As soon as the Apple iPad Mini was announced, we saw that it could be an ideal device for GPS navigation in the car and other purposes, and we were eager to test it. The Mini was considerably smaller, lighter and thinner than the full-sized iPad (which in our opinion is too large to conveniently mount in a car), and seemed like a great travel companion and navigation device.

The Mini seemed like an obvious choice for in-car use, but how do you mount it? We’ve had good experiences with iOttie smartphone mounts and cases, so we dug through the company’s offerings to find the iOttie Easy Grip Universal Dashboard Mount. We chose the iOttie for its sleek look (some dashboard mounts, especially for tablets, look awful), its adjustability, and its suction cup mounting system. The iOttie uses a disc that sticks very securely to your dashboard or windshield, thanks to a sticky layer that conforms to a textured surface. A sticky disc with very strong suction clings to the disc, for a sturdy mount that never came loose during our test drives.

The iOttie allows you to mount an iPad Mini front and center on your dashboard, completely under the line of sight of your windshield. You can also mount it to your windshield, but make sure you position it so that it doesn’t block important lines of sight. The iOttie’s mounting bracket fits the full range of tablets on the market, including the Mini, all the way up to full-size models. The holder’s knurled hand adjustment rings can be a little fiddly to grip and tighten, but they hold well once they’re in the desired position. Overall, the iOttie performed well as a holder for the iPad Mini.

We tested with a Wi-Fi-only Mini, but that didn’t stop us from making the iPad GPS-enabled and sending data to it while in transit. We used an aftermarket Bad Elf GPS with an Apple Lightning connector. The Bad Elf worked great, quickly acquiring and maintaining a strong GPS signal. To send data to the iPad Mini while in transit, we paired it with our iPhone, and that worked great too.