You’ve got your car. You’ve got your iPhone. You want to use your iPhone in your car, but driving with a smartphone in your hand is supposedly dangerous — and can get pretty pricey if you get caught doing it in California and other states that mandate hands-free driving.
The Belkin Car Vent Mount is a low-cost, low-profile way to keep your phone within reach (and you on the right side of the law, depending on where you drive).
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Car vent mounts certainly aren’t a new concept, but this is an example of an iPhone accessory done right. The overall impression I get from using the Belkin Car Vent Mount for a few days can be boiled down to two words: sturdy and smart.
A metal interior frame and grippy rubber surfaces earn it the “sturdy.” A couple of simple but effective features earn it the “smart.”
Belkin Car Vent Mount puts your phone in a bear hug
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac
The rubbery inside surfaces of the Belkin Car Vent Mount’s smoothly expanding arms grip any smartphone (up to 5.5 inches) like a vise. The beefy rubber vent grip conceals a steel spring clip that attaches the mount to your car’s vent fins and holds them tight. A clever combination of materials and design means the vent grip relinquishes its hold on the fins without a fuss when it’s time to move the mount.
Since the rig is so small and light, it would make a great addition to your travel gear — just toss it in your bag, and you’re ready to use your smartphone for navigation and/or blasting tunes in your rental car. It’s much smaller than windshield-mounted holders, and also doesn’t obscure as much of your vision when you’re driving.
It’s an ugly truth: A gigantic iPhone 7 Plus dangling from your windshield isn’t a recipe for a commanding view of the road.
Little features make this smartphone vent mount a winner
Belkin’s designers added a couple of cool features to their compact vent mount as well. The vent grip ratchets securely, allowing you to switch your phone from portrait to landscape mode at will. Obviously, if you’ve got a charging cable attached, that will make things a bit cumbersome if you plan to spin it round and round like a pinwheel.
Speaking of that inevitable charging cable … Belkin built in an unobtrusive rubber cable grip system that will hold your cord in place. It’s a small touch, but it allows you to dress up your in-car installation.
The Belkin Car Vent Mount is designed to accommodate phones up to 5.5 inches, including ones in protective cases. However, if you use a leather wallet case like the awesome ones from Edward Field, the added bulk (and the cushiony feel of the leather around the edges) detracts from the mount’s ability to hold your phone in place. For “naked” phones, or phones with normal cases, it’s rock-solid.
Another consideration is the actual location of the vents in your car’s cockpit. Obviously, this can affect the usefulness of any vent mount. And it’s not recommended to mount a phone in front of a vent that’s blasting out heat, so keep that in mind.
Available for preorder now at $24.99, the Belkin Car Vent Mount seems like a steal for making your phone safe (and legal) in your car. After all, getting caught holding a phone can set you back plenty if you live in a nanny state: A first offense in California could cost you upward of $150, according to the legal experts at Nolo, even though the base fine is “only” $20.
If you’re still using your iPhone like an outlaw, it might be time to comply.
Belkin provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See Cult of Mac’s reviews policy and check out more stuff we recommend in our Best List reviews.
