Mobile accessory review: Gomite Tiltpod Mobile

The Gomite Tiltpod Mobile attaches to your key chain.

Gomite Tiltpod Mobile - compatible with Apple iPhone 4 and 4S, $14.95

Some devices are made just to do one simple thing well, and the Gomite Tiltpod Mobile is one of them. It’s raison d’être: to provide an always-at-hand way to stand your iPhone at an adjustable angle, whether in vertical or horizontal orientation.

It hangs on your keychain, so it goes most places you do, and its simple design lets you slip it on and off your phone in a split second (as long as your iPhone isn’t in a case). It won’t help you mount the phone on a tripod or attach it to a vertical surface, but as long as there’s a more or less horizontal surface nearby, you can use it to angle the phone so that your composition is correct in a photo or video, or you have a good viewing angle when you’re playing something back. It also gives the phone more stability than it has when it’s just standing up on its own.

The Tiltpod Mobile is just two parts, and a metal key ring.

The Tiltpod Mobile comes with a little metal key ring that you can put your keys on or attach to a larger ring. The device itself is composed of just two parts: a plastic base and a slip-on iPhone mount. The base has a magnet inside and a shallow socket on top, and its bottom surface is covered with a rubber layer that improves its gripping ability. The bottom of the iPhone mount is a rounded piece of nickel-plated metal. 

To use the Tiltpod, you slip the mount onto your phone, then set the mount into the socket on the base. The strength of the magnet holds your iPhone steady, and the ball-and-socket design of the base and mount together lets you tilt and pivot the phone. The range of adjustability isn’t what you’d get from a tripod, especially when the phone is set up vertically and its top-heaviness makes it fall over if you tilt it too far. But they say the best pod is the one you have with you. Ok, no one actually says that, but if they did, they’d probably be talking about the Tiltpod Mobile. If you take a lot of iPhone photos or use your phone to play videos or make video calls, it’s definitely worth the 15 bucks.

What we like: The Tiltpod Mobile is an extremely portable, inexpensive iPhone support that you’ll have with you wherever you carry your keys.

What we don't like: The Tiltpod Mobile can only be used on a horizontal surface and offers a limited range of adjustability, especially when the iPhone is in vertical orientation.

Rating: 

Aimee Baldridge is a writer and photographer based in New York. For more than a decade she has specialized in covering imaging technology, digital media, and the world of photography. You can see more of her work at www.aimeebaldridge.com.