Best Phone Mounts (2026)

A phone mount is the cheapest bit of kit in the van and the one most likely to keep six points off your licence. It also has to survive a diesel dash, a cold January morning and a phone in a rugged case. Here is what to weigh up.

The law, in plain terms

It is illegal to hold a phone or similar device while driving in the UK. That includes sitting at lights, queuing in traffic and anything you do with it in your hand: checking a map, scrolling, taking a photo. The fixed penalty is six points and around £200, a new driver within two years of passing loses their licence, and if it goes to court the fine can be higher, with a larger maximum for goods vehicle and bus drivers. Using a phone in a mount for navigation is legal, but you can still be pulled for not being in proper control if you are fiddling with it, so set the route before you pull away. The mount must not block your view of the road; keep it out of the swept area directly in front of you and low on the screen or on the dash. Our hands-free law guide for van drivers goes through the edge cases. Rules change, so check current guidance.

Vent, dash, windscreen or cup holder

Vent clips are quick but van vents are often flimsy, they block the heater in winter and the phone warms in summer. Dash mounts use suction or an adhesive pad; the trouble is that most van dashboards are textured plastic that suction hates, which is why the JOYEKY 360 Dashboard Phone Holder (around £13) with its washable adhesive pad and the LifHap Dashboard Phone Mount (around £12) exist. Windscreen mounts get the best grip on smooth glass, and on a tall van or truck screen the phone ends up too far away unless there is an arm: the APPS2Car Windscreen Gooseneck Phone Holder (around £17), APPS2Car Gooseneck Truck Phone Holder (around £20) and OQTIQ Gooseneck Car Phone Mount (around £18) all use a 13-inch or so neck to bring the phone back to eye level. Cup holder mounts are worth a look in a cab with a deep console, but none of the products here take that route. The no-fix option is a silicone pad like the Beeasy Silicone Dashboard Phone Holder (around £10) or Beeasy Rotating Dashboard Phone Holder (around £15): the phone sits in a grippy tray on the dash. Fine for a taxi on smooth town roads, useless on a farm track, and the phone sits low.

Cab vibration

A diesel van at idle shakes the dash, and a gooseneck amplifies that shake at the phone end, so the screen blurs at lights. Shorter, stiffer arms and ball joints hold steadier; the VANMASS Military Grade Car Phone Holder (around £25) is popular in Transits for exactly that reason. Suction cups also lose grip in the cold, so a mount that held all summer drops off in November: warm the cup, clean the glass and press it on again. For a truck cab where the dash is deep and the screen is far away, read our HGV cab phone mount guide.

MagSafe versus cradle

A cradle grips the phone with spring arms, works with any phone and any case, and takes two hands to load. The Ultra-Stable Dashboard Phone Mount 2026 (around £19) has wide jaws for rugged trade cases. A magnetic mount like the VANMASS Magnetic MagSafe Car Phone Holder (around £30) snaps the phone on one-handed, which is the feature multi-drop drivers value most, but it needs an iPhone 12 or later or a metal plate stuck on an Android, and a thick case weakens the hold on a rough road.

Wireless charging and heat

None of the mounts here charge wirelessly, and that is not a loss. A phone on a sunny dash, running navigation and charging by induction is three heat sources in one, and phones respond by throttling and then pausing the charge. A cable into the socket charges faster and cooler. Route it so it does not hang across the gear lever.