Smarter Stand For iPhone Really IS Pretty Smart [Review]

Don’t you hate it when your earbud cable gets tangled? I know I do (but not as much as I hate Apple’s stupid earbuds themselves). Luckily, Dotan Saguy has come up with the Smarter Stand for the iPhone, a pliable plastic widget which not only acts as a place to wrap your earbud cable, but also as a handy-dandy stand for the iPhone.

I have been using one for a little while now and it turns out to be a pretty useful little gadget.

What It Does

The Smarter Stand is more than just a two-in-one combo. The plastic winder is shaped to hold the earbuds but the earbuds – or rather their jack plug – form an integral part of the stand.

To use it, you insert the jack into the channel on one end. This is a cylindrical section with a slash cut along its length, and with the inside cut to match the stepped shape of the earpod/earbud jack.

Once inserted, which takes all of a second, you just wrap the cable around the ends and tuck the buds into the loop that the wrapped cord makes.

To unravel, just untuck the earbuds and let go of the rest. It unravels leaving you with perfectly non-intertwingled earbuds.

The stand part is even cleverer. You just plug the headphones in, and the jack forms a pivot around which to Smarter Stand spins. It is shaped so that its edge butts up against the iPhone and it acts as a kickstand.

The Good

This thing is light. I just dropped it on my kitchen scales and it came in at 4 grams, which is like a sixth of an ounce. It’s also bendy, in the manner of stiff rubber. This means that it won’t ever scratch anything, nor will it poke into your privates when in a pants pocket. In fact, you probably won’t even know it’s there.

It also works as advertised. The little stand does indeed work great as a cord-wrap, and also as a stand. It can even be left in place on the iPhone when not in use as its secondary position is flush with the iPhone’s bottom edge.

The stand is clever: You just plug the headphones in, and the jack forms a pivot around which to Smarter Stand spins.

And as a stand it gives a good angle. At first it seems al little shallow, i.e. the screen points up more than forwards, but on a desk this is actually ideal.

You can even use it with non-Apple headphones, as the cylindrical clip is flexible enough to accommodate a range of sizes. I have a detachable thread-wrapped cord on my over-the-ear headphones which just loves to get all tangled up, and it fits the Smarter Stand just fine.

The Bad

To be honest, this product mostly checks boxes in the “Good” section. The only things I can think of that you might not like are the winding process – which takes a little practice before you can get the earbuds lined up fully wrapped (hint: not too tight and not too loose) – and the white soft plastic which seems destined to get grubbier and grubbier over time.

But that’s really it. Nothing that a little training and a bit of hot water and soap can’t fix.

The Verdict

If you’re annoyed by your earbuds and also like tom prop up your iPhone on your desk, then you should probably buy this. It’s just $12 (currently nearing the end of a successful Kickstarter campaign) and can be kept in a bag or a pocket until you need it without bothering you, and it’ll even work fine with a case.

[rating=good]