The best phone mounts for driving lessons, and where you're legally allowed to put them

This guide contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Clutch earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. It doesn't change what we recommend. We've picked these because they work with the app.

Clutch turns the phone you already own into a coaching device. To do that, it needs to see two things at once: the road ahead, and you. That makes the mount you buy the single most important accessory decision you'll make, more important than which phone you're using.

The good news: you don't need to spend much. Everything we recommend below is under £30, and our top pick is around a tenner. Get it right and Clutch just works, lesson after lesson. Get it wrong and you'll spend the first five minutes of every drive re-aiming a wobbly suction cup.

Here is what to buy, where to put it, and what the law actually says.

What a good Clutch mount has to do

• 1. Hold the phone high enough to see over the bonnet. The rear camera needs a clean view of the road, lane markings and the vehicles in front. Too low and it's mostly dashboard.

• 2. Leave the cameras completely clear. This is where most mounts fall down. Cradle arms and backing plates love to sit right over a lens.

• 3. Not move. Every wobble is a wobble in the footage. Rigid beats adjustable.

• 4. Come off in seconds. Instructors, you're moving between pupils, and some examiners will ask for the screen to be clear on test day. A mount that takes 30 seconds to remove and refit is worth paying for.

Where you're allowed to mount it (the UK bit)

Two separate rules, and people usually only know one of them.

Touching your phone while driving is illegal. Six penalty points and a £200 fine, and if you passed your test in the last two years, six points means your licence is revoked. Clutch runs hands-free from the moment you set off. Set it up before you start the engine.

Your windscreen has to stay clear. The Highway Code requires windscreens to be free from obstructions to vision, and DfT guidance splits the screen into two zones. Zone A is a 290mm-wide vertical strip centred on the steering wheel, inside the area your wipers sweep. Zone B is the rest of the swept area. Anything stuck to the glass should intrude no more than 10mm into Zone A, or 40mm into Zone B.

In plain English: don't put it in front of your face.

The two placements that work well:

• High and central, tucked beside the rear-view mirror. Best view of the road, out of your eyeline, and the front camera still catches you at a usable angle. This is our default recommendation.

• Low and central, at the base of the windscreen or on the dash. Also fine, and easier to reach. Just check the bonnet isn't eating half the frame.

Avoid: anywhere on the driver's side of the screen, anywhere that blocks a passenger airbag, and anywhere the mount could become a projectile.

Our picks

Prices are a guide and change often, so check before you buy.

Best value, and the one most learners should buy: Arteck Universal Car Mount

Around £12 · Buy on Amazon

Does everything you actually need for the price of a couple of coffees. Suction base that works on the windscreen or the dash, 360° rotation so you can get the angle right in either portrait or landscape, and a spring-loaded cradle that takes any phone, with no rings, no cases, no faff. If you're buying your first mount and you just want Clutch working by Saturday's lesson, buy this one.

Watch out for: the suction gel needs a properly clean surface. Wipe the glass with an alcohol wipe, not a screen wipe, and press firmly before you flick the lever.

Best magnetic option: iOttie iTap 3 Magnetic Dash and Windscreen Mount

Around £25 · Buy on Amazon

Worth the extra if you want the cleanest possible camera view. Because the phone attaches magnetically, nothing sits over the lenses at all: no arms, no bottom foot, nothing. The telescopic arm extends to about 17cm, which is enough to reach a proper height on most windscreens. Comes with a metal ring for Android, and iPhone 12 and later snap straight on via MagSafe.

Watch out for: if you're on Android, stick the ring to the case rather than the phone, and check it doesn't cover the wireless charging coil.

Best for instructors and shared cars: iOttie Easy One Touch 5

Around £30 · Buy on Amazon

No magnets, no rings, no cases. It grips any phone a pupil hands you, from a Pixel to an iPhone Pro Max. That universality is exactly what you want when five different people sit in your car on a Tuesday. The one-touch release is genuinely one-handed, and the arm extends to 20cm, which is more reach than almost anything else at this price.

Watch out for: position the phone slightly off-centre in the cradle so the bottom arm clears the rear camera module.

Best cleanest angle: rear-view mirror clamp mount

Around £15 · Browse on Amazon

Clips around the mirror stem, which puts the phone exactly where a dash cam would go: high, central, nothing in your eyeline, nothing stuck to your glass. Ideal if you're nervous about suction cups, or your car has a heat-reflective windscreen that suction pads struggle with.

Watch out for: make sure it doesn't stop you adjusting the mirror. You still need to use it.

What we'd avoid

• Air vent mounts. They sit too low, so the rear camera mostly sees your bonnet, and they blow hot or cold air straight onto a phone that's already working hard running two cameras.

• Long gooseneck or flexible arms. Every bump becomes a bounce.

• Cup holder mounts. Lovely for navigation, useless for Clutch. Far too low.

• Anything over about £50. Yes, the premium case-and-lock systems are rigid and lovely. No, you don't need one to learn to drive. Spend the difference on another lesson.

Two things worth buying alongside it

• A USB-C PD car charger, around £12. Two cameras plus the screen will drain a phone faster than a standard 12V adapter can refill it. Look for 30W or more. Browse on Amazon.

• A right-angled USB-C cable, around £8. A straight cable sticking out the bottom of a mounted phone gets knocked, and eventually the port goes. Browse on Amazon.

Setting it up

• 1. Park up. Engine off.

• 2. Fit the mount high and central, beside the mirror, or low and central at the base of the screen.

• 3. Open Clutch and check the camera preview. You want a clear horizon, more road than sky, and your face in frame.

• 4. Plug in.

• 5. Start your lesson. Don't touch it again until you've stopped.

Two minutes now, and every lesson after this one just works.