The front of the box.

The back of the box.

The iOttie Easy One Touch 3 Car Mount comes in three pieces. The first is the mount base, which features a unique telescoping arm. The second is the smartphone cradle, which supports devices up to 3.5 inches wide (and nothing shorter than 2.3 inches), which, for reference purposes is more than enough for my oversized Apple iPhone 6 Plus in Rokform case. The third is the Dashboard Gel Pad, which allows you to mount this on your vehicle’s dashboard, even with today’s heavily textured surfaces.

The package contents.

Out of the wrappers.

The arm at maximum telescope.

Another view of the cradle.

Installation is simple:

1. Connect the cradle to the ball joint on the mount base.
2. Decide whether you’re going to dashboard (use the gel pad) or windshield mount. Either way, the connection is extraordinarily secure even before you pull down the lever to secure the mount (in fact, I repositioned the mount on my windshield once already and it was quite difficult to remove!).
3. Pull down the lever to secure the mount.
4. Tighten all knobs.
5. Press the release bars on the cradle into the locking position.
6. Press your smartphone against the “Easy One Touch Trigger,” which will automatically close the arms, securing your device. Adjust the bottom foot support as necessary.

My Apple iPhone 6 Plus in the mount.

You can then make any other adjustments you need, including the length of the telescoping arm. I really can’t imagine there wouldn’t be a way you wouldn’t be able adjust this to exactly how you want to see your smartphone. This is a definite recommendation if you’re in the market for a premium smartphone car mount.

How my phone is mounted in my car.

Another angle.

It’s easy to position into portrait.

Thanks to iOttie for the review unit.

The post Review: iOttie Easy One Touch 3 Car Mount appeared first on Armchair Arcade.

The box for the iPow Universal Car Mount.

With a stretchable clamp that can go as wide as 3.54 inches (90 mm), the iPow Universal Car Mount is designed to accommodate even the largest of these oversized phones. For reference, the Apple iPhone 6 Plus is 3.06 inches (77.8 mm) wide and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is 3.09 inches (78.6 mm) wide, so that leaves plenty of wiggle room for the future.

The contents of the box.

The iPow Universal Car Mount is packaged in the form of three basic pieces. One piece is the double bracket clip that you squeeze to secure your phone, another piece is the gooseneck rod that’s attached to the suction cup and pressure switch, and the third piece is the barrel screw that joins those two other pieces together. As you would expect, assembling this is simple and intuitive.

Once you remove the protective plastic from the suction cup, you stick it to your windshield or dashboard, then lock the pressure switch. The suction cup is slightly tacky, which, combined with the pressure switch, makes for an incredibly secure connection.

My iPhone 6 Plus in the iPow Universal Car Mount on my car’s windshield.

Once your phone is in place, it’s easy to pivot your phone in either portrait or landscape modes. In my tests with my iPhone 6 Plus using this 360 degree rotation feature, I had no issues with turning my phone exactly as I liked it, particularly with how easy it was to also adjust the gooseneck rod.

At only $11.95 on Amazon right now, the iPow Universal Car Mount is a great value that gets the job done. My only real criticism is that I noticed the occasional jiggle when driving. Unfortunately, that’s just about unavoidable with a product that’s as adjustable as this one is.

Thanks to iPow for the review unit.

The post Review: iPow Universal Car Mount appeared first on Armchair Arcade.