Tom's Guide Verdict

There is a lot to like about the TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t potential hazards to keep in mind when considering picking this thing up for your own car.

Pros

+
The mount can be rotated into portrait and landscape
+
Keeping the mount away from air vents is always a good idea, especially on particularly cold or hot days
+
It’s easy to insert your phone into the mount and just as easy to take it back out, too

Cons

-
You’ll lose a cup holder
-
Some car layouts might simply make this mount impractical
-
This mount isn’t great to look at when you aren’t using it

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TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount: Specs

Price: $33
Wireless Charging: No
Color: Black
Orientation: 360-degree rotation for landscape and portrait
Compatibility: Phones up to 3.5 inches wide
Type: Cup holder

Cup holders are great when they’re filled with delicious drinks, but they’re boring when they aren’t. The TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount takes one of those cup holders and makes it useful by mounting your phone to it. And it works pretty well — for the most part.

TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount: Price and availability

The TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount is available for $17 from Amazon as tested. A slightly newer version is also available directly from TOPGO for $33. The newer version (TC1) looks almost identical to the one tested here but does support slightly wider phones — up to 4 inches wide compared to the 3.5 inches of this version.

TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount: Design and features

The mount is made from very cheap-feeling plastic, although all areas that make meaningful contact with your phone are either rubber or coated in a foam-like material. Both the side and bottom portions of the mount move to accommodate a phone, with buttons around the back unlocking them when you need to move them.

TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount: Setup

Installing the TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount is as easy as can be. You put the mount into a spare cup holder and turn a wheel to extend the base for a secure fit in just about any cup holder. Those with extra-large cup holders can use the included adapters to make the base even wider.

TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount shown on a table before installation — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

With the mount installed, putting a phone into the holder is as easy as pressing a button to extend the side grips. Next, place your phone in the holder and squeeze those same grips until your phone is held securely. Those with large phones can also extend the bottom grip by pressing another button and repeating the same process.

TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount: Performance

With the mount installed and a phone in place, the TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount does its job pretty well. The mount was well secured in my cup holder and there was little chance of it moving around. However this will likely depend on your cup holder as much as the mount itself.

TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount shown holding an iPhone — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

While the base of the mount didn’t move around, the same can’t be said for the rest of it. Thanks to the fairly long gooseneck situation, the part that holds your phone is understandably a little top-heavy.

It’s fine during most driving, but those with bumpy roads might find their phone jiggling around in their peripheral vision. Those with cars on the sporty side might have to deal with this more than others thanks to stiffer suspension, and there’s only so much the mount can do here. But it’s worth mentioning, regardless.

TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount: Verdict

I really like the TOPGO Cup Holder Phone Mount for a couple of reasons, not least because it means you don’t lose an air vent to your phone holder. It worked fairly well in my car, but this is another instance where individual car setups will have an impact on how well this mount works. Those with cup holders in a different place might find their phone is difficult to see, for example. Keep that in mind when making your purchase.

One thing I would have liked to see is the chance to shorten the gooseneck a little. It needs to be long for those with far-flung cup holders, but those of us with cup holders to hand have to deal with the opposite problem — too much height. It’s workable, but it isn’t ideal.

Having to take your phone holder out so you can transport two cups of coffee at once isn’t ideal, either. But we can’t have everything, can we?

Oliver is a contributing writer for Tom's Guide based in the U.K. who has covered the tech world for more than a decade. His writing has appeared in titles such as How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, iMore and TechRadar. Oliver covers general computing and mobile news but predominantly writes about car tech and EVs for Tom's Guide. He's been gaming since the days of Atari and is always trying to discover the next great mobile game. He's still looking.