Back in April, I took a look at the iFlyz, a “personal media solution stand” designed to clip your iPhone or iPod to an airline tray table, and found it somewhat lacking. Someone out there must have been listening—or had the same complaints—because another company, In Your Face LLC, has come out with the In Your Face, a very similar device that addresses most of my complaints about the iFlyz.

In Your Face clamps to pretty much any horizontal or vertical surface less than two inches thick.

The In Your Face “flexible holder” for the iPhone achieves much the same result as the iFlyz does but goes about its business slightly differently. Instead of a case-unfriendly suction cup, In Your Face uses a spring-loaded and padded sliding clip to securely grip both sides of the iPhone, case and all. The ball joint in the back allows for full and free rotation of the iPhone, and the eight-inch gooseneck lets you position the screen however you’d like.

Here’s a close-up of the clamp. The lower jaw pivots to allow it to clamp onto surfaces that aren’t parallel.

Instead of a sliding clamp designed with airline tray tables in mind (and rather less useful for other applications, like the car), In Your Face uses a spring clamp that securely attaches the stand to nearly any surface thinner than two inches. Want to use the In Your Face as a hands-free mount in the car? Sure, no problem, as long as you can find something to clip it to. Want to clip the iPhone to the tray table while you watch a movie? Done. Want your iPhone mounted onto the edge of your desk so you can work and use the speakerphone? Yep, that’s easy, too.

This photo shows a top view of the phone clip and the ball joint in back.

My biggest complaint with In Your Face, other than the slightly silly name, is the device clip. The spring in the slider mechanism is very stiff, and it can be challenging to remove an iPhone once it’s inserted. Other mechanisms exist out there—a threaded clip would be ideal, or even a screw-down or ratcheting slider would be better—but even the stiff slider is greatly preferable to a suction cup, because it works so much better with textured cases. I just wish it had a better device clip, even if it cost another five bucks.

A user’s view of the In Your Face.

In Your Face claims that devices as large as a PlayStation Portable (PSP) will fit, though I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to remove a PSP once you managed to insert it. It’s ideally suited for something about the size of an iPhone or iPod touch, but the company claims anything with a width of 2.4 inches to 2.9 inches will work. Most iPhone cases should be compatible with it, but In Your Face doesn’t play particularly well with Mophie’s Juice Pack Air battery/case. (It works, but the extra depth of the Juice Pack Air makes it somewhat prone to popping out of the clip.) Older iPods should work well enough, though iPod minis and nanos are probably too narrow for the clip to engage (the clip is approximately 2.125 inches at the widest part) without being in a case of some sort.

The In Your Face device is far more versatile than the iFlyz, both in what the device itself can attach to and in the range of personal electronics it can work with. Both are the same price, so if you’re in the market for this sort of thing, In Your Face is an easy call and well worth the money.

Copyright © 2009 Chris Lawson. Reviewing in ATPM is open to anyone. If you’re interested, write to us at reviews@atpm.com.