Gymbl Grip & Tripod
Written by Heather Leister
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My iPhone is thinking rather highly of itself lately, now that it’s wearing the Gymbl case. You see when it’s in the case I can attach it to the Gymbl tripod and when I do that it quickly becomes more like a fancy pants HD camera and less like my workhorse of a phone. Any minute now it’s going to start taking issue with my using it to take phone calls. But you know what? I really don’t mind because this Gymbl gadget is just so darn neat! It makes my iPhone look instantly cooler and maybe I’ll start to look cooler by association. At the very least I know my photos and videos are going to turn out cooler anyway.
How does it work? The first step is to put your iPhone in the Gymbl case. It’s a sold black case made of two pieces that slide together. Standard looking enough except for the left side. Here the plastic comes out farther from the phone, especially at the top of the case. Then it curves back in, forming the perfect spot to place your hand. Back to the extra bit of case at the top of the phone. Within that section there is an opening and this is where the Gymbl Tripod is going to attach. The tripod has a thin strip of metal and it slides right into this open slot. Once the metal strip is in there your iPhone won’t be going anywhere.
Now that your iPhone is on the tripod you can do all sorts of nifty things. The phone slides into place in landscape position and you can leave it like that, simply setting up the tripod to take photographs from that angle. Or if you’d prefer the portrait position all you have to do is swivel the top of the tripod where the iPhone attaches to the case. You can easily adjust the tripod legs and there’s even a position for hands free Facetime. The Gymbl comes with a very nice set of pictorial instructions that will show you the different tripod positions. You can even detach the part of the tripod that’s holding onto your iPhone and then attach that to a regular tripod giving you more height.
YOUBIQ, the makers of the Gymbl, also have a photography app. I haven’t personally tried the app but one of the things that you can do with it is create panoramas. Because the tripod holds your camera steady you’ll be able to get a good shot and the app will use the iPhone’s gyroscope to guide you in capturing the images. Then it stitches them together to create one image. As soon as I’ve got something worthy of a panorama I’ll be giving it a trial.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this gadget but I’m impressed with it’s construction, durability and usefulness. I’m not usually a fan of having to use a separate case for an iPhone accessory but it makes sense in this situation. The Gymbl case is a sturdy one and will do a good job protecting your phone in everyday use. Having it on your phone certainly makes for easy tripod assembly. I have shaky hands and it’s always noticeable when I’m videotaping. The Gymbl definitely is going to come in handing when I’m filming. Why not eliminate my hands completely and use the tripod? My husband has been talking about letting the kids the Gymbl to create stop motion films with their action figures and Littlest Pet Shop toys. He also really, really wants to set it up in my toddlers room and record what she does when she’s supposed to be napping. Personally, I’m not sure I want to know.
The Gymbl is on the more expensive end of iPhone accessories but when you start thinking about the possibilities for use they’re practically endless. I actually just thought of another one right now – it can hold your iPhone while you’ve got Netflix running. Set the iPhone up on the tripod, fire up the Netflix app and you have your very own mini movie screen. How cool is that?
Gymbl retails for $69.99
See the Gymbl Grip & Tripod
Disclosure: I received a free Gymbl to use for review purposes.
