i.Trek Beanbag Friction Dash Mount with Universal Bracket/Cradle for Devices up to 5-Inch Screen - Black

I used this product for the first time recently on a short trip (50 miles) using the Mapquest voice GPs to find my destination. WOW, this is the product for me. No suction cups, no silly looking things stuck in your air vents, and once you don't need it you can tuck it away out of sight in the center console or glove box. It uses no suction to adhere the holder to the beanbag base. It securely holds the phone at a convenient distance on my dash where voice and screen instructions are are easily heard and seen. It holds my Samsung Galaxy s3 (with case) securely and there is no bouncing of the phone once it is secure. The mount does not move on the dash at all and stays exactly where I put it. This is the answer I have been looking for and I highly recommend it. Not sure how it will work for a GPS unit but the two GPS systems on my phone (Mapquest and Google maps) are both superior to my old Tom Tom, and that is not a consideration for me. If your GPS unit is no bigger than my Galaxy s3 (with case) it should work fine. Whoever designed this unit was thinking!By the way, the free version of Mapquest that I have uses "real time traffic" info and steered me around two time consuming traffic bottle necks on my trip.Pros:* Easy to assemble* No suction cups to deal with* Holds phone quite securely, and simply* Does not slide on my dash* Out of site when not in use* Viewing angle is easily adjustable while in use.* All phone controls are available while in the holderCons:* What's not to like! Haven't found anything yet.

I used this for my iphone 5c and when it was working it was great. The bean bag which sits on top of the dashboard was very solid. It never slipped once! Including hard stopping and quick turns in both my truck and car. The clamp which holds your device is Very strong. My wife found it a little difficult to squeeze, but that is a good thing. The other thing is that your phone will be sitting pretty high up off the dashboard and there is no adjustment for that. If your windshield slope close to your dashboard you may not be able to use it.There are four parts that are assembled to form the pictured product. They are:1) Clamp2) plastic retaining nut3) "goosneck" swivel arm4) beanbag base with receiver and lockThe plastic retaining nut is tightend to adjust the angle of the clamp holding your device. If it is not tight enough, the clamp will flop straight down and you will not be able to view your device. My retaining nut broke. It is a compression type nut so you cannot just run to the hardware store for a replacement. I was able to use gorilla glue and it held for a while. However, after that fix, the lever which allows the gooseneck to attach to the base came off. I have been unable to re-attach it. I tried to contact the seller but have not received any response. I did get three good months but that is not enough.

I just received and assembled mine. It looks almost identical to my  Garmin Portable Friction Mount - Frustration Free Packaging , which I like very much. (I hate dealing with pressure ore glue mounts: they get dirty, don't always stick, leave residue, and are more prone to shaking.)In fact the only notable difference is the arm that you attach at the top. Instead of the Garmin's fixed plastic clamp, which can only grip Garmin devices, this one can grip most anything. I successfully mounted my iphone 5, and contrary to what another reviewer said, I CAN rotate my iphone 360 degrees. Both landscape and normal views are possible if you want them.It can clearly hold a phone an inch wider than an iphone 5 if it needs toI actually love the handle you use to open and close the clamp. There is a little outcropping on the bottom that makes it easy to open and close the clamp with your index finger and thumb, in spite of the considerable force the spring is exerting.The red stuff you see in the photo is some kind of grooved rubber, so the clamp can hold your phone/gps fixed without scratching it.The material on the bottom has a lot of friction. I challenge anyone to slide it more than a millimeter without lifting it off the table or breaking the top plastic part clean off. I don't see this every sliding around my dashboard.In short, if you like the Garmin one, you'll probably like this one even more. It can hold your phone, and your Garmin if you want it to. (Actually, the base looks so much like the Garmin, I'd believe it was the Garmin if someone wrote `Garmin' on the side)My only regret is that I can't just buy the top clamp on it's own to retrofit the Garmin mounts we use in our other cars.EDIT:They have since updated the product info to say that it is compatible with Garmin. Had I know, I would have bought something cheaper like  GA-UVM+IG-PSTARA: iTrek Sticky Dash Mount with Universal bracket/cradle  and just used the grabbing arm to upgrade my existing gps mount to work with iphones.

Pros: spring-clip for phone is strong; beanbag has nice weight and keeps the unit in place.Cons: screw tightener to hold the spring-clip where you want it is not strong enough to keep the clip there, so the phone will 'droop' until the beanbag or dash stabilizes it. Also, after only 2 months of daily use, the plastic "receiver" part of the base has cracked and will no longer stay in place.

Swivel joint stayed tight and clamp worked fine even for larger phones like LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S7. However the base did not stay immobile on dash of my 2006 Subaru Forester if I made any sort of sharp turn or rapid acceleration.Since there is a bendable metal plate on the bottom just underneath the foam, the base does not necessarily conform to any curvature of the dash without some working of this metal plate. This prevents complete contact with the dash making it easier for the mount to slide around. Defeats the purpose of the bean bag pouches.