SmallRig smartphone rig

If you are someone who wants to make short films and vlogs with your smartphone, perhaps it is time to get a smartphone rig. We check out one such rig.

Sure, you can easily hold the smartphone with both your hands to make vlogs and films, but the experience will be slippery at best, pun intended. Even if you clothe your smartphone with a silicone case and thereby making the phone easier to grip, it is still not the most comfortable nor safe.

Fortunately, there are many makers who make smartphone rigs, most of which are made in metal, affording some degree of longevity for your smartphone if it is mounted within it. And, depending on the design, smartphone rigts can feature detachable handles for even better grip and usability.

Smallrig is an old hand at making all kinds of video accessories, including DSLR, mirrorless and other camera rigs. Now, it ventures into smartphone rigs to help vloggers and smartphone filmmakers make better video. Plus, as these rigs are essentially “cages” like our camera cage rigs, they offer protection for your smartphone too.

You can see the rig frame is extremely versatile, with passive mounts on top and bottom, to attach your microphones and LED lights. There are also plenty of places for you to screw in other accessories such as powerbanks (the front of the rig), and other 1/4″ screw accessories.

The handle is attached on the frame with a single screw, but is sturdy as smartphones are not monstrous heavyweights. It is a decent grip, with rubber front and back to increase grip, although it is only decent if you have fairly large hands.

To attach your smartphone, you need to loosen the front tightening bolt and then tighten the phone clamp. I would suggest leaving your phone case on so that there is some cushioning on your precious expensive smartphone.

With the hand grip, using the smartphone as a video acquisition device becomes as easy as using say, a Canon XC15 with the side grip. I have tried the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G as well as the Sony Xperia 1 III, both easy to mount on (although you may need to dislodge the phone clamp and mount it off-side to cater to the phone left and right-side buttons. You can see the above top view of the smartphone rig with the phone clamp in a position compatible with a OnePlus 10 Pro 5G.

The next time you are out (especially alone) covering a trade event or conference, and use your smartphone for videography and vlogging, such a rig as the SmallRig smartphone rig might be a great way to move about and hang on to your phone safely, and look a little more serious shooting your footage.