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While out and about I regularly see laptops, eBook readers, smartphones, cameras and the like being put to good use by others.  However I have never seen anybody using one particular product.  Yes I have seen images, usually in promotional documentation, of this type of product being used but I have never seen the act in actual operation in real life.  Yet somebody must use this type of product otherwise why would different companies manufacture Selfie Sticks such as the product from Sandberg which forms the basis for this review.  Surely the use of Selfie Sticks can not be totally marketing hype.

Entitled the Bluetooth Selfie Stick 3-in-1, this Sandberg product consists of a number of elements which can be connected together to deal with various circumstances.  Included in the box is the main Selfie Stick unit, micro-to-standard USB lead, smartphone holder, mount for GoPro (which I actually though was more to do with cleaning your teeth after seeing a TV advert) camera and a  brief Quick Guide that relies totally on a series of illustrations to get its message across.

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The Selfie Stick consists of a ribbed rubber encased tubular handle on which is mounted an adjustable support head element onto which other items can be attached such as a digital camera, GoPro device or smartphone – which does explain the 3-in-1 part of the product’s title.  The head element, with a built-in thumb screw feature, can be adjusted to face through 90 degrees either forwards or backwards as the situation requires.  The stick itself can be expanded from its compact 21cm up to 101cm giving the user a range of capturing situations.

As well as being the home for the six expandable sections of the stick, the Selfie handle contains a rechargeable polymer Lithium-ion battery.  This battery provides the power for driving the Bluetooth 3.0 technology that links the Selfie Stick to the mounted device so that images can be captured remotely.  Situated on the base on the Selfie Stick is a micro USB port that can be used, in conjunction with the supplied lead, to charge the battery from time to time.  As the supplied lead is just 22cm in length, you will be restricted with the positioned on the Selfie Stick during the recharging process.  The connecting port on the Selfie Stick will glow red during the charging process.

Positioned near the top of the Selfie Stick handle is a circular button bearing the icon of a camera.  This button fulfils the dual purpose of instigating the Bluetooth pairing process between the Selfie Stick and its hosted device as well as activating the actual capture of individual images by the camera element. 

A couple of illustrations in the Quick Guide instructions are meant to provide the clue as to how the button fulfils its dual purpose.  By holding down the button until it begins to flash with the familiar blue Bluetooth colour, you should be in pairing mode allowing for a connection to be made with the image capturing device.  This should be a simple enough process but when I first attempted it, I was met by a message stating that my smartphone was unable to make a connection.  The same thing happened on the following five attempts.  It was not until the seventh attempt that a connection was made.  As far as I could tell, I did nothing different with each attempt that would explain why six attempts failed and the seventh was successful.  Fortunately there wee no problems in capturing images via this Bluetooth controlled button.

While a digital camera and GoPro device will be attached via a screw contraption, the holder for a smartphone uses a different method.  A spring grip feature is used to hold the smartphone firmly in position.  This holder device can be expanded so that smartphones with a height of 55 to 80mm can be attached to the Selfie Stick.

The Sandberg Bluetooth Selfie Stick 3-in-1 comes with a five-year warranty.  It is priced at £12.99 which probably explains why there is no carry bag included in the box but you do get an attached lanyard to the Selfie Stick.

http://www.sandberg.it/product/Bluetooth-Selfie-Stick-3in1