Smartphone Tripod Tip Gives New Life to Older Tech and Their Accessories

A smartphone tripod is a must have accessory for making movies of yourself.

What to Do with the Old Stuff

I am in the midst of spring cleaning. Before I pitch stuff or give it away, I look for ways to repurpose it.

Will It Hold?

I have two older handsfree phone holders for my car. When I updated to an iPhone 6s Plus, I kept my iPhone 5s. I retired both of these phone accessories. My new phone doesn’t fit either of them due to its larger size. I was curious if I could use either holder as a tripod with my iPhone 5s.

Experiment #1

The device mounts to your dashboard. I was never satisfied with it, and the sticky stuff rapidly lost its stickiness. Adhesive plus a warm car interior do not make for a good outcome. Before looking for a way to reactivate the stick ’em, I thought it would be wise to see if this was a tripod substitute.

I did a short test where I anchored the holder with a cabinet door keeping it in place. It could work. This holder has some limitations for a smartphone tripod. It is stiff; repositioning is difficult, and it has a limited range of angles. Putting the phone in landscape mode is a push. If I were going to place this in one spot on a more or less permanent basis, I could see using it as a tripod replacement.

I give it a rating of 3 out of 5 stars.

Experiment #2

The second holder attaches to the car with hooks that fit into the air vents. You can see that it works as a tripod out of the car.

I rate this option 4 out of 5 stars.

Real Smartphone Tripods for Extra Large Phones

I found possibilities that work with larger smartphones. Some require an adapter that attaches to the tripod.

Joby makes a GripTight GorillaPod Stand that fits most smartphones and small tablets. Phones with or without a case between 2.7-3.9in (69-99mm) wide will fit the GripTight XL.

It fits these phones: iPhone 6 Plus, 6S Plus, Samsung Galaxy S 5, Samsung Galaxy Note, Nokia Lumia 1520, and more.

GripTight for XL-sized phones

You can find it on Amazon.

If you want a bit more control and flexibility, look at this model from Joby.

GripTight GorillaPod Hybrid For Smartphones

Check their product guide to see what works for each brand and phone size.

More Tripods

I haven’t used these myself, but they look like possibilities. Parts of the hardware may look familiar to you if you have or have ever seen a selfie-stick.

My Advice is to Make Movies and Share Them

Get a smartphone tripod or an adapter and use it with your always handy cell phone, new or old, to take videos. The investment is small and will yield better videos. Build an inventory of short and long movies you can share on your website, on YouTube, via Facebook, in LinkedIn, or via Vimeo.

A video is an excellent way to connect with your audience and let them get to know you. Let me what you think of my video.