The Arkon RoadVise Smartphone Holder is a cradle that’s designed to use in rugged environments such as a motorcycle.
This is a good multi-purpose cradle as it can be used for smartphones as well as a GPS. This isn’t one of those cradles made to operate with one hand. You will need two hands to open and close due to the fact that the grip is purposely made to form a firm grip around your device. The sides of the grips are padded to prevent marring and opens to 4 inches. That’s a fairly sizable opening for a cradle. To put it into perspective, an Apple iPhone 6 Plus is 3.06 inches wide, a Samsung Note 5 is 3.00 inches wide and a Garmin Nuvi 65LM is 3.7 inches wide (and that is a 6″ diagonal screen GPS). So we are looking at a cradle that has the potential to grip the largest smartphone and even a decent sized GPS.
Unlike many other cradles, this one doesn’t get in the way of your camera. The cradle grips your phone from the sides so the camera lens will not be obstructed making it easier to record a video of your ride. Just set it up prior to your ride, make any mount adjustments and off you go.
Many of Arkon’s latest mounts are designed around the 17mm ball and socket pattern so it’s no surprise that the RoadVise follows this trend. The RoadVise includes a locking nut to tighten the grip around the 17mm ball tightly. Arkon has chosen to bundle the RoadVise with a variety of their mounts including several handlebar and car mounts.
The photo that accompanies this article is the Arkon RoadVise Motorcycle Mount with my Apple iPhone 5s encased in an Otterbox Defender Case. It comfortably fits within the RoadVise grip. The included handlebar mount is constructed of plastic and fits bars up to a 1.25 inch diameter and includes rubber strips to prevent marring of chrome surfaces. The ball and socket design allows full swivel for your device to be used in landscape or portrait mode. The mount uses two bolts to secure to your handlebar. A screwdriver is needed for installation. Once it’s on your handlebar, it’s generally not removed but your RoadVise cradle can easily be removed from the mount if necessary.
The Arkon Chrome RoadVise Handlebar Mount is an upgraded version of the previously mentioned model. This mount is constructed of chrome plated aluminum and fits handlebars up to 1.5 inches. The mount attaches to your handlebars using an included hex key. The mounting base features the 17mm ball so it can double as a good Garmin Nuvi GPS mount using the cradle that came with your unit when not using it for a smartphone.
The Arkon RoadVise Sticky Dash and Windshield Mount is a good choice for use on a textured dashboard. The sticky suction car mount bonds to smooth and slightly textured surfaces. The sticky bottom can be recharged by simply washing it in some warm soapy water. It includes a ball and socket design with adjustment points at the base and the tip. Like the other mounts, this can also be rotated 360 degrees for landscape or portrait use. There is an adjustment point at the base allow manipulation of the height. The mount comes with an adhesive disk that can be paired with this mount if you would prefer to use that instead of the sticky base.
One handy note: The 17mm socket on the back of the RoadVise grip is common to several other company’s mounts including a Garmin Nuvi GPS. This allows the Arkon cradle to be used with the very popular Garmin Bean Bag Dash Mount which we have written about many times before. Given the emergence of smartphone applications such as Waze many GPS owners are migrating to applications on their phone. The RoadVise grip is a good addition to the Garmin mount you may already have sitting on your dash and will enable it to hold your smartphone.