While I have heard them referred to as vanity sticks, especially in the hands of certain individuals, manufacturers and many users prefer the term Selfie for this type of device which allows users to grab a self portrait of themselves in various locations. The latest product of this type to arrive for testing is the Selfie Pole from Kaiser Baas.
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I have to admit that until the arrival of the Selfie Pole, I had never heard of the company known as Kaiser Baas. Not surprisingly, due to the company’s name, I could be forgiven for thinking that this was a German company but that thought would be well wide of the mark. Kaiser Baas is actually an Australian company that has been involved in the design and development of innovative gadgets since 2006. The Selfie Pole is, in common with many other devices, manufactured in China rather than the land of the company’s base.
The Selfie Pole consists of the main pole element onto which you need to screw the supplied rectangular shaped Phone Grip to the top of the pole. The Phone Grip can be attached in a vertical or horizontal orientation with screw holes being present for both these modes. Both elements are black in colour and can be extended from their original size to one that is more suited for different situations.
In its folded state the pole measures 245mm and with a quick tug this can be more than doubled in length. However to reach its fully extended length of 945mm, covering six extension sections, I found that you will need to apply a fair degree of force to extend this stainless steel pole. The top of the pole, where the Phone Grip element is attached, features a thumb wheel screw on a ball and socket arrangement giving you 90 degrees of adjustment which can then be held in position by a tightening lever.
Arranged just above the handle grip area, at the base of the pole, is a column of four control buttons covering power on / off, Bluetooth indicator, switch between iOS and Android devices plus camera capture. Concealed within the handle grip portion of the pole is a rechargeable 60mAh battery with a claimed 500 plus capture capacity. This battery is charged via a micro USB port. To access this micro USB port, you need to unscrew a cap covering the base of the pole. An appropriate micro to standard USB lad is supplied. A full charge of the battery should take around one hour and give over 100 hours on standby. The screw cap also holds a lanyard that can be used when carrying the device.
The Phone Grip element has rubber pads positioned along the side gripping bars so as not to damage your smartphone. The Phone Grip, with dimensions of 73 x 36 x 23mm (W x H x D), can be expanded from a grip space of 56mm up to 85mm which should be enough for all smartphones currently available on the market. The pole and grip can handle a maximum weight load of 500g.
The link between the Selfie Pole and smartphone is via Bluetooth. I found it took three attempts before my Android smartphone was able to detect the Selfie Pole’s Bluetooth signal and make a connection. But once the connection was made, everything was fine. The appropriate camera app will need to be started manually with a choice of using the front or rear mounted camera. You then need to press the camera button on the Selfie Pole for the image to be captured and stored on the smartphone.
The Kaiser Baas Selfie Pole supports all Android devices from 2.3.6 and later or Apple devices running iOS from 5.0 and later. This product has been priced at £24.99.
http://kaiserbaas.com/products/action-cameras/selfie-pole/
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