by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 12/05/2017 at 17:19
by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 12/05/2017 at 17:19
No Tags
STARS: 3
My 335xi and my wife’s Impreza have awful factory navigation systems that aren’t as good as Google Maps, and no Android Auto. Entering addresses with my iDrive knob is annoying, but I occasionally use it. My wife has no patience for tap-typing addresses on her car’s idiotic screen. Enter, phone mounts!
I already own a couple of Koomus phone mounts, neither of which I particularly like. I basically only subject rental cars to them anymore. The first one I tried was this vent mount :
I’m not opposed to the idea of a vent mount but this particular vent mount has a weird C-clip that only fits in certain vents and generally is bad at staying in one place. It grips the vent poorly and the vent slats move around which moves the mount.
In spite of my experience with this mount, for some reason I went back and got a Koomus CD slot mount mount . I think I chose it because I figured the CD slot mount would be more stable and I like Koomus’ simple claw designs for holding the phone.
The problem with this mount, however, is the mechanism to clamp inside the CD slot can smush the little felt liner inside some CD slots, if they have this felt. The reviews mentioned this possibility and I stupidly tried it in my 135is toward the end of my time leasing it. Yup, it messed up the felt.
I didn’t care too much because BMW did not penalize me for returning the car with slightly mangled CD slot felt. I’ve brought this one when I fly somewhere and rent a car because it’s at least stable, and whatever, I’ll be that guy whose phone mount messed up rental car CD slot felt. Sue me.
Last week, my wife and I were going somewhere in her car, and she once again decided to pull up navigation in Google Maps. I don’t often get to use the in-dash navigation in her car because it blocks you from entering an address while moving, and my wife gets impatient with me if I sit in the parked car tap-typing an address into the navigation.
So she put the directions in her phone, and then dropped the phone in the little bin in front of the shifter, where I couldn’t see it at all.
Then I realized, wait a sec, I’m going to pop this up on the top of the dash and use the little hood over the trip computer as a back stop for the phone. It wasn’t exactly secure, but at least the directions were now in my line of sight, and this was a quick trip to somewhere in town that we just weren’t familiar with.
This spot worked out so well that I decided to try and find a car phone mount that would use this same location. But in looking at the different suction cup arm claw things, they all looked overly fiddly and I didn’t want to give one to my wife like, “here, you figure out all these knobs and claws and shit.”
Somewhere along the way in my shopping, I found the incredibly simple phone mount/banana holder pictured at the top of this post. Here’s what it looks like holding a phone:
Thinking about it, I realized this thing seemed so ridiculously simple but also kinda perfect for what I have in mind for my wife’s car. It’s literally just a pop-up phone backstop to put in the trip computer nook. Sure, you can’t see the trip computer, but whatever, that’s not that important. Simplicity rules the day when I buy tech crap for my wife. Here’s what it looks like stuck on the dash of someone’s Cadillac(?).
So, I ordered the damn thing, and it’s going to be a stocking stuffer. Inspired by my success in finding a weird phone mount ideally suited to the nook at the top of my wife’s car’s dash, I decided to see if I could find a mount for my car.
Right now, I usually plop my phone in the nook in front of the shifter, and occasionally pick it up to control my music, if needed. For navigation, if I want it to be in my line of sight, I can lean it on the iDrive screen but that’s only slightly more ideal than balancing my wife’s phone against her trip computer hood. I didn’t want a dash-top mount because then the phone would be way up high out of reach, or hanging down in front of the iDrive screen. I didn’t want to fuck with a vent mount because BMW vents suck for vent mounts.
I may very well have found something that will do the trick though. Enter what I’m calling the Bestrix upside-down goose neck dash mount .
This could be pretty awesome for my use because the suction cup can be stuck on the flat surface below the iDrive screen, while positioning the phone in front of the vent, and (mostly) not blocking the iDrive screen for other vehicle functions. Here it is in some random car with a blissfully large volume knob.
Then I went OCD and figured out that this is a ~2011 Mazda CX-9.
Anyway, the mount is kinda ugly shiny black plastic with shiny silver accents, but I don’t use my phone for navigation all that much, so it’ll probably live in my armrest console and be brought out for those occasions, where it could be perfect.
I know phone dash mounts are far from exciting, but I don’t care. I’m excited about these dash mounts, dammit!
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
12/05/2017 at 17:24, STARS: 0
I use a MarsBoy and couldn’t be happier with it. Stick it onto your phone’s case (not directly to the phone as shown) and it’s perfect. The side that you stick onto your dash leaves absolutely no residue when you pull it off.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 17:32, STARS: 1
Both of our phones have clear cases on them thus no magnetic mounts because the little magnet discs are clearly visible through the case.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
12/05/2017 at 17:37, STARS: 0
That neat clam-style holder reminds me of how much I dislike curvy dashboards that don’t have any flat surfaces. Makes me miss my old LeSabre and its shelves:
(Mine was red, tho...)
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
12/05/2017 at 17:38, STARS: 0
A true hippie wouldn’t restrain his banana in full sight of the freedom it can’t quite reach. He would only have free range bananas.
"TheRevanchist" (therevanchist)
12/05/2017 at 17:42, STARS: 0
I tried a vent mounted holder during the summer and the cold air from the vents kept causing my phone to shut down.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 17:57, STARS: 0
Not my car or my banana.
