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Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder
MSRP:
What we like
What we don't like
Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder
Bedtime movie watching on your phone can get uncomfortable real quick. Stands don’t do well on unstable surfaces like a bed or sheets, and often you will need to adopt odd positions to make it work. Holding the phone with your hands can result in sore arms the next morning. Not to mention there’s a chance of a hard device slipping and hitting you smack in the face. The Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder promises a solution to all these snags, so we put it to the test. This is Android Authority’s Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder review.
What you need to know about the Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder
- Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder (IVY): $19.99/£19.99
The Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder looks odd at first, but it’s a very simple product to understand. It’s a flexible arm that can be bent and moved around to accommodate a mobile device in a bevy of different positions. It’s mostly used for bedside video/movie viewing, but the possibilities are endless.
The Phone Holder can be attached to desks, tables, furniture, or anything that is 2.3-inches thick or less. After the arm is put in place, simply use the clamp to grab your device firmly, and you can bend the whole wire to adjust positions.
Its MSRP is $33.99, but it’s listed at most retailers for $19.99 at the time of writing.
What’s good?
I’ve previously bought three different products of this kind, and every single one has broken within a couple of months. They usually fail around the clamp area, which I assume is because it’s the section that holds all the weight. This section probably weakens as you move the arm around.
When the Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder came up for review I was hesitant about it. I had nearly given up on this category of device, but I had to give it a fair chance. My search for the right flexible bed/desk phone holder wasn’t over after all, and boy was I surprised.
When the Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder came up for review I was hesitant, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised.
The Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder changed my perspective. I never babied it, but I haven’t felt like it has any weak spots to worry about. This product feels as solid as it did the first day I pulled it out of its package.
For starters, this bedside phone holder is heavy, weighing in at almost a pound. It’s 33.4-inches long when extended all the way. The wire itself is made of 0.33-inch thick aluminum alloy. You can tell it’s high quality because it has plenty of resistance. Bending it takes a good amount of force. The phone will still move a bit if you shake the bed, but less so than others I’ve used.
The desk clamp is as strong as they get, even if it’s made of plastic. It holds tight in place and nothing has weakened over a few weeks of use. Likewise, its aluminum wire feels very strong and stays in place firmly.
While the phone holding clamp itself feels a bit cheaper than the rest of the product (more on that in the next section), it has worked well so far. I was able to use it with heavy devices like the Google Pixel 3 XL, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus. That said, they all fit pretty snug, so anything significantly larger will run into compatibility issues. At the end of the day, those who just want to view videos on a phone should have no issues in most cases.
What’s not so good?
My biggest complaint, as mentioned above, is that the phone holder isn’t as well built as the rest of the product. This section looks and feels like it’s made of cheaper plastic. It doesn’t make me feel as confident as the rest of the unit, but it’s also not the worst phone holder I’ve used. The shiny, cheaper plastic just so happens to be more flexible. But it comes with rubber ends, as well as a strap for stability and device protection.
Said holder supports devices up to 3.9 inches wide. This means that, on average, most phones with 4.3-6.3 inch screens should work. That covers anything except the odd phone that’s especially wide or narrow.
As you might expect, the thick wire never looks as pretty after the first few folds. Even getting it to be straight again is a hassle, so be ready for odd wire curves after some use.
I also wish the phone holder could handle larger devices. It would have been great to use the Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder with my tablets, for example. Even a smaller 7-inch Amazon Fire tablet is too large for the Saiji holder. And I believe the unit is strong enough to hold a larger, heavier device.
Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder review: Should I buy it?
The Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder is definitely a strong contender for those in the market for a bed/desk phone holder with a flexible arm. This has a solid build (for the most part), works well, looks OK, and there is very little to complain about. It’s also not crazy expensive for what it offers. Especially considering the price on Amazon is usually well below the $33.99 MSRP.
The Saiji Gooseneck Phone Holder has become my bed and desk companion of choice for hands-free media consumption.