The Magical Magnetic MiStand Is My New Favorite iPad Stand [Review]

By

IMG_3881

MiStand byMi
Category: Stands
Works With:iPad, Kindle, anything really
Price: From ~$64

The MiStand looks like the mystery tool you might find at the back of a machine shop, especially in the industrial blue colorway of my test unit. It has a utilitarian angularity, a huge, over-engineered ball joint and it is as sturdy as anything you have in your home. It’s also just about the best iPad desk stand I’ve ever used.

What It Is

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If you’re feeling cruel, try challenging a small child to pull the two halves apart.

The MiStand is a machined aluminum bracket with a moving platform up top for your iPad or iPad-shaped object. The platform rotates to any angle you like on a big ball and socket joint, and the ball is held in the socket by magnets. This lets you position it pretty much anywhere you like and it just stays there, rock solid.

The iPad itself attaches using nano-suction pads, which always freak me out as they hold so tightly (and when they get dusty and lose grip, you just clean the lint off with a strip of sticky tape). The base also has this nano coating, which explains why the whole lot stays rock solid even though the stand weighs less than an iPad mini.

The Good

It’s solid, and it’s compact. I have used the MiStand on my office desk, plus my home desk (aka The Kitchen Table), plus the floor (I’m in the middle of moving between apartments and various window sills. When it’s used as a plain old stand there’s not much to it, other than the surprising sure-footedness of the nano-suction base. But when you use it actively on a desk, especially alongside a computer, it’s truly cool.

At first I found myself pulling the iPad off the stickers and flipping it 180˚ to get, say, the volume switches up on the top edge. But I soon stopped that nonsense and started spinning it around instead. I love that you can just push the mini by its edge, or grab its face with your whole hand, and turn it to wherever you want it, only for it to remain exactly in place. It’s uncanny, a little like seeing the folks on the International Space Station set things “down” in the air and have them stay put. Only not as cool as space, of course.

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Looks pretty neat right?

Once set, the magnet is strong enough to hod the iPad in place even if you type like a clumsy ape. I’m so used to holding the iPad when I press the sleep/wake button that I was surprised to find that it doesn’t move at all, even when you’re pressing hard at an angle like that.

Finally, the height of the stand is great for both the desk (keeping it easily to hand, and making it genuinely useful as a desktop partner to a Mac), and for using in more perilous environments like the kitchen, keeping its payload up and out of the way of spills.

The Bad

It’s angular. This isn’t bad so much as something to watch out for: those sharp corners could easily take a chunk out of your antique desk, or your plaster wall. On the other hand, it might prove a great defensive weapon should the need arise.

The Verdict

If you have an iPad mini, Air or even a fat iPad 3/4, or if you have a Kindle, or even a Wacom tablet, you should consider the MiStand. It’s fast become my favorite desk stand, mostly because it ditched any attempt at being minimal and just made itself useful. I even use it for my iPhone, just to keep it in a hander place when I’m working. I love that you can set any position quickly, and that whatever position you choose, the iPad remains sturdily positioned.

There’s only one problem: The MiStand is a Kickstarter project, so you’d better get your order in soon, or be prepared to wait for it it to ship in December.

7efa700653bb88097c2e209e6e87aac5_largeProduct Name: : MiStand

The Good: Strong, steady, trustworthy, will probably last forever. Also: cool.

The Bad: Could hurt somebody if used as a weapon.

The Verdict A bargain, and most likely the most useful stand you’ll find anywhere.

Buy from: Mi

[rating=excellent]

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