Car phone holder for mobile in case

[AnthonyL]

I like to keep my mobile in a case, ie one that has a flap to go over the screen.

Thus far all car phone holders seem to have sides that only want to grip phones that do not have a case.

I'm quite impressed with what I've seen of the

Blukar Car Phone Holder, Air Vent Car Phone Mount Cradle 360

It has a hook to secure the cradle rather than rely on spring tension which has seen my phone flying off more than once. But trying the one a friend had still suffered from the lack of depth of the side holders. I'm tempted to get one and add extensions.

Any solutions out there?

Note: Windscreen sucker solutions don't work. The screen is too far forward and the summer sun soon does away with the suction. Why don't cars have a nice flat surface to attach/stick on to?

[alan_m]

Because they now have screens of their own and can interface to your phone and/or have their own inbuilt sat nav.

[Joe]

A fair number of taxis are Priuses, which are quite fancy cars. The drivers all use *two* mobile phones running different satnavs, stuck to the windscreen. Most built-in satnavs aren't connected to the Net.

[charles]

The one on my Enyaq is. I get all the latest traffic info. Very useful this afternoon.

[Bob Eager]

Same on my S-Max. It gets constant traffic updates and will re-route round problems.

It also uses its net connection to advise me if anyone gets into the car outside specified hours, and tells me other stuff such as fuel level, etc remotely.

Definitely connected!

[Rod Speed]

None of ours do and none are Priuses either.

He isnt talking about built in satnavs, he is talking about Apple Carplay and Android Auto which miirror the smartphone screen on the built in screen in the car,

[Jethro_uk]

Air vent ?

[AnthonyL]

Air vent is what the Blukar that I quoted above is, and a good latching system too. As the link you provided shows there are lots of options, but none of them seem to have side grips long enough to hold a phone that has a case around it which is what my OP was trying to address.

No one yet has come up with an alternative.

[The Natural Philosopher]

This problem is a classic case for a custom designed 3D printed soluytion, very D-I-Y...

[alan_m]

So if its mirrored does the phone need to be in a holder at all?

[alan_m]

You may find that one of the displays is running the bespoke taxi software that links to their phone in booking centre.

[Theo]

At least one of those will be their taxi app, eg Uber or similar. Some drivers drive for multiple networks, so they might have a phone for each network. Or a screen for their taxi app and a screen for navigation/calls/etc.

Many modern cars are connected to the net, whether you want them to or not, but the satnavs may not be ideal for taxi use, eg not getting up to the minute traffic and incidents like you do with apps like Waze.

Also, you don't necessarily want to share your taxi-driver stuff with the passengers who can see the main screen.

Theo

[NY]

That assumes your car a) has such a screen, and b) that it will mirror the phone screen onto the car's screen. My Peugeot has no screen (it's far too old) and our Honda has a screen but I've not found a way of mirroring the phone screen onto the car screen, either by USB or Bluetooth.

I tend to put my phone on the centre console between the front seats, further back than the gear lever near the space for drinks cans. I can't see the screen from there, unless I look away from the road, but it is a good place for stopping the phone from rolling around while allowing it to receive power (a long journey with GPS and satnav software running will flatten the battery within an hour or so), so I can *hear* the spoken instructions which is all I need most of the time.

In the Honda, we had built in Garmin satnav, so it's only in my old Pug that I need satnav for any journeys that I don't already know like the back of my hand.

[NY]

Yes, but one of those is already occupied by the hands-free control unit (answer/end call, select number to call from phone's address book) and if I cover the other with the phone I won't get any fresh air onto my face.

It's a shame that car designers think that a phone stuck onto the windscreen is an acceptable place place to put it. It's the last place I'd use because a) it blocks part of my view through the windscreen, and b) it would be too far away to comfortably operate the phone (eg to program in a postcode destination, even if you do it when you are safely parked).

[NY]

It's a classic case for a generic attachment between any case and any air-vent latch so a phone in a case can be latched onto the air vent without needing a proprietary solution that is specific to that case.

It's like phone holders for bicycles. They are often made only just wide enough or long enough to take a "naked" phone, and one in a fold-over case won't fit, especially if it has a USB power lead attached. There is also the problem with a lot of those phone holders that they rely on velcro straps around the handlebar which don't grip it solidly so the holder falls forwards until the screen is facing towards your knees, or else it bounces up and down; what is needed is a solid, preferably metal, clamp which can be very firmly screwed to the handlebars.

[Robin]

I managed to get a case like that sort of working with a magnetic mount by putting steel inside a slot for credit cards etc and holding the cover back with elastic. But it wobbled about and the elastic got in the way. Concluded better to stick steel on the back of a cheap gel case for the user to put the phone in when driving.

[Clive Arthur]

I solved the same problem, but can't find the item I used. However, it was very much like eBay item number 266255276102. I use it 'vertically', that is, clamping the phone top and bottom, and I did enlarge the gap on the bottom for the charger lead. Mine's a pretty chunky phone and it fits fine in its case with the lid folded behind.

[Andy Burns]

Brodit does a system where you pair a bracket suitable for your car (air vent, or dash) with a clip suitable for your type of phone ...

[Bob Eager]

I was trying to remember the name!

Not cheap, but I've had a number of components (changing phones, changing cars) and they were a good solution.

[Rod Speed]

More bullshit given so many use that sort of case.