Gear Beast Universal Bike Phone Mount Mobile Cell Phone Holder Case for iPhone X 8 Plus 8 7 Plus 7 6s Plus 6s 6 Plus 6 Galaxy S8 Plus S8 S7 Edge S7 S6 Note 8 5, GPS Mount, Motorcycle Phone Mount (MNT-UNV-BIK)

The Gear Beast smartphone holder is a very solid product. I was torn between giving it a 5 star (absolutely adore it) or a 4 (love it) but ended up rating it a 4. While the holder functionally works extremely well, there are a couple of minor issues. This phone holder has gone on about 10 rides with me. Overall, it served its function superbly. There is definitely some clever engineering that has gone into its design.First, you want the holder to grab firmly onto the handle bar. This thing has a very solid and sizable clamp (the larger the surface area the better the static friction, right?). The clamp actually feels weighty, which a sign of quality material (definitely not just cheap plastic). This went on my mountain bike, and the clamp, via its rubbery lining, grabs the metal on the handle bar tightly (mine has a 7/8 inch diameter but it looks like it should accommodate up to a 1.25 inch tube just fine). The quick-release mechanism makes it really easy to adjust for a ultra firm grip. The clamp mechanism definitely gets 5 stars from me.Next, the holder has some nice features as some of the other reviews have already pointed out. You push the button and the sidearms expand smoothly under spring-loaded action. To load the phone, you squeeze the sidearms to secure it in place, typical of many car cell phone holders. But the sidearms are disconcertingly thinner than I would expect (especially compared to the massiveness of the clamp) and there is also some flex to them. This means when you squeeze the sidearms close, you don't really know how tight is tight enough because of the give inherent in the sidearms. I hesitate squeezing them too much that the arms may break, but I don't want to lose my phone either. I am not sure if this is part of the design, but this is one feature of the holder that is not too reassuring to me. To be completely fair though, on all the rides I have taken with the holder it has never failed nor has the phone ever come out of the holder despite all the bumps I took, so this reservation of mine is perhaps more psychological than material. Apart from this, one very thoughtful feature of this holder is the bottom flap that flips out to prevent the phone from sliding down the holder, and the flap is also slotted so you can feed cables through (mine phone has the audio in the bottom). The holder has a nice design and gets 4 stars from me.Finally, a couple of very minor points. With the skin, my phone (one of the models listed in the item description) is a little thicker than the holder is actually designed for. But as I've said my phone feels secure in the holder and has never came off during any ride. Without the skin it may fit even better. Second, there is a rotation mechanism that allows you to orient the phone either in "portrait" or "landscape" position. On one ride, my phone started turning after I hit a bump and I was a little concerned. I found out later that you have to lift the holder (i.e. pull it up) a little to rotate it, and apparently the bump lifted it just enough to free the rotation lock. While the rotation ability may be a nice feature to some users, I am not sure if it's necessary (I certainly won't be watching Netflix while on my bike), or perhaps the rotation lock should be designed a little deeper and firmer.Finally, this item comes with a lifetime warranty. I like that because it means the manufacturer stands behind its product. Also rare is the fact that the instruction manual is written in perfect English with a nice full-color graphic design -- another mark of the manufacturer's pride in its product. Just wish the warranty would actually cover my phone in case the holder has a failure.

I really like the design of the unit and how well it works when installed adequately. It holds a large phone well - I have a Samsung 7 Edge with large OtterBox case. The expanding arms are really quite slick and the rubber corner holders grip the phone quite adequately. Two issues I have with it. A minor issue is that the screw that holds on to the handlebar adjusts only on full turns and therefore is rather coarse in adjustment. It might be too loose on one turn and too tight on the next. I had to add wraps of tape on my handlebar to get it to tighten adequately. A double sided cam would probably fix this. But this wasn't that big a deal. My main concern is that in my opinion, it's just too fragile. I have transported my bike in the back of my van and on pulling it out, one of the arms caught and pulled out. No big deal, it was easily taken apart and reassembled. But a couple times more, relatively minor bumps while riding trails pulled it apart twice more, the second time for good. Too bad, I really did quite like it.

I waited almost a week before writing a review after using this product. I did give Gearbeast 4 stars, but I do have an issue. I ordered this item on December 20th, 2014 after comparing it to a similar product that had a lot more reviews, but more negative than positive. I want to tell potential purchasers that I used this item on two different bicycles. I have a Mongoose 26" dual suspension mountain bike that I mounted it on when I first got it on December 22nd, and used it two different mornings, each ride over 2 miles (on asphalt roadway). I also have a solid frame road bike with no suspension that I mounted it on yesterday for the first time and used it (3 uses total from Tuesday until yesterday). I rode that bike a total of 4 miles and it dumped my device out on the pavement, scratching the case up a little, and overall just a headache to try and figure out how to keep It on me to finish my ride. When I got back to the house I inspected it and found that the right side mounting ear had broken, and came apart when I tried to press the two ears together for storage.The reason that I still give Gearbeast a higher star rating is because I contacted them via there website, and wrote them a message with my order number for a replacement item, on a Sunday, CMT zone, explaining what happened and they replied to me within an hour to help resolve my issue and get me a replacement on the way. It may not be the top-of-the line product, but for the price it can't be beat, and the customer service was excellent!

Very strong. It holds onto my GS5 without any slipping at all. I even jumped off the curb multiple times while filming and the Gear Beast held my phone tight. The grips are large enough to hold any phone inside a bulky phone case. The Gear Beast allows you to swivel the phone sideways, but I don't think that you could record that way because the handle bar would be in the way. Iphone may work recording sideways being that the camera is toward the lateral side of the phone. But I can record with my GS5 vertical. What else is nice is that it can be removed from the handlebar mount easily when not in use. As well, the mount is strong, and very sturdy. I made a video testing how well it keeps my phone secure, but can't find where I can post it. Now I need to get one more for my wife!

The one and only time I forgot to use the rubber corner straps the "jaws" popped open after about 100 yards of riding and my phone fell out. Thanks to the Defender case it was unharmed. However, after about 15 uses, the rubber "X" shaped harness that holds the phone at the corners snapped while I was stretching it over the phone. This makes the mount essentially useless.**Updated** my original 1 star review to 3 stars because of excellent customer service at Gear Beast. E-mailed them the problem about the broken tether and received a reply in less than 5 minutes that a replacement was being mailed to me immediately. Kudos to them for that!