"E92M3" (E46M3)
12/05/2017 at 18:04, STARS: 0
Here’s what I use.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 18:06, STARS: 0
I considered a vent mount with the prongs that stick into the vent because that might keep the vent slats from moving around. But I don’t want a magnetic mount because I have my phone in a clear case and there’s nowhere to hide the little magnet disc.
"Chinny Raccoon" (chinnyraccoon)
12/05/2017 at 18:07, STARS: 0
Brodit proclip is the King of dash mounts. Perfectly made to each individual car- they are more expensive than the generic ones but are much better quality.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 18:11, STARS: 0
Looks interesting but I can’t find anywhere to buy them in the US.
"R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet" (r-saldana)
12/05/2017 at 18:12, STARS: 0
Bruh the chicken fried tofu at Whole foods is literally like actual crack for me. Probably my favorite savory non-Thai food.
"E92M3" (E46M3)
12/05/2017 at 18:15, STARS: 1
Get a different case maybe? I’d rather see the little metal plate on my phone than that big banana mount on my dash. It’s so convenient, I could never go back to a spring loaded mount.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 18:16, STARS: 1
I’m working on increasing my vegan cooking repertoire.
My favorite way to do tofu so far is to dry it on paper towels, cut the block into 3 sheets, then cross-wise so it’s 8 triangles by 3 sheets. Slap those on my electric griddle with some peanut oil, then mix up some fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, shaoxing wine, and sesame oil, get that stuff going in the wok, and toss the crisped up tofu triangles in there until they get nice and glazed with the sauce.
Eventually I want to get to the level of this place in Portland (because of course it’s in Portland).
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 18:17, STARS: 0
Neither of us uses our phones in the car all that much that we’re mounting them on the regular. The mounts will be stashed away most of the time and brought out as needed.
"Montalvo" (m5goesroundtheoutside)
12/05/2017 at 18:26, STARS: 0
I have a secret for you about BMWs and this will depend on the size of your phone. The driver’s side cupholder is the perfect size for my phone and the empty space at the bottom allows me to plug everything into it no problems.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 18:29, STARS: 0
Just tried to put my phone in my cup holder. Unfortunately, like many beverages, it doesn’t fit.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
12/05/2017 at 18:36, STARS: 0
Good. But then you participate in the dissemination of blatant images of produce torture? For shame.
"Montalvo" (m5goesroundtheoutside)
12/05/2017 at 19:02, STARS: 0
Well it was worth a shot. Just for reference for anyone else wanting to try, the width of my phone is 2.94"
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
12/05/2017 at 19:11, STARS: 0
I really like CD slot mounts. Not like I am ever going to use the CD player anyways! It works quite well in my Miata since the CD player is broken as well. The only issue is that I have to remove it when doing some really hard driving since switching between the shifter and steering wheel in a hurry sometimes hits that mount on my hand which is annoying. It really is the perfect position for a phone though in that car. I HATE suction cup mounts to the windshield since they almost never work.
I havent quite figured out a good place for my phone in the STi yet since I actually have to use the CD player. Its a 6CD changer and its my only source of music so I need access frequently. I had planned to try a vent mount but I could see why that is an issue. My ultimate goal is to just have android auto on an aftermarket unit, then i dont ever need my phone mounted and can just toss it in the center console.
"facw" (facw)
12/05/2017 at 19:39, STARS: 0
I’ve got this ugly thing:
I do not recommend it. A pity no one makes phone-specific mounts anymore, I’ve yet to find a generic one that I like.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
12/05/2017 at 19:53, STARS: 0
I too am guilty of getting too excited over phone mounts. For the past few cars I had an old adjustable clamp style mount double sided taped to a flat portion of my dash/center console. Never up high though, I like to keep my phone out of sight.
For the RAM there is no such flat surface, so after thinking of getting something to screw/tape into the slide out drawer that loosely holds my phone:
I found the perfect one! And oddly enough its named a RAM Mount.
But they’re pricey. And I like the rubber grippy mount that upscale RAMs come with (to the left of the cupholders):
So before chucking one in the garbage for a warranty concern at work, I scaveneged the rubbery phone holder bits, and stuck them in my drawer!
It holds quite well, and MAY become a permanent solution... and I might even take a picture of it someday!
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
12/05/2017 at 20:01, STARS: 1
CD slot mount in my car would put the phone right in front of the climate controls. Also the one I have would probably mess up the slot felt.
"gin-san - shitpost specialist" (gin-san-)
12/05/2017 at 20:05, STARS: 0
I have the same one and it has worked well for me - biggest issue so far is that when I got my S7 Edge I got the folding cover for it and it doesn’t hold the phone properly with it on. A regular case that doesn’t cover the screen (like my old phone) was fine but it’s an inconvenience with my current phone & case.
At this point, I’ll wait for it to break before I get a new one.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
12/05/2017 at 20:07, STARS: 0
My climate controls are located at the top of the windshield. Top up for warmer, top down for cooler. Although its kind of the opposite in the summer time.
"R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet" (r-saldana)
12/05/2017 at 21:36, STARS: 0
I don’t do all that fancy cooking, I have literally no palate for fancy things. All I know is I hate the taste and texture of coconut, like to keep a low intake of animal proteins, and like strong black columbian or cuban coffee.
In reflection that reads like Forrest Gump said it.