Miracase Phone Holder review – Give your phone a hug with this holder

REVIEW – When the Miracase Phone Holder is open it sort of looks like it’s ready to give your phone a hug. In my reviews I sometimes state the item to which I’m comparing, and whether I’ll replace the old thing with the new thing. My DIY dashboard magnet mount has worked well for me for years, but the Miracase Phone Holder worked perfectly in this review and I’m not dismounting it. It seems more stable on rough roads than my magnet mount and it holds the phone in a better position for driving when using GPS in tight traffic. 

The ol’ DIY magnet mount. The magnets and plates on the phone are from business nametags I used to have to wear at work. Ugly but effective-ish.

What is it

The Miracase Phone Holder is a cellphone holder for the car, that comes with dashboard, windshield, and vent mounting options. 

What’s in the box

• Main Miracase Phone Holder
• AC vent adapter (I left this out of the photo above. By accident. Or Freudian prejudice.)
• Dash/window extendable suction mount arm
• Dashboard disk
• Instructions

Hardware specs

• 4 inch maximum grip width
• 2.1 inch minimum grip width
• 7 inch maximum extension of windshield/dash mount
• 5.3 inch minimum extension of windshield/dash mount
• Black plastic construction with synthetic rubber suction cup

Design and features

Durable construction. The Miracase Phone Holder can accommodate many different widths of phones with even thick cases. A notch between the bottom support ‘feet’ of the holder allows for a charging cable to be attached to the phone without obstruction as it rests in the holder. 

‘Super sticky’ adhesive holds the dash mount disc to the dashboard. The rubber suction attachment on the phone holder section was super suck-y. It did not let loose of the windshield or dashboard disk during my testing. 

The Miracase Phone Holder can hold phones rotated 90 degrees for landscape mode, if that’s how you use your GPS. I think the phone is more balanced when held upright by the Miracase holder but it’ll do either position. 

The gripper is clear of my phone’s buttons and since most phone’s buttons are in the top half of the device the Miracase Holder should work for most phones. 

Installation and setup

The phone holder section of the Miracase Phone Holder mount snaps directly onto the ball joint of either the windshield/dash mount arm or AC vent mount. Then you only need to set the position and angles of how you want the phone to stand in your car. Tighten the adjustment ring at the ball joint and the knob of the tilt arm of the phone holder section and you’re off and driving.

Testing and observations

I have a bias against phone mounts that attach to car air conditioner vents. Are AC vent louvers made to support weight? I used an AC vent phone mount once on a company car and a vent louver pulled right out. Broken for good it was. 

I’m so biased against AC vent mounting I overlooked including this mount in the ‘What’s in the box’ photo. So here are some glamour shots of the AC vent mount.

By pushing the L-shaped piece the spring clamps that hold onto a vent louver come open.

Note how the metal gripper clamp extends and retracts to hold the mount tightly onto the back of the vent louver. The metal gripper’s length is set by turning the cylinder I’m gripping above.

I also don’t like to block my AC airflow. In our southern summers, I need the full function from all my AC vents!  Therefore, I’m only testing the windshield and dashboard mounting options of the Miracase Phone Holder. Your experience and preference may vary. 

OK, one more beef. ‘Military Grade’ usually translates to ‘nonsense’. Please, Miracase. Do Army tanks come with Miracase phone mounts? That claim is about as valuable to most consumers as ‘As seen on TV’. A ‘military grade’ claim for a phone holder is total bogosity. 

BUT, apart from that marketing faux pas, the Miracase Phone Mount stands on its own (yes), works great, and is durably constructed. 

The dashboard disk has very good adhesive on the bottom surface so I was super careful where I put it. Once stuck I didn’t want to try to pull it up and move it. Plan carefully and stick it on the dash when you’re sure that you’re sure. The windshield mounting option allows for more flexible repositioning. 

In my car I would have blocked my windshield visibility if I put the mount on the windshield to accommodate where I want the phone to sit, so I opted for the dash mount. 

We had our hottest summer weather here in the mid-Atlantic U.S. during this review so the Miracase Phone Holder proved it doesn’t fail in high heat. Some of my past windshield phone mounts let loose and fall off in winter weather but unfortunately that test will have to wait several months. May it come quickly!

Later in my testing period, I decided the phone might need to be on my left to be more out of the way and not distract my main windshield view. I’m right handed but by mounting the Miracase holder on the left it also allowed me to test the grip onto the windshield glass. I certainly wasn’t going to rip off and reposition the dash mounting disk. I guess that disk is there for good. And I may put the Miracase holder back on the disk if I end up not liking the left-side position. 

The suction cup on the main phone holder unit was very tightly stuck to the dashboard mount disk. It peeled off fine by pulling on the tab on the suction piece. I don’t think adhesive is on the suction cup, they’ve just made the rubbery material very sticky for adhesion to slick surfaces. It holds quite well. 

Going over railroad tracks or bumpy roads never caused my phone to slip out of the Miracase holder nor did the phone loosen from its grips. I don’t go off-road in my Ford Fusion so I can’t test the Miracase in that setting. It held my phone properly in all normal driving scenarios. Neither the grip nor position settings loosened during my testing.

Note the minimal windshield obstruction when mounted on the dashboard’s left side.

Here I’m pressing the hidden grip release button on the back of the holder with my pointer finger.

What I like

• A quick release button on the back fully opens the side holder arms
• The holder has nice adjustability for angles and length
• There is excellent grip on windshield glass or the dashboard mounting disk

What I’d change

• Drop the ‘Military Grade’ claim unless specification proof is provided. 
• No other complaints!

The Miracase Phone Holder was clear of my windshield heat screen when it was in the windshield.

Final thoughts

While not much stands out as ‘wow this is super different’ from other standard phone mounts, the Miracase Phone Holder is well made and performed perfectly during this review. With its various mounting options and good adjustability, it seems very reasonably priced. The Miracase Phone Holder worked as expected and I encountered no failures from it during my testing.

Price: $19.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Miracase.