The Best Phone Stands of 2021
| Awards |  |  | | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $12.00 List $12.99 at Amazon | $16.00 List $9.99 at Amazon | $11.00 List $9.99 at Amazon | $9.00 List $8.99 at Amazon | $16.00 List $12.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Good size, stylish, easy to use and adjust | Folds flat and is adjustable, simple, clean | Angle adjustment, sleek and smaller size, can fold flat | Angle adjusts, can fold flat, lightweight design | Simple, rubberized base, stable, adjustable height |
| Cons | Can take up too much space for some | The hinges are hard to move, tablets do not sit securely | Can not adjust the height | Can not adjust height, design feels cheap | Large footprint, lacks durability of metal stands |
| Bottom Line | A sturdy, large cell phone and tablet stand with adjustable viewing angle and color options | Flat-folding, fully adjustable, table top phone stand for travel or compact office and home function | Plastic, flat stowing, portable stand with adjustable height and fixed view angle | This ultralight, compact folding stand has an adjustable angle and a fixed height | An adjustable, lightweight option that is unnecessarily bulky |
| Rating Categories | Omoton Adjustable | Nulaxy A4 Foldable | Lamicall Adjustable... | UGreen Portable | LISEN Adjustable |
| Versatility (30%) | |||||
| Stability (30%) | |||||
| Portability Stowability (15%) | |||||
| Ease Of Use (15%) | |||||
| Aesthetics (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Omoton Adjustable | Nulaxy A4 Foldable | Lamicall Adjustable... | UGreen Portable | LISEN Adjustable |
| Style (folding, fixed, gooseneck) | Fixed stand, adjustable angle | Folding | Fixed stand, adjustable angle | Folding | Fixed stand, adjustable angle |
| Stowed dimensions | 4 x 4 x 3 in | 4 x 2.75 x 1 in | 4 x 3 x 3 in | 3.75 x 3.25 x .75 in | 4.33 x 4.33 x 8.53 in |
| Holds a tablet? | Yes | A small one | A small one | A small one | A small one |
| Adjustable height? | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Adjustable view angle? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charging cord access? | Horizontal and vertical | Horizontal and vertical | Horizontal and vertical | Horizontal only | Horizontal and vertical |
Best Overall Cell Phone Stand
Omoton Adjustable
The Omoton Aluminum Desktop is our first choice due to its aesthetics and user-friendly design. Though it has a small footprint, it is big enough to stand out amongst the clutter. Unlike many other options we tested, this one can also undoubtedly hold a tablet of any size without risking toppling over and creating more of a mess. The aluminum, stiff-hinged adjustment mechanism stays in place but can be adjusted quickly and easily. The stand works great for one-handed use, as its silicone base plants it securely on your desktop.
If you are trying to minimize or reduce the number and size of objects on your desk, you may not be pleased by the size of the Omoton. This stand is not foldable and isn't the easiest to store. Besides the fact that it is larger than some of the other products in this review, the Omoton is a top-notch product.
Best for Simplicity and Long-Term Function
Tobeoneer Aluminum Desktop
The ToBeoneer Aluminum desktop cell phone stand is the ultimate in sturdy simplicity. There are no hinges or moving parts to wear or fail, and as you get only one phone viewing angle and one phone viewing height setting, you won't get "decision fatigue" from adjusting your phone position. This is simply one piece of aluminum bent and machined to hold your phone up and in view. The cutouts both lighten it and route your charging and/or headphone cord out of the way. Its initial purchase price is among the lowest in our selection, and the sturdy, simple construction should amortize that low cost over its lifetime.
You can't fold this thing up for stowage, nor can you make any adjustments. We found the display angle to be just right for most desk/tabletop work but found ourselves wishing for a flatter angle view when reading recipes in the kitchen or watching how-to videos at the garage workbench. We also hoped for a steeper viewing angle when lying on the couch, watching a few videos. A fixed angle like this one will be optimized only for desktop use, but you may likely use it in other settings.
Best Compact Travel Stand
Lamicall Adjustable Foldable
The Lamicall Adjustable Foldable impressed us with its compact, folded profile, rubberized base and backing, and range of adjustability. We appreciated its versatility in that it could hold both a phone and a tablet with ease. This is our go-to for travel because of its simplicity and foldable design. It's also super easy to use with headphones or while charging your phone.
