Google Pixel phones are renowned for their cameras, and one of the best new features of the Pixel 10 series is the MagSafe-compatible Pixelsnap system on the back. That’s why I’m in love with this 3-in-1 magnetic camera grip from KraftGeek.
The grip magnetically attaches to the back of your Google Pixel 10 (any model) and makes your smartphone suddenly feel like a professional camera. It has a lovely, grippy texture on the grip, which gives you a much more ergonomic way to take pictures with your phone. The little button on top is a Bluetooth shutter button, so all you need to do is pair it with your Pixel, and it works without any configuration at all.
What’s best about it is that the button doesn’t take much effort to press. You click it in, for sure, but it’s not enough of a depress to shake your phone. If you’ve ever tried to take a picture with the volume button on your phone and found the photo ended up blurry, that’s because the volume button takes too much pressure to depress. Not this shutter button.
KraftGeek was thoughtful enough to include two big rubber pads on the back that help keep the phone from rotating when you’re holding it in landscape orientation. You can even mount it to a traditional tripod via a standard tripod screw on the bottom of the grip.
So where does the “3-in-1” part come in? I’m glad you asked. The center portion of the grip, where it magnetically attaches to your phone, is a 5,000mAh power bank that’ll wirelessly charge your Pixel 10. If you had it connected all day, it would double your phone’s battery life, but who wants to have a grip attached to their phone all day? Not me.
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That’s why it’s great that the third function serves as a magnetically charging phone stand. Just place the grip on its side and voila, it stands up. Now, you can snap your Pixel 10 onto it and suddenly, it’s a half-price Pixelsnap Stand. It even works well as a way to mount your phone for a remote meeting since it’s angled slightly upward.
The battery inside the KraftGeek grip is charged via a USB-C port on the bottom, so it’s easy to keep it topped up (or just plugged in if you leave it on a desk). It’s not going to charge your Pixel 10 quite as fast as the official Pixelsnap Stand, but it’s more designed to dock to your phone throughout the day anyway. That’s especially true if you enable the lovely screensaver feature on your Pixel.
A versatile tripod I use every day
I’ve also been using the KraftGeek magnetic phone tripod with the Pixel 10, and while I am enjoying it quite a bit, I’m more mixed on it than the camera grip. Let’s go over what’s great first.
My goal with this tripod was to find one that would fit in my backpack for work trips. It’s annoying to carry a giant tripod separately to events, so this one perfectly fits that goal. It’s a 13-inch rod when completely closed, and that’s easy to fit in a bag. Then you unfold the three legs and set it down, and the magic begins.
The top of the tripod extends upward to a ridiculously impressive 66 inches (nearly as tall as me). The phone then magnetically snaps on the top, and you can rotate your phone to use either landscape or portrait mode (or any angle) easily since it’s all magnetic.
Even better, there’s a little Bluetooth remote that nests in one of the three legs that can be used as a remote shutter button. Just like the grip I talked about above, you pair the remote to your phone, and the button takes a photo or starts/stops a video.
Now, while I do use this thing every day (and on every trip I’ve taken this summer), I wish it were a little sturdier than fully extended. I recommend using the remote shutter if you plan to have it 5ft tall, because even tapping the shutter button on your phone will make it wobbly. Not wobbly like it’s going to fall over, but wobbly enough to be distracting in a recorded video.
I also wish the head would rotate like a traditional tripod. It tilts nearly a full 180 degrees back and forth, but it doesn’t really rotate at all, making some uses a bit limited. If neither of those things bothers you, though, this is a phenomenal travel tripod that you’re going to love.
