Urpower Selfie Stick

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Pros Includes rearview mirror for high-res selfies. Very secure phone cradle. Long telescopic arm. Can mount other devices with standard screw adapters. Groove prevents telescopic arm from twisting.

Cons Pricey. Can be tricky to install larger phones on the cradle. Same arm design and materials that caused minor injury with a similar selfie stick we tested. Bottom Line The Urpower is one of the best Bluetooth selfie sticks available, with a secure design and a rearview mirror for high-res pics.

By Antonio Villas-Boas

Why don't we take selfies using rear-facing cameras? Urpower makes a good case for doing so, by including a rearview mirror with its $39.99 Bluetooth-connected selfie stick, allowing you to use your smartphone's higher-res rear camera with ease. It also features a safe cradle for holding your phone, making it one of the better Bluetooth sticks out there. 

At 37.5 inches in length from the base of its rubber handle to the tip of its extendable aluminum arm, the Urpower is 3.5 inches short of the longest selfie stick I've tested, the Ufcit Monopod. At its shortest, the Urpower measures 9.25 by 4.25 (LW), which is quite wide compared with sticks that use a clamp rather than a cradle for your smartphone. A groove along the length of the arm prevents the telescopic sections from twisting under your smartphone's weight. I cut myself while testing a selfie stick with an almost-identical telescopic aluminum arm (the Noot), so be careful when using the Urpower. It's available in black or pink handle options.

The Urpower's hinge at the tip of its arm lets you adjust the angle of the phone cradle (and therefore your phone) 180 degrees up and down. The cradle is attached by a standard screw mount, which also allows you to attach other devices with a screw adapter. Many action cameras, for instance, can be attached to this stick.

The cradle is similar to many of the selfie sticks I've tested so far, except that Urpower has an extra support arm. It helps prevent your smartphone from slipping out of the cradle, but it also makes it more difficult to fit your phone in it, especially if you have a larger device like the Apple iPhone 6 Plus. The phone didn't slip out of any of the sticks I tested, but you'll feel more comfortable with the Urpower if you're concerned about your phone's security.

Unlike most selfie stick hinges that tighten to a desired angle via a thumb screw, the Urpower's hinge snaps into place at set angles. This makes for slightly easier vertical angle adjustments for your phone, as you simply need to click the hinge to your desired angle. 

Like our Editors' Choice, the Newisland Selfie Stick, the Urpower comes with a rearview mirror that attaches to the cradle. It serves as a viewfinder for when you'd rather take selfies with your phone's rear-facing camera, which likely has a much higher resolution than its front-facing camera.

The Urpower connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth to activate the shutter button and take a picture. Pairing with iOS and Android devices was quick and easy. There's a micro USB port on the bottom of stick's handle (a charging cable is provided), along with a power switch. 

The camera app in iOS was fast enough to let me snap selfies as quickly as I could press the shutter button on the stick's handle. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the Urpower to connect with a Nokia Lumia Icon running Windows 8.1, and it looks like Windows Phone devices are out in general.

The Urpower is one of the best Bluetooth options available, but our Editors' Choice remains the Newsisland selfie stick. It uses a 3.5mm cable instead of Bluetooth, so you don't need to worry about battery life, and it's not as tricky to install your phone. And like the Urpower, it comes with a rearview mirror, making it possible to snap high-resolution photos.

Source: View the original article here