The fact that it is compact and adjustable angle-wise means that it lacks adjustability when it comes to height. The Lamicall doesn't give much height off the desk, which isn't a problem in most situations. After testing a wide variety of different stands, we found that having angle adjustability is much more important than height adjustment options.
Best for Versatility
B-Land Universal
The B-Land Cell Phone Holder is one of the more clever entries in our test. The flexible rod that makes up the bulk of it is both platform, adjustment, and stand. Both ends of this rod attach to a simple, pivoting clamp that holds your phone. You can hang it, wear it, or stand it on a surface. We found that you can affix or place it in dozens of ways and potentially in an infinite array of possibilities that we haven't even thought of.
Gooseneck-style cell phone holders take a moment to configure for your purposes each time you change its setup. The B-Land is no exception; it takes a bit of fiddling to set it how you like. Further, you will only ever get its position "close enough" and never "perfect" in alignment due to the nature of the flexible rod. Another issue we had is that the flexible rod sometimes becomes disengaged from the phone clamp portion. The flexible rod requires strong moves and stands up to rugged use. However, the phone clamp portion isn't nearly as robust, and you need to know where and when to be gentle or firm with it.
Lightest, Most Compact Option
UGreen Portable
The UGreen is simple, light, and compact; it's just two pieces of plastic joined by an incremented, frictioned hinge. As you open the hinge further, you get a lower-angle view. This is the lightest and most compact stand we tested. The contact points are rubberized for stability, and for the minimalist digital nomad, the UGreen slides virtually unnoticed into a mobile office.
There is no way to adjust for height, and if you want to connect a power cord or headphones to your phone, you will be relegated to landscape view. The vertical view requires a clean, unused short bottom edge of your phone. We had no issues with the construction of the UGreen, but it feels a little flimsy.
Excellent for Apple Watch Wearers
OMOTON 2 in 1 Universal
If you are a highly organized, gadget-obsessed type, this may be the stand you've been looking for. The Omoton 2-in-1 is designed to hold a phone and keep your Apple watch secure. This stand is fixed and all aluminum, with a silicone pad to help hold it in place. We liked the sturdiness of this stand, though its footprint is large, especially if you don't plan to use it as a watch stand all the time.
Though we liked the Omoton because it was a helpful way to keep our desk organized, you'll want to decide if you need a stand for your Apple Watch. Some of our testers found it useful, while others didn't use it all that often. That said, this is a great option for Apple Watch owners that are looking for a stand.
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Why You Should Trust Us
We bring years of productivity, attention to detail, and cell phone use to this review. Our primary tester on this project, Jed Porter, is well known for his work at sibling site OutdoorGearLab and as a full-time, year-round mountain guide and professional climber/skier. To optimize his time in the mountains, he has become one of our review and productivity gurus. Senior review editor Jane Jackson brings years of both outdoor equipment and home accessory testing to the table. Her home office is set up for maximum efficiency, and she has been using cell phone stands for years to aid her through life in the outdoors, around the house, and at the office. Our review team brings fundamental office productivity, careful analysis, and a burning desire to do anything but sit at our desks. For that reason, we are students of efficiency and clean phone viewing/use spaces and systems.
We compared and assessed versatility, stability, portability, ease of use, and aesthetics throughout the testing period. Each metric was evaluated individually, and all products were compared directly, and each metric was also noted during actual "real world" use. Calibrating subjective and objective assessments to one another yields our proven and authoritative conclusions.
Analysis and Test Results
To test cell phone stands, we mainly used them in our day-to-day lives. Then, to augment our daily use, we made formal observations. We weighed and measured each stowed product. We folded and unfolded each hinge, looking for wear and introduction of "play". We tried each model with two different cell phone sizes and a small tablet and tested each one with and without a charging cord plugged in.
Value
Except for the B-Land Cell Phone Holder , all models are near the same price point. That being said, the B-Land is also unique in its versatility, and wearable options, which could bring more value to its cost if you are looking specifically for such features.
Likewise, if the thought of storing your smartwatch alongside your phone is a high priority, the Omoton 2-in-1 includes this option for a price only slightly higher than the other models. For those that require a sturdy model, the metal options found in Omoton Aluminum will offer more long-term value in your investment as plastic versions may break easier. The Omoton also offers the most overall value if you are not entirely sure what niche your cell phone stand will fill in your workspace.
