There’s a vent clip with two sets of flexible prongs, a CD mount with a flat insert that fits inside any slot-loading CD player, and an adhesive mount with a sticky strip that attaches to the dashboard. You get several different mounts with the Car Thing, in addition to the magnetic holder that snaps into all of them. The Car Thing comes with several mount options This protrusion includes a USB-C port for power, and has a metal panel behind the plastic casing that facilitates the connection to the magnetic puck-shaped holder. The back is mostly flat, with a raised section that takes up about a third of the space. A tiny rubber tag with the Spotify logo extends from the left edge.

The top edge of the device has a series of five buttons (four for presets and one for settings), as well as four pinhole microphones. A 4-inch, 800-by-480-pixel touch screen sits on the front, with a large rubberized dial and a smaller black plastic button on the right. The Car Thing looks a bit like a small smartphone: It’s a black device with a plastic body and a glass front panel that measures about 3 by 5 by 1 inches (HWD). For far less money, a simple car phone mount brings similar utility to your vehicle using your existing handset.

While the Car Thing is easy to use and nice to look at, it relies relies heavily on your smartphone, lacks a navigation mode, and doesn't offer any voice features you can't already get via the Spotify app. If you don't have access to easy connectivity options and still want to stream music as you drive, you might be tempted by Spotify's $89.99 Car Thing accessory, which clips to your dashboard and features both a color touch screen and a dial for controlling Spotify playback. And generally speaking, it’s easier than ever to hook your phone up to your car in a safe and useful way (I swear by my Honda Fit’s Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integrations).

Between streaming audio and providing turn-by-turn directions, smartphones have become essential for most drivers.

How much is the spotify car thing