To play it safe, if a phone use is not specifically mentioned under allowed exemptions by your state or territory, assume it's illegal while driving. State and territory laws It's offered at a reasonable price and comes with a good, sturdy tripod, 20mm and 10mm Kellner eyepieces and a 90° erect image diagonal (meaning the telescope is suitable for terrestrial observations).

While phone holders might appear to be a little humdrum, some of these accessories are even handier. The iOttie Easy One Touch Wireless 2, for example, not only allows you to keep your smartphone safe and secure, it’ll also recharge it wirelessly. Again, top marks go to iOttie for designing a unit that’s very nicely made and there are variations so you can choose between dashboard or windshield mounting, cup holder and vent editions too. While there’s no additional support beyond the glossy Magsafe plate, it keeps a tenacious grip on compatible iPhones, and we couldn’t fault it during testing – provided the phone wasn’t in a silicon case. Our test phone’s case weakened the grip somewhat; but ESR sells its own Magsafe cases, which won’t suffer the same problem. This is a smart compact holder and charger that will do your iPhone proud. This can mean it's worth spending a bit of money on a decent adaptor, as you'll need something sturdy that holds your phone well in place. These restrictions apply in all Australian states and territories for all C-class drivers. It doesn't matter if you're fully-licensed, your phone is mounted, or if you use hands-free controls such as voice commands. Other use cases are sometimes unspecified, but still fall under blanket bans around phone use because they involve looking at or touching your phone, among other distractions.

The best in-car phone holders you can buy in 2023

Product names for smartphone holders are often highly descriptive, but as a result two products from the same company can have lengthy, near-identical names.

A final option to explore is a bespoke mount. Swedish firm Brodit make custom mounting units for each model of car to create a permanent mount for your phone. Attaching your phone to the mount ESR’s lightweight mount and charger is a top option for recent iPhones, giving you a Magsafe mount that fits with ease into a vent, then provides secure 18W wireless QI charging via a USB-C cable connected to your car’s USB outlet. The ball joint on the vent mount means it works with both horizontal and vertical vents, while a support arm holds the central square pad steady no matter how rough the road. ESR also sells a dashboard version, if you’d rather have it fitted there. These are just two examples, but they highlight some of the issues with using public-facing online resources to understand the legislation surrounding mobile phone use while driving.

Keep your phone safe and visible for hands-free satnav, calls and music

Once you've got it set up, all you need to do is make sure you get a good capture of your chosen target! Image of a quasar (circled) 3c 273 (two billion Ly) using a Stargate 500, 26mm eyepiece, NexYZ and iPhone 7 What to look for in a smartphone telescope adapter Have you ever wanted to photograph the Moon, planets, stars and other objects you see through your telescope on your smartphone? Examples include making and receiving calls and using navigation apps (GPS), among other things. Suction or vent mount: Which should you get? The next feature up for praise is the convenience factor provided by the Vicseed Car Phone Mount. This accessory boasts a long arm design that’s suitably robust enough for even larger smartphones but it’s also telescopic, which can extend from 4.84-inches right up to 9.05-inches. That’s decent, although vibration and bumps can tend to make the longer reach option a little less desirable if you’re of a nervous disposition. This technique is known as 'eyepiece projection' or 'afocal imaging', and requires a steady hand indeed.