve already got Apple’s MagSafe wireless charging puck, this Spigen mounting accessory is a good option for bringing it into your car. As I said, the MagSafe wireless charger isn’t included. Nor is a USB-C cigarette lighter adapter. But at $18, this is a fairly affordable magnetic mounting accessory.

The Tecknet cup phone holder has a flexible gooseneck

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

Some people like cup holder phone mounts, but be aware that they’ll take up space in one of your cup holders. While it’s pretty generic, the Tecknet is a good value if you’re looking for this type of mount, which has a flexible gooseneck so you can better position your phone for viewing. It also comes with a car-vent mount and has a one-touch release mechanism. 

Ainope Mini Fast USB Car Charger

Aukey

OK, so this isn’t a wireless charger, but a lot of the wireless car chargers on this list don’t include a cigarette-lighter power adapter, so I thought I’d throw this on the list at the end. I originally had an Aukey power adapter on this list, but it’s out of stock and this low-profile Ainope mini fast USB Car Charger offers even faster charging (up 24 watts) and costs less. It has both a USB-C and USB-A port so you can charge two devices at the same time, but to get 15-watt wireless charging you’re going to be better off charging one device.

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