Headrest Phone Holder: Check Your Headrest Posts First, Then Set It Up

A headrest phone holder hangs from the front seat’s headrest so someone in the back seat can see the phone. Whether it works depends first on your headrest: this kind of holder needs a headrest that sits on exposed posts. Check the posts, check your phone, then fit the holder while the car is parked.

We sell a headrest phone holder, so read this as a shop’s notes on its own listing plus what people say online.

Check whether your headrest has posts

Look at the top of the front seat. Many headrests sit on two metal posts that you can see between the headrest and the seat back. Some seats have a fixed headrest that is part of the seat, with no posts showing.

That difference matters. One person on Reddit wrote: “I’ve never come across any phone/tablet holders that work with a fixed headrest front seat, so I decided to design my own.” That is one person’s account, but it shows the problem: a holder that grips the posts has nothing to grip on a fixed headrest.

So before anything else:

1. Look for the posts. Check that you can see the posts below the headrest.
2. Check the gap. Make sure there is room between the headrest and the seat back for a mounting plate.
3. Check the other seat. If two people will watch, look at both front seats.

What our listing says

Our listing for the Pink Plush Heart Hook Headrest Phone Pocket describes “a pink headrest phone pocket with a curved front, flocked finish and two lower heart-ended hooks.”

It says: “Its slotted upper mounting plate fits around a suitable exposed headrest post, while the pocket rim supports a landscape phone.” It lists the construction as “ABS with a flocked exterior” and the selected-SKU weight as 80 g.

The word “suitable” is the part to take seriously. The listing does not promise that it fits every car, so the checks above come first.

People search for this kind of product as “headrest phone holder”, “headrest phone mount”, “car headrest phone holder”, “back seat phone holder” or “phone holder for back seat”. They all mean a holder fixed to the front seat that faces the back seat.

Check before you buy

The listing says to “check headrest and phone fit before installation, and do not interfere with headrest adjustment or vehicle safety systems.”

Turn that into checks in your own car.

1. Posts. Confirm the front seat has a headrest on exposed posts.
2. Phone. Hold your phone sideways with its case on and compare it with the pocket in the product images.
3. Adjustment. Raise and lower the headrest and note where it sits for the person in that seat.
4. Your use. Decide who will watch from the back and which seat they sit behind.

Set it up in order

1. Park first. Fit and adjust the holder with the car stopped.
2. Fit the plate. Slide the slotted plate around the post you checked.
3. Check the headrest. Make sure the headrest still adjusts and sits where the front passenger or driver needs it.
4. Seat the phone. Rest the phone sideways in the pocket.
5. Check the view. Sit in the back seat and look at the screen from your normal position.

One Reddit post title describes this use: “Put phone under front seat headrest like in picture to watch movies in the backseat!”

If your car has fixed headrests, a holder that mounts on the posts is the wrong choice. Our sun visor phone holder guide covers another place in the car.

Quick answers

Does a headrest phone holder fit every car?

No. Our listing says the mounting plate fits around “a suitable exposed headrest post”, so a seat without exposed posts is not a match. Check your seat before you order.

Can the phone sit sideways for watching videos?

Our listing says the pocket rim supports a landscape phone. Compare your phone with its case against the pocket in the product images first.

Where to go next

Browse the headrest phone holders, or read how to choose a car phone holder by mount type.