Works with
First-generation iPhone
iPod touch
The Good
Solid arm moves little, even when shaken
Tight grip on iPhone
Includes belt clip
The Bad
Doesn’t fit iPhone 3G
Portability questions
The Price
US$29.95
Watching video on your first-generation iPhone or iPod touch for more than a few minutes can be a recipe for neck strain. Most people hold their mobile devices around their waist or chest, meaning that they need to lean their head forward get a good view of the screen – and doing that for the length of a feature film is sure to put a crick in your neck.
Papadakis Technologies aims to change this with the Soaripod, an iPhone stand that also includes a belt clip and adjustable arm designed to make watching video on your phone more comfortable.
The Soaripod is composed of two items – a belt clip–style case which the iPhone or iPod touch snaps into and a long, adjustable arm built from flexible, but firm plastic joints which has a clip on one end and attaches to the iPhone/iPod touch belt clip at the other. When you snap the device into the belt clip and attach it to the arm, you’re ready to attach the iPhone stand to a stationary object and start watching video.
The design of the Soaripod is solid. The adjustable arm is roughly a foot long and when combined with the weight of an iPhone resting on it, I suspected that it might droop or wilt or bend out of shape under vibration (the kind you might experience on a plane or train – two of Papadakis Technologies’ expected uses for the product).
I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. The adjustable arm is firm and solid, holding the phone’s weight easily and hardly moving even under somewhat intense shaking. You’ll have a lot of options for comfortable positioning of the arm while you watch.
The clip that attaches the Soaripod to the seat, tray, table, or other solid object presents a slight challenge, though. Because of its design, you have to leverage the weight of the iPhone against the way you attach the clip. Otherwise, the open-sided clip has a tendency to move under the weight of the phone and the whole set up tips. This isn’t a major concern, though, as it’s easy to avoid.
The only other serious concern I have with the Soaripod is that it doesn’t really fit the iPhone 3G. Because the iPhone 3G has a bulge to its back, and the Soaripod was designed for the bulge-less first-generation model, the belt clip doesn’t fit the 3G snuggly. It took a fair bit of wrangling to get my iPhone 3G clipped in, and then the hold was precarious enough that I constantly worried that my phone would crash to the floor. If you’re an iPhone 3G owner, I’d consider waiting for an updated Soaripod before buying.
The iPhone promises everything you need from your mobile devices in one package – music, movies, web, email, phone. Adding the Soaripod iPhone stand means carrying another accessory. Even though this one can be curled up, it still occupies a decent amount of space. Whether the additional weight and overhead of carrying another object is worth it will depend on how much video you watch while travelling (I suspect most people won’t use it at home, since they have larger screens there).
If you love portable video, though, the Soaripod iPhone stand may be just the thing to keep your neck from getting bent out of shape.
