“Slip sliding away. Slip sliding away. You know the nearer your destination, the more you’re slip sliding away.” Paul Simon wasn’t singing those words about how your cellphone acts inside your car when you are driving, but they couldn’t be more apropos. I have lost track of the number of times I have placed my cellphone in my lap, on the passenger seat, or on the dash, only to perform the moves of an Olympic snowboard jumper to grab it when I turn the corner. I have tried many suction cup cellphone holders and struggled to get my arm to bend in the unnatural convulsions it takes to attach the power cord to it and actually get it to stay on the dang windshield, not to mention getting the phone in and out of the thing. So when the Kenu Airframe came along, I was of course intrigued. Could this little device solve my Olympic sized problem? Let’s find out!
Measuring: 2.5 x 1.9 x 1″ and weighing in at only .8 oz, you’d be hard pressed to find any other portable cellphone holder smaller and more compact. I can take this with me with ease and my Galaxy S4 fits perfect inside the Airframe. The Airframe is designed to be used with any cellphone so you can attach it to your car vents, or I suppose to anything that has slats that it can attach to. The part of the Airframe that holds the phone, as well as the grip on the back that attach to the vent, is covered in soft-rubber and the rest of it is hard plastic. One side of it is spring loaded so you can expand the width of the gap that holds the phone. Here are some pictures of that:
On the back of the Airframe you will see the grip that attaches to the vent. As I said, it is covered in soft rubber so it won’t scratch your car vent, and it has a wide gap and a narrow gap, depending on how thick your air vent slats are. Here are pictures of that:
Another neat feature of the Airframe is that the grip on the back can rotate in 360 degrees, so no matter what angle your vents are, the Airframe can hold your cellphone in either portrait or landscape orientation. I have yet to find a car vent that the Airframe will not work on. As an added bonus, the Airframe used in conjunction with a simple credit card can turn the Airframe into a desktop stand for your phone.
To insert your phone into the Airframe, you place the edge of your phone on the arm of the Airframe that has the spring-loaded expansion and push it away from the other side. Then when the gap is wide enough to hold your phone, you lower the other side of your phone into the Airframe and let the spring close the gap to hold your phone securely. The spring is pretty sturdy, so I have found that it is easier to slide the Airframe to one side of the car vent and use the side of the vent to help me insert the phone into the Airframe. You can sort of visualize what I am talking about by looking at the main picture of the article. I slide the Airframe all the way to the left of the vent, and the spring loaded side of the Airframe is on the left. So when I place my cellphone on the left side of the Airframe and push leftward to expand it, the left side of the vent assists me in doing that and allows me to insert and remove the phone with one hand. I hope that makes sense.
I have given up looking for a portable cellphone holder because the Kenu Airframe is it. It is only $24.95 and worth every penny. The simplicity and genius of this gadget is… well… genius! Well done Kenu!
Product Information
| Price: | $25.95 |
| Manufacturer: | Kenu |
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the kenu customer support is amazing
I have been using one for the last 6 months.
It’s is a great holder: compact, great design, nice material. I love the smooth stainless spring action of the clamp – really well engineered. The thing is about as small as it could be, and you can remove it when you are done. I like the way it looks so I don’t have a problem with leaving it attached baring the fact that it blocks a vent.
My car vent is pretty slick so I wasn’t sure if it would work. It did! However I am thinking about a permanent mount or receptacle to provide more stability – the air vent works, but I am a perfectionist. I may do that as I install a new aftermarket stereo.
Like meistervu, I have been using the Airframe for the last 6 months. I liked it so much that I bought one for my family’s other 4 cars. Everyone else likes it too.
I was afraid the internal spring would get weaker over time, but that has not been the case.
The only thing I don’t like about the Airframe is that in my car, some of the climate control buttons wind up right under my iPhone, so I have to be careful when pressing on the iPhone’s screen.
I was thinking of buying yet another Airframe to throw into my laptop backpack, so I don’t forget to take it on business trips. As Steve noted, the Airframe makes a great stand with a credit card for watching movies on the plane. When you reach your destination, you can use the Airframe in your rental car.
I liked this so much I ordered one on Monday when the post appeared and it showed up in the mail on Wednesday. What great service!
I tested it out on Thursday and am amazed at how sturdy such a simple device is. Like @CraigH said, I think I’m going to order a few more for my various gear bags and cars. It’s so small, you won’t even notice it’s there but boy, will it come in handy for when I use my phone as a GPS during travel!
I just bought one based on this review and it is pretty awesome. I use an S4 with an otter box commuter and it fit fine. I have switched to the smart cover for it and it fits even better.
@mark thanks for the comment! I am actually getting ready to buy another one myself. Love this thing.