Gymbl – The Ginsu knife of iPhone accessories

Posted by Gordon on November 17, 2011 Leave a comment

Okay, it doesn’t slice, dice, and make perfect julienned fries, but YOUBIQ’s Gymbl does work as a stand, a grip, and a tripod–everything you need to elevate your iPhone’s camera and video capabilities to where you don’t even need to carry anything else.

You can use it as a stand to watch media or run FaceTime; use it as a grip to help eliminate shake while capturing moving scenes; set it up as a tripod and you’ve got a steady base for video or for capturing panoramic views. Need a bigger tripod? No problem, there’s an adapter in the Gymbl’s base so that you can put the whole thing atop your regular tripod, too.

My husband is a professional photographer, and I practically had to wipe the drool off the Gymbl when he was done playing with it. He particularly likes how compact they’ve made it, especially considering how many solutions it provides (I believe he said the third tripod leg where the other two tuck inside–and then that becomes the grip for mobile use–is “brilliant.”)His one quibble is that you have to use the included Gymbl case to attach your phone to the device, and in addition to being kind of boring, it has an added “lip” which makes it too big to fit in his belt case. It’s certainly not a concern for those of us carrying our iPhones in our purses, but something to consider for the guys who wear theirs in holsters.

All in all, though, you can pack one of these and leave the rest of your photo equipment at home, which is kind of spectacular. -Mir