I finally found the perfect phone tripod, and it’s under $30

I’ve had the Ulanzi MA26 on my Amazon wishlist for over a 12 months and nearly forgot about it till Black Friday 2024 rolled round. As I used to be scrolling by means of my wishlist for vital worth drops, I noticed that the tripod’s worth had fallen from a foolish overpriced €45.99 in France to an all-time low of €25.99 (it had additionally dropped from $35.95 to $28.76 on Amazon US). It didn’t take a number of considering earlier than I made my buy, and I’ve zero regrets.

That is the most effective cellphone tripod I’ve ever seen or owned. It’s essentially the most versatile, essentially the most transportable, and essentially the most solidly constructed.

I really like a very good accent for my Android cellphone, and I’ve cycled by means of many tripod designs and concepts over the past 20 years. From the ingenious credit-card-shaped Pocket Tripod to MagSafe mounts and bigger desk tripods, I’ve had all of them. I’ve lugged them on journeys and adventures, used them anyplace from my desk to planes’ meals trays, and carried them throughout the present flooring of CES, MWC, and IFA. However none of them hit that candy spot of portability, solidity, and flexibility simply but. I needed to sacrifice one or two necessities each time.

The Ulanzi MA26 (and no, this isn’t an advert; I purchased mine, and I’ve by no means been in contact with Ulanzi) is the most effective a part of each tripod I presently personal. It’s precisely what I’ve needed all alongside: sufficiently small to slot in my hand or pocket, secure sufficient to face on many surfaces, and versatile sufficient to be a selfie-stick one second and an astrophotography stand the following. Don’t imagine me? There are 1,000,000 critiques on YouTube that say the identical factor.

So what makes it so good? First is its portability. It weighs 142g, a lot lighter than my Pixel 9 Professional XL. It’s nearly double the thickness of the Pixel however stays thinner than my minimalist pockets or the case of my Pixel Buds Professional 2. Plus, it’s simply 12cm tall (4.72 inches) when folded.

I can’t let you know what number of instances I’ve skipped taking different tripods with me to occasions or day journeys as a result of I simply didn’t need to trouble with the bulkiness and weight. I hate carrying stuff round; I solely seize a backpack once I should, and my shoulder aches from single-shoulder slings. So, on most days, I’m often out with no matter matches in my pockets. And the MA26 even matches within the tiny pockets of my ladies’s pants.

Subsequent is the stable construct. For one thing so tiny and so gentle, you’d count on a flimsy construct. However no, the aluminum alloy is rock-solid. It feels good within the hand, like I may drop it 1,000,000 instances and it wouldn’t budge. Each joint that rotates, flips, turns, or expands has sufficient resistance to make me belief it. Nothing strikes by itself; I really want to exert strain to unfold and fold the stand. Regardless of the resistance, it’s additionally, surprisingly, buttery clean.

I’d’ve thought that the Ulanzi MA30 ($29.95 on Amazon) with its MagSafe attachment could be higher for me as a result of I actually benefit from the simplicity of magnets, however Qi2 remains to be not as prevalent on Android as I’d’ve preferred. I don’t need to fear if my cellphone has magnets or if I want a particular case or an attachment ring earlier than utilizing the stand in my pocket, so the clamp is as common because it will get for me, for now.

I additionally admire that the edges of the clamp are hollowed out to keep away from triggering the amount and energy buttons on my cellphone. Pixel telephones are often the largest victims of tripod clamps, because it’s nearly inconceivable to stability the center of the cellphone within the clamp with out always urgent the buttons. That doesn’t occur with the Ulanzi MA26 — whew! The clamp additionally acts as a chilly shoe mount on either side, however I don’t have any equipment to check it with.

Maybe, although, my favourite characteristic of this stand is how a lot of a Transformer it’s. I can twist and switch each bit in each path to alter the setup. Standing tall on a desk to take images, compacted right into a desk tripod for watching movies (each on its three legs or with two flat towards the desk), collapsed down — all of it works. Panorama, portrait, going through up, down, at an angle; it could possibly do all of it.

Higher but, it balances completely to level the digital camera up, a characteristic I had but to search out in another small tripod. This is among the superb positions for taking pictures astrophotos. I’ve missed dozens of fine astro pictures as a result of my outdated stands had been wobbly within the wind or couldn’t level in the proper path with out falling. I often must finagle one thing to regular my cellphone with different stands, and even then, I find yourself lacking the proper angles or getting a blurry picture. Not with this one, although.

And once I want a selfie stick, the MA26 may also turn out to be one. Not essentially the most ergonomic to carry, however I’m so hardly ever taking any selfies that I don’t want extra.

Total? Greatest €25 I’ve ever spent on a cellphone accent. I do know it’ll final for years and will likely be in my pocket for each lengthy prepare trip, flight, occasion, gathering, day journey, and random outing. It doesn’t get higher than this.

Look, I’m not attempting to promote you a tripod should you don’t want one. But when, like me, you’ve been on the lookout for an ideal cellphone tripod that marries all of those options, then by all means, get the Ulanzi MA26. It’s $35.95 on Amazon within the US now, which isn’t as unhealthy as the unique worth in France, however there could also be coupons or worth drops now and again. Hold your eye on that. In case your cellphone (or case) is suitable with MagSafe, the Ulanzi MA30 ($29.95 on Amazon) may very well be a neat different, too.