Most people think of dashboard smartphone mounts as a triple threat of badness: poorly made, barely functional and, given the richness of modern factory and aftermarket entertainment and navigation systems, unnecessary. The category conjures images of cheap plastic clips that manage to destroy themselves and your phone if you drive over a thick patch of highway paint.
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This is only because many people have never seen a well-made phone mount, like one made by RAM Mounts. They're a triple threat of a different kind: They're built rock-tough (I've had some RAM components in my cars for more than four years); they're rock-stable, with none of that bouncy-bouncy effect, and as a modular system, they're inexhaustibly adaptable.
RAM's $55 universal mount for large smartphones is three separate RAM products in a single box: a large twist-to-lock window suction cup, a clever X-arm grip that self-adjusts to securely hold many phones and a short arm connecting the two. Want to mount an iPad Mini instead? Pick up a larger X-grip. Need a longer arm for your new car? Want to mount a road-trip camera instead of a smartphone? Do you like the RAM so much you want to hard-mount it to the dash (literally "putting a ring on it")? You'll never need to buy a whole new apparatus.
I prefer my smartphone to any in-dash nav or entertainment system. Syncing is a breeze, and the software is almost always more sophisticated. And 30 seconds after I climb into a rental car, I've got my phone mounted in that familiar spot with those familiar apps for a nice touch of home.
Andy Ihnatko is a nationally known tech writer.
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