Versatility
While not all stands on the market will do so, all of those we tested will hold your phone vertically or horizontally and work with any phone model, size, or case configuration. What differentiates the models in our test is the variety of viewing angles and positions.
Some adjust in nearly infinite ways, while others don't adjust at all. Gooseneck-style products are the most adjustable. The B-Land Cell Phone Holder has infinite viewing angles and adjusts for height over a range of 1-2 feet. The B-Land can be configured to hang and even wear, making the gooseneck-style products the most versatile in our fleet.
The remainder of the products we tested are differentiated by height and angle adjustment. If the non-gooseneck products adjust for height, it is only up to a couple of inches at most. Height adjustment is nice but is secondary in importance to angle adjustment. If you have to choose angle or height, choose angle adjustment. Angle adjustment is helpful for any task that doesn't take place at a seated desk. When lying on the couch or bed watching tv on your phone, you want your screen more vertical than you do at a desk. When standing and viewing your phone, such as following recipe directions in a kitchen or DIY instructions at a workbench, you want a flatter phone screen. An adjustable angle is handier than you would think. Other than the ToBeoneer, gooseneck products all readily adjust for angle, as do most of the other stands.
Stability
In this subcategory, we looked at "bump resistance". Can you readily use the touchscreen without stabilizing the phone with your other hand? What if you accidentally kick the leg of your table? Will you dislodge it all?
Stability is a function of the device's "stick" to the surface and the phone's security within the stand. The stability of gooseneck stands is a double-edged sword. The long, flexible rods bounce around more than others. But, because the phone is clamped in place, a full disconnect is rare. The B-Land phone stand only clamps on the phone end, but its mass is greater, and it has a relatively flexible rod is stiffer than the Aduro. We had good luck stabilizing the B-Land with a heavy book on the base.
The remainder of the products accomplishes stability with a combination of stand mass and rubber contact points. Heavier stands are more secure. All those that made our final cut have rubberized contact points everywhere they sit on a surface and everywhere your phone contacts them. The heavier metal stands, such as the Omoton Aluminum, are stable enough to drive your touchscreen one-handed without stabilizing with your other hand. Like the eminently portable UGreen, the plastic options require two hands for most touchscreen operations.
Portability/Stowability
You won't always be using your cell phone holder. For travel or stowage away from your improvised and temporary desk or home workspace, compact stored stature is valuable. Our selected products vary significantly in stowed size and mass.
Gooseneck products are bulky and heavy. Only the most generous bike messenger style work satchels will have room for a stowed gooseneck holder. The rest are all much smaller. All non-gooseneck products take up less space than a can of soda. Among them, the fully folding versions are the only ones we can recommend for digital nomads. Paired with a folding keyboard, the clever technophile can closely replicate a laptop workspace with less carried mass and bulk than a legit Brooklyn slice.
Much of what we like about the highest scoring Omoton Aluminum is its bulk. As it pertains to storage and transport, this bulk works against it. For dedicated desk usage, you won't notice the size in any negative fashion. Other stands like the Omoton 2 in 1 are unabashedly large. These stands don't stow easily and take up quite a bit of space on a desk.
Ease of Use
What's it take to get your phone in position? Simpler, in this case, is often better. The fixed-view angle and one-piece construction of the ToBeoneer is absolutely the easiest to use.
On the other end of the spectrum are the gooseneck options. Getting the optimum viewing angle with either of these can be a bit of a wrestling match. We found the B-Land a little easier to work with than the Aduro.
The plastic folding options can feel a little flimsy, especially when the alternatives are so robust, but it seems that the wrong sort of table drop could damage the UGreen. Though we aren't prone to intentionally testing to failure, we also aren't unfamiliar with equipment failure.
Aesthetics
Pleasing aesthetics are intertwined with function and productivity. Simple products with smooth contours scored best.
The Omoton excels in many ways; that it comes in silver and black tips the balance. The gooseneck models are pure function; no one fell in love with their look. The ultra-simple ToBeoneer leaves lots and lots of room for function after form. This value-oriented choice could be a sculpture first and a cell phone holder, incidentally, without scoring any lower. It's not sculpture, but that's perhaps why it costs so little.
Conclusion
We've conducted an in-depth comparison of the best portable phone prop options on the market. We purchased and used each model and had a team of testers consult on our findings. We bring a great deal of attention to detail to all product comparisons and hope we've been able to aid you in finding the best option for your workstation.
— Jane Jackson & Jediah Porter