RavelliAPLT3 53" Light Weight Aluminum Tripod with Bag Includes Universal Smartphone Mount

I've only used it half a dozen times, but in different settings and circumstances. At full stretch this baby rocks. Figuratively. It's out of the case and set to go in less than two minutes. I use it with my iPhone, which is easily clicked into place, and my Apple Watch, from which you can snap pics. Highly recommended.

It looks like there has been some redesign on this tripid and also the price has dropped quite a bit. I purchased this tripod for around $25 about a year ago. The reviews made me think it was a good value albeit rather inexpensive. After using it minimally for a year, I took it out last week. Upon opening it, one of the legs came off completely. One of the keeper pins that attaches the leg brace to the middle section had fallen out at some point. This pin keeps the legs at the correct angle. As I opened the tripod, the leg swung out further than the pin should have allowed it to and the leg broke off the tripod completely. For $13, use it gingerly and you'll probably be fine and if it breaks you'll only be out $13. I planned to use mine for more important tasks (running binoculars off of it for wildlife viewing) so I'm glad I had this failure at home instead of the back country.

It's hard to complain about quality when this tripod is $17, but after about 4 total shoots with this the screw on pan handle came loose and no longer screws back in to the mount. Thus, the friction adjustment for the forward/back tilt can no longer be adjusted, and the camera will fall all the way forward or backward if slightly off balance. If your luck is better than mine, this isn't a bad buy if you really need a super cheap tripod, but I will be upgrading to something higher quality now that this does not work.

The product is certainly light weight. And it is made from aluminum. However, it seems the quality is a bit lower than what I expected.The clip that holds your phone to the stand always seems to loosen up. There is also a button that is supposed to hold the clip in place, This button has already popped out of place on me once.Another annoying thing, and this is petty, is the plastic foot peg didn't seem to be glued on so well. And not realizing, I picked up the tripod and put it away without paying attention. Now, I am short one plastic peg.

Update: The ability to tighten the handle that holds the camera from rotating side to side stopped working. Returned. Another star removed.This is sort of a tricky product to review, for me. I'm tempted to give a reasonably large amount of stars, but this would strictly be because of the price. If I'd paid more, I'd consider giving one or two stars. I've compromised by going for 3 stars.At the end of the day, this tripod will hold up your camera and allow you to take stabilized pictures. However, it does this at pretty close to the most basic level possible. Don't get me wrong, it's able to twist and position in most typical ways. One way to say it is that this tripod gives almost no confidence whatsoever. The legs are super bendy, the latches and levers are all super plastic and feel like they could break anytime, the tripod weighs nothing, there isn't an easy way to add stabilization (I believe it says there's a weight hook, mine doesn't have this) and even if there was I wouldn't feel like the tripod could handle it. None of the components work smoothly. I'm never totally sure when the levers or screws are firmly in place, and it always makes me nervous to tighten them too much.So I do recommend this tripod if you need one that is quite light and small, can't justify spending much for whatever reason, and are okay with the fact that you'll have to baby the tripod big time. You'll likely never feel comfortable leaving your expensive camera on this unattended; I know I don't unless I'm indoors, basically. I'm not sure if this meets my needs and still need to decide if I'll keep this tripod or not. I want super light, but want to have a bit more confidence when my camera is attached.This would probably more or less keep someone only using a cell phone happy. I haven't used the cell phone attachment and can't comment on its quality. Point and shoot cameras might be okay. The tripod still won't be super stable, may make you nervous to leave an expensive phone on it with wind, but at least you probably won't stress as much about the fasteners and such. For reference, my camera with the heaviest lens I have is about 2.2lb. Most any DSLR will best that weight.By the way (and this does not affect my rating, as it's merely a spec), think carefully about whether or not the height is okay for you. I thought I'd be fine with a tripod that was below my height, but sure enough it does pretty quickly become a literal pain in the neck :) plus with this particular tripod, I'm nervous to bring it to full height anyway.If you have any questions, comment away. I was pretty nervous to buy such a cheap tripod and appreciated helpful info from reviews and would be happy to pass it forward.