Kenu Airframe car mount for the iPhone

The Kenu Airframe is the best car mount I’ve found for use with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6. Here’s my review.

If you use your iPhone in the car for listening to music or navigating, the problem is simple—where do you put the device?

You could put it in the cup holder (and I have). Simple. But if you have an iPhone 5, the device will be upside down, because the cable connections are on the bottom. And the cable itself will irritatingly interfere with the car’s gear stick. And you can’t see what’s on the screen, unless you reach down and pull it out.

You could buy a cup holder iPhone mount (and I have)—you know, those things with a locking base that inserts into the cup holder and a flexible arm that extends up, holding the iPhone. The problem is that the arm is flexible, so while driving, the phone jiggles around. Then, when the base’s lock weakens due to the torque experienced from all the jiggling and touching of the iPhone above, the whole thing starts to tilt until it eventually falls in your lap.

You could buy a windshield mount (and I have)—you know, those things with a suction cup that sticks to the windshield. The problem with those (apart from looking awful), is that if you happen to live in a hot climate (as I do), the iPhone can literally shut down due to the overheating from direct exposure to the sun, or the whole kit suddenly falls off the window. And that’s in addition to the unsightly rings on your window that let the whole world know just how much of a gadget geek you really are.

So I’d returned to just putting the iPhone in the cup holder, and pretty much giving up on finding a better solution—until I met the Kenu Airframe portable car mount.

My Airframe arrived today, and in a word, it is awesome.

The teeny tiny little $25 device snaps onto the blade of any car air vent, as seen here in my teeny tiny little Toyota iQ:

One side of the rubberized clip can extend out via an internal spring, allowing the Airframe to hold just about any mobile phone (even inside a case).

Here’s a summary of my experience so far with the Airframe:

• It's sturdy. The iPhone doesn't jiggle around, neither while driving, nor when interacting with the device's touch screen.
• It's efficient. Getting the phone in an out of the Airframe is literally a snap.
• It's cool. Since the phone sits directly in front of the air-conditioner vents, the whole device stays cool!
• It's visible. Now, I can navigate using my iPhone's TomTom app, with the device in full view.
• And, finally, it keeps my iPhone's charging cable conveniently out of the way of my car's gear shift.

All in all, I’m super excited to have finally found such a useful accessory, and plan to order another for my jeep (as well as one for my mom and brother.) Great job, Kenu!

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