Ulanzi MA29 MagSafe iPhone Tripod – A Review
One of the things I use my iPhone for most is taking pictures when I’m out on my bike. Sometimes, a tripod would be useful, and to date, I’ve been used a mini tripod with a clamp to hold the phone. It’s pretty clunky and bulky, so I only carry it on occasions.
Recently, I’ve seen adverts on social media for the Chinese company Ulanzi’s MA29 iPhone stand, which folds flat, taking up very little room. This looked like an ideal solution for a carry all the time tripod, so I ordered one just after Xmas. It took a few weeks to arrive, as Ulanzi ship directly from china.
The MA29‘s most striking feature is its origami-like folding design – it reminds me of the way the legs on my DJI Air2 drone unfold. When folded, it’s completely flat and about 8 mm thick (roughly the same as an iPhone 13 without a case) and easily slips into a pocket or bag – I keep mine in my Rapha Phone case. It’s made from aluminium, keeping the weight down, with a matte finish that resists fingerprints and scratches (time will tell how well!).
The main feature of the MA29 is its MagSafe magnetic array. MagSafe is Apple’s magnetic charging and accessory system introduced with the iPhone 12 series. The MA29’s magnets create a strong connection that holds your iPhone securely in both portrait and landscape orientations. I’m using it with an iPhone 13, and the magnets seem strong enough to hold even the largest iPhone Pro Plus models. It does work with a case on your iPhone, but the case needs to be MagSafe compatible with magnets in the body of the case, otherwise the force of the magnets in the phone body isn’t strong enough to hold the phone securely.
To control the camera on the iPhone while it’s on the tripod, I’m using a Bluetooth remote. I got a fairly cheap one from Amazon, but there’s quite a bit few on the market and they all seem to have a similar design. Pairing the remote with the iPhone is fairly straight-forward, and the Bluetooth has sufficient range for anything I’ve used it for. It works for both still and video work.
All in all, it has provided to be a valuable accessories for my bike photography, and it’s defiantly worth a look if your in the market for a compct iPhone tripod. Ulanzi also make an MA30 model, which has a built-in carabiner type mechanism in the magnet loop.
The MA29 iPhone tripods is available from Ulanzi’s website and costs $19.95 at the time of writing.
