TaoTronics Car Air Vent Magnetic Smartphone Mount Review

TaoTronics Vent MountI became acquainted with the TaoTronics Car Air Vent Magnetic Smartphone Mount out of my attempt to mount my Apple iPhone in my brand new Nissan Murano.  It’s one of the hardest vehicles I have seen in terms of mounting a device.  The middle vents have a giant lip under them and I’m a big fan of vent mounts.  Knowing about the giant lip under the vents, I was searching for a mount that would attach to the slats and extend over the lip.

The photo that accompanies this article shows what you get in the small box.  There’s a decent instruction booklet, two good sized adhesive metal plates and the vent mount.  The metal adhesive plates are larger than most.  These will work on most phones and smaller GPS devices.  I think a tablet is going to be too heavy for this mount.

First let’s discuss how these mounts work.  The head of the TaoTronics vent mount has a strong magnet inside of it.  There metal plates with adhesive attach to the back of your phone or case.  Most will attach it to a case.  Generally speaking, adhesive plates do not stick well on rubber cases.  You will attach it to a hard plastic case.  in the case of my Otterbox Defender, it’s a two piece case.  I took off the rubber part and then pasted it to the plastic case.  Attach it halfway up so it’s weight balanced.  This will allow you to attach the phone in landscape or portrait.

The TaoTronics vent mount has a vice that opens and closes by turning a flywheel that’s located between the vice and the magnetic tip.  Since this vent mount has a vice, it’s going to attach to a vertical vent as well as horizontal.  The adapter has a knob for adjustment so you will want to tighten this before attaching your phone.

The thing I like about vent mounts is the absence of a cradle.  Attaching the phone to a magnetic mount is a lot faster than placing it into a universal cradle.  Not all magnetic mounts are made the same.  A lot aren’t strong enough to work through a case or skin.  Thankfully, the TaoTronics vent mount worked fine though my Otterbox skin.

A significant difference of the TaoTronics vent mount versus others that I have used is the added length between the vent and magnetic mounting adapter.  It adds about an inch versus the typical flush mounts that attach to a vent.  It allows the phone to be attached to the mount and allow some clearance between the phone and vent.

So you might be asking yourself how it worked out on my 2016 Nissan Murano.  It didn’t.  That lip protrudes so far forward that it got in the way of my phone attaching to it.  Fortunately I was able to use it on my other car, a Kia Sorento.  I may also bring it along on travel for a rental car.

The TaoTronics Car Air Vent Magnetic Smartphone Mount is a well made mount and easy to use.  I recommend it for someone (other than a Murano owner) with a normal dashboard looking for a good magnetic car mount for their phone.