You may know the name Joby from the original GorillaPod tripods. The GorillaPod was the first truly functional and successful flexible tripod. Since then there are more brands making flexible tripods, but none of them have trumped the GorillaPod in functionality and reliability. Joby started making more photography accessories, but they haven’t forgotten about the original GorillaPod. They’ve added a lot of new models to the GorillaPod-line in the last years. One of those is the GripTight GorillaPod Stand PRO I’ll tell you about in this review. It is a mix between Joby’s GripTight (their accessories for smartphones and tablets) and the original GorillaPod. That mix makes the GripTight GorillaPod Stand PRO one of the most flexible smartphone holders in the market. The GripTight GorillaPod Stand PRO is available in a version for smartphones (59 euro’s in the Netherlands) and a version for tablets (69 euro’s).
The GripTight GorillaPod Stand PRO
The GripTight GorillaPod Stand PRO is built out of two main parts. The bottom part is a normal small GorillaPod. The legs have 9 sections and are about 20 cm long. That means it is small enough to stuff in your backpack, but it is still long enough to reliably grip around a pole or branch. Of course you can use the flexible legs to level your smartphone on a uneven surface. That makes the Stand PRO usable in a lot of situations.
The GripTight and PRO parts in the name comes from Joby’s new smartphone holder. Joby has got other holders named GripTight, but those are smaller and built lighter. The smaller normal GripTight holder used a spring to hold the smartphone. The GripTight PRO has got bigger arms with a screw to lock it, making it even sturdier and making it hold the phone even better. The arms are made of high quality steel and have a thick rubber coating to make sure the arms don’t damage your phone. The rubber also gives the GripTight a better and more secure grip on your phone. The rubber is grooved on both arms to grip smaller phones. The GripTight PRO is compatible with phones from 56 to 91 mm wide. I’ve tested the GripTight PRO with the iPhone 5c, Sony Xperia Z1 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. All of those fit perfectly.
On the back of the clamp there is a screw to lock it. If you undo the screw you can open the arms to put your phone in it. If it is loosened you can also rotate the phone to put it in horizontal or vertical position. Once the phone is locked in the holder the grip is very good, so you don’t have to worry about it falling out. On the back of the holder there is a second screw to tilt the whole unit. That means you have more than enough options to adjust the holder in the desired direction.
On the bottom of the GripTight mount is a standard tripod mount so you can mount the GripTight on a full-size tripod. The other way around you can use the GorillaPod with a (small) photo camera. I really like that, it makes the GripTight Stand PRO even more versatile.
Using the GripTight Stand PRO
As I said before the GripTight Stand PRO is very versatile because of the combination of the smartphone holder with the GorillaPod legs. U could use it to hold your phone when you want to watch a movie for instance. Because the flexible legs and all the adjustments you can make you can adjust the screen just right to make sure you don’t have reflections on your screen. Because of the flexible GorillaPod legs you can also mount the GripTight to a table or the headrest of your car. That’s great when you want your children to watch a movie without having to worry that they knock your phone off the table.
With the quickly improving quality of smartphone camera’s the Stand PRO is also great for taking photos or videos with your phone. That can come in handy to take a group photo or a selfie. Just clamp the GorillaPod around a pole of branch and start shooting or filming. Another use of the GripTigth is taking long exposure photos with you smartphone. Until recently that was unthinkable, but with recent phones you can get some great results. You could use an app like VSCO that is both available for the iPhone and Android phones (not all phones support full manual control).
Conclusion
The GripTight GorillaPod Stand PRO is a great smartphone accessory. You can use it to watch a movie, shoot videos or take pictures. Because of the high quality holder your phone is safely mounted, and can withstand bumps and shaking. Combine that with the flexible GorillaPod tripod and you have a smartphone holder you can use for almost every situation.
