As of this writing (late May 2020), much of the nation is still under some sort of lockdown due to the pandemic. As a result, a lot of us are working from home as well as connecting with loved ones by video.
I have a fatal flaw: vanity. Yes, itโs one of the Seven Deadlies. No, Iโm not proud of it. I guess we could blame it on the self-absorbed, narcissistic tendencies which already exist deep within everyoneโs psychesโwhich, under normal circumstances are easily controlled with self-discipline and humility but flourish when we are fed so regularly and efficiently by social media. (Iโm lookin at you, Insta.)
Why bring vanity into the discussion about video calls? Have you SEEN what you look like when your rear-racing camera is on the desk or table below your eye level?? I DO NOT HAVE ALL THOSE CHINS. I found myself spending fifteen minutes before each call stacking books and rigging up strange set-ups with clothes pins to try to get either my iPhone or my tablet at eye level so that I would not look like Jabba the Hutt on my video calls. This became pretty tiresome, especially when my comically magnificent structures would collapse in the middle of a call, forcing everyone else on the call to see areas of my living space unfit for public display. I needed a quicker, more versatile, less Rube Goldberg-ish solution.
Enter the gooseneck tablet/phone holder. After doing some comparing, reading reviews, and price-shopping, I finally decided on this particular one because it had the features I wanted: the length was good, it would hold my iPhone or my iPad, and the price was right. It took a while to ship, despite it being Prime eligibleโbut that was no fault of the seller as Amazon was, at the time, prioritizing shipments of greater need/importance due to the pandemic.
This thing has changed my video conference game tremendously. I had doubts as to how effectively it would hold my iPad, but itโs plenty strong enough for that. Itโs very adjustable… but since the gooseneck is so very sturdy (you want it to be, because otherwise youโll look like youโre constantly in mid-earthquake to your viewers), it takes some muscle to bend it to where you want it to be. Despite that sturdiness, one disappointing aspect of the arm is that the mounting clip and the collar for tightening it down are plastic. I could see someone easily overtightening it and breaking it, rendering it completely useless. As long as youโre careful with it, itโll be fine, but I felt that information was worth knowing if youโre considering buying.
Top tip: if you ultimately decide to purchase this product, READ THE DIRECTIONS. I know none of us want to read directions for something that seems very simple and self-explanatory, but you could save yourself potential frustration by taking a few seconds to do it. It wonโt kill you, so go on and do that. One of the things you will figure out very quickly is that you should affix your device into the spring-loaded holder BEFORE snapping it onto the ball joint at the end of the arm. Much, much easier.
Overall, I can recommend the product. Good value for the money, does the job, spares me the ridiculous engineering, and enables me to take video calls without my viewers looking up my noseโcanโt ask for more than that.
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