Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 Car, Motorcycle and Home Mounts

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 sports a 1.2 Ghz quad-core processor, 16 GB of flash memory (ROM), 1.5 GB RAM memory and (unlike an iPad) the ability to use a micro SD card.  The 9.7″ diagonal display has the ability to display 16 million colors at 768 x 1024 pixels.  The tablet has excellent battery life at up to 15 hours between charges.  It comes with the Android 5.0 operating system.

The Galaxy Tab A 9.7 is an interestingly shaped tablet.  Not quite as large as a full size tablet but a little larger than a midsize tablet.  Not surprisingly, this makes finding a mount that fits this tablet an interesting exercise.  Without a case or skin, the tablet measures 9.55 x 6.57 x 0.30 inches which is very similar to an Apple iPad Air.  If you add a tablet, the size is going to increase, so measure it before selecting your mount.  We are recommending some tablet mounts with universal cradles.  But not just any universal cradle is going to do it.  The mounts for full size tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 are likely to be too large, some mounts that would fit a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 are going to be too small.  The mounts we recommend will fit your tablet without a case or skin for sure.  Most have some extra room so unless your case is super large, you should be ok using the recommended mounts even with a case or skin.

A popular place to mount your tablet in a car or truck is the windshield.  A tablet is a large device so you need a mount that not only has the right cradle size, but also comes with a mount that has an arm that is long enough to clear a sloped car windshield.  The Arkon Extendable Midsize Tablet Mount is an excellent choice for the car or truck.  The cradle is spring-loaded and expands up to 7.5 inches which is nearly an inch longer than the tablet so there’s some room if you add a case or skin.  The mount itself has a metal arm that can extend from 14.5 to 18.5 inches.  The cradle rotates 360 degrees so your tablet can be in portrait or landscape mode.  Lots of room between the tablet and windshield.  The suction cup has a vacuum lock to maintain a secure connection.  The metal arm will keep the tablet very steady in normal environments.  Be sure that you can use your windshield as a mounting point as a few states including California do not allow this.

This is a good size tablet and mounting it on your windshield takes up some real estate so for those that would prefer a different location, a spare cup holder makes a great place to mount your tablet.  If your cup holder is smaller than a 7-Eleven Big Gulp, most cup holder bases will fit fine.  The iKross Tablet and Cell Phone Cup Holder Mount is an excellent choice for your cup holder.  There are a few nice advantages with this mount.  It comes with two cradles.  One to fit your tablet and a smaller cradle to fit your phone.  The tablet mount expands from 7 to 10.2 inches.  That means that if you do not have a case or skin, the cradle will fit the longer dimension (portrait).  If a case or skin is present then you will use the arms on the shorter dimension (landscape).  The cradle can swivel 360 degrees into either orientation.  The mount has a 10-inch arm that can be adjusted at the base and tip.  These fit cup holders to 3.75 inches.

The motorcycle is a challenging place to mount this tablet.  It’s on the large side so you are going to need to ensure it is going to fit and not get in the way of safely riding.  The RAM Tab-Tite Cradle is a well made expandable cradle made to hold this tablet using a case or skin.  If you are going to use a tablet on a motorcycle, only do it with a case or skin to avoid damage from road debris.  The cradle expands from a height of 9.5 to 12.125 inches in height and the provided tray wings fit a width of 6.55 to 7.43 inches and depth of 0.3 to 0.875 inches.  This tablet cradle will connect to the RAM U-Bolt Mount which fits handlebars up to 1.25 inches diameter.  All of this comes with RAM’s lifetime warranty.  Before proceeding with this mount, be sure that it does not interfere with your safety.  RAM Mounts are among the best for motorcycles, but we always recommend tethering your device for added safety.

The CTA Digital Floor Stand for Tablets is an adjustable mount for using your tablet at home.  A hands-free home mount is useful if using your tablet in the kitchen for recipes, living room for video conferencing or bedroom for watching videos.  This beats laying down with the tablet sitting upright on your chest.  This stand includes an adjustable cradle that opens from 6 to 8 inches which means that you will hold your tablet from the short sides (landscape).  The cradle can rotate so you can use it in landscape or portrait mode.  The overall height is adjustable from approximately 3.5 to 4.6 feet with a flexible 15 inch steel gooseneck.