Handsfree Hands-On: A Closer Look At The Kenu Airframe Pro Smartphone Mount

It’s no secret that there are a TON of smartphone mounts on the market right now, and given the sheer volume of dirt cheap offerings available across the web, it’s not always easy to separate quality from the junk that isn’t worthy of holding your long-dead 1st gen Motorola Razr. With that in mind, we recently got our hands on some gear from Kenu—the California-born smartphone mount company—for a closer look at how they’re trying to distinguish themselves from a huge pool of competition.

Rather than looking at their basic Airframe model, which realistically looks like just about any other vent-type smartphone mount, we went with the Airframe Pro. Retailing for $29.95, the Pro model is designed for larger/heavier phones, with a spring-loaded gripping jaw that opens from 2.3 to 3.6 inches wide. According to specification, this means the Airframe Pro can handle the massive iPhone Xs Max and Samsung Galaxy Note 9 with ease, but for our testing purposes we fitted it with a more mid-sized Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

Shop The Kenu Airframe Pro Here

Straight out of the packaging, the Airframe Pro looks and feels much better than some of the generic phone mounts I've encountered over the years. The spring mechanism has significant resistance to it, ensuring it keeps a firm grip on your device at all times. I was also really happy with its push-button vent clip gripping setup. The biggest flaw I've found with most vent clip type phone mounts is that they are pressure-fit, which doesn't always work effectively depending on the design of the blades of your car's vents. The vents of our test vehicle—the new Nissan Kicks SR—uses relatively thin and flat vent blades, which would work well with the more typical mount design, however being able to press the buttons on the mount to open its "jaws" and position it precisely is a nice touch that provides a little extra assurance that the mount (and your phone) won't flop to the ground after installation.

Though a more common feature in the category, the added flexibility of tilt and rotation functionality in the Airframe Pro is also a welcome perk. Though I'm generally one to run my phone vertically at all times, at least where hands-free and navigation functionality is concerned, I could see the benefit of rotating to landscape mode when passengers are using the mount their own entertainment purposes. Using a ball and socket design, the mount has a reasonable amount of tilt to it (what looks like roughly 15 degrees), which is handy in vehicles with sloped or angled vent openings. Much like the rest of the mount, this ball and socket setup feels quite sturdy, though we can't really speak to long-term longevity at this point. Given how the whole package comes together, and the fact that the weight of a smartphone is unlikely to put all that much strain on the coupling, we don't think this should be a point of concern.

Over the course of an 800+ mile drive in the Nissan Kicks SR with my phone locked into the Airframe Pro I encountered more than my fair share of rough and bumpy roads, and the mount held tight in position perfectly fine. This is often a concern with vent mounts, especially in cars where vent blades are installed with little resistance to adjustment, but thankfully there was no sketchy flopping around in the case of this particular mount.

Shop The Kenu Airframe Pro Here

The best parallel I can draw after looking at the Airframe Pro is that the best way to look at this is the way you would look at shopping for a phone case. While some will be perfectly content with the most basic/affordable option out there that fits our phone, the rest of us know we have a knack for being clumsy, and that going bargain basement has its risks. I know the last thing I want is my phone dropping out of a cheap mount when I roll over a bump or two, so I can easily justify moving my budget from $10 to the $29.95 this unit will set you back.

As a final bonus it's also worth noting that the Airframe Pro (as well as all other offerings from Kenu) comes with a lifetime warranty, so should you come across any issues at least you know you're covered. Now into their 8th year of business, there's a bit more comfort in this warranty as well when compared to the countless new product companies we see come and go in a hot minute.

Shop The Kenu Airframe Pro Here