REVIEWED: Looq Selfie Stick
Extendable arm for an iPhone 5/5S/5C could be a hit at tourist hotspots – and it’s great for filming any kind of video, too
All hail the selfie. There are no bigger trends in photography and travel than the sell-portrait, but actually composing a decent selfie can be tricky. Stretch forward Looq’s Selfie Stick for iPhone 5/5S/5C, a telescopic stick that fastens a phone up to 24cm away, complete with a remote trigger. Best of all, there’s no battery.
Grips a phone
Looq’s Selfie Stick is so simple that we’re surprised there aren’t more models available. It comes in two parts, a six-inch handle and a phone holder, which connect via a screw tightened ball joint. The phone holder is well padded and grips a phone – even if it’s in a thick protective outdoorsy cover – firmly enough, though it doesn’t extend enough to hold any kind of tablet. The main handle section has a coiled white cable terminating in a 3.5mm jack.
Attach a cable
Once the phone is in place, it’s necessary to attach that cable to the headphones socket on a phone, which does mean orientating the phone in a certain way. By doing that the Selfie Stick takes control of the phones’ trigger button – much as an in-line remote on the cable of some pairs of earphones does.
Remote trigger
Taking a selfie is a matter of extending the telescopic handle to between 15-24cm (the latter is necessary if you want some background, as in the traditional me-and-the-Taj Mahal selfie), composing the shot, and hitting the remote trigger with your thumb. The only issue is trying not to get your arm in the shot, though the arm is long enough to make this relatively easy to get the angles right.
The remote trigger works whether you’re using the rear-facing or front-facing camera, so as well as being useful for taking any kind of photo from a hard-to-reach angle (say, raising it above your head at a festival or concert) it’s perfect for video. If nothing else it will get you closer to cats …
Stunning results
The results are stunning; as well as getting rid of that awkward selfie problem of the selfie star not looking at the camera lens while trying to depress the shutter release icon, we found lining-up a shot not just easy, but loads of fun. Some will dismiss it as a faddy, throwaway travel gadget that won’t make it to a second trip. We’re not so sure about that. Social media fanatics traveling alone to beautiful places who want to feature in their own travel photos will get a lot out of the Looq Selfie Stick.