The best selfie sticks for your smartphone, GoPro or camera in 2021

If you’re looking to buy one of the best selfie sticks, it pays to think ahead. Rather than handing over cash for a flimsy piece of plastic at a tourist trap destination, doing some research and getting hold of a good selfie stick can pay dividends. Whether you’re travelling alone or in a group, a good selfie stick is a great way to get fun memories of your time away. But is there really much difference between them?

For a starter, you get loads more functionality. Rather than just a holder for your phone, a good selfies stick can be a controller for the chutter, with a Bluetooth remote or other form of connectivity that lets you trigger the shutter with ease. Some can also convert to a tripod, which opens up new shooting possibilities, and many better selfie sticks have the advantage of being able to support GoPros and 360-degree cameras, as well as smartphones. You will absolutely not get any of this functionality from a cheap stick bought from a stall by the Trevi Fountain or Trafalgar Square.

A good selfie stick should be able to support one of the best selfie cameras, whether it’s a phone or something more traditional. Though you may only need it to support a phone! So, we’ve divided our guide up into sections according to compatibility, with sticks that are phones only, sticks that can take a GoPro or similarly specced action camera, and sticks that can support 360-degree cameras. You can click the headings on the left to jump straight to the section of your choice. 

If you’re looking for something a bit more advanced than a selfie stick for shooting stabilised video, then our guide to the best gimbals is your best bet. Otherwise, let’s crack on with the best selfie sticks you can buy right now.

The best selfie sticks in 2020

Phones & cameras

Stable, durable, equipped with a 65mAh rechargeable lithium battery that can capture up to 50,000 selfies from full charge... the SYOSIN Selfie Stick Tripod does pretty much everything you could ask for from a product like this. As the name implies, it can also convert into a quick, cheap and cheerful tripod for getting stable shots, and it can support action cameras and small mirrorless/DSLR cameras thanks to its tripod mount. Bluetooth functionality is present and correct, and the stick also comes with a wireless remote. Pretty much perfect!

Maybe you don’t need more than a metre of selfie stick in your life – but on the other hand, maybe you do? The Andoer 54-inch selfie stick is quite a whopper when fully extended, but it does retract to a pleasingly short 18.5cm. All this girth makes it one of the heavier selfie sticks you can get, weighing more than half a kilo, but there’s a hell of a lot of functionality. It’s compatible with smartphones, action cameras and smaller cameras, and there’s also a handy Bluetooth remote that comes included. It also converts into a handy mini desktop tripod! Versatility really is the name of the game here.

Any photographer knows how useful a little fill light can be in a pinch, and this is just as true for travel selfies and vlogs as it is for studio portraits. Meet the MPOW Selfie Stick Tripod 3 in 1, which is well as being a useful selfie stick is also a handy portrait aid, sporting a handy built-in fill light to help keep your exposures clean and pretty. Control for the light is built into the handle (short press to adjust brightness, long press to switch modes), while the stick also comes with a Bluetooth remote, which is extra handy if you choose to convert it into a mini tripod. Very much a “do everything” tool, this stick even offers a screw mount that will take lighter cameras.

Phones only

Stowing down to just 18cm, the MPOW iSnap X works with pretty much any iOS or Android phone you’d care to name, and comes with its own Bluetooth remote that has a built-in Li-Ion battery for quick charging and long-lasting operation. A useful wrist strap on the end of the handle makes the stick more secure when you’re on the move, and the 270-degree adjustable head means you’re sure to always find the best angle for your shots. For the price, MPOW is offering a lot of selfie stick here, and it’s a really solid pick for budget-conscious travellers.

Retracting down to just 5 inches (12.5cm), the JTWEB Bluetooth Selfie Stick Mini can easily be carried in a pocket or handbag. Thankfully that doesn’t mean that the makers have skimped on quality – the construction of this stick is all-metal, with treated surface that means it doesn’t have the plasticky feel of so many cheap sticks on the market. As you might expect, the short retracted form factor of this stick means it’s also not one of the longest-extending on this list, but its maximum length of 50cm is still decent enough for most purposes. Bluetooth control is a welcome addition as well, and it’ll pair easily and quickly with most iOS and Android smartphones.

Given that they’ve managed to jam a 65mAh lithium-ion battery in there, it should come as no surprise that the Blitzwolf Selfie Stick Tripod can power its Bluetooth functionality for a long time. The makers claim you could theoretically get 50,000 selfies out of it before needing to recharge, which should be enough to satisfy even the vainest amongst us. It also offers complete 360° rotation of the phone, ensuring you can always get the perfect angle. With an aluminum construction and the ability to convert into a mini-tripod with non-slip legs, Blitzwolf’s selfie stick does almost everything you could want from a selfie stick – the only thing it’s missing is a camera mount.

GoPros

While you may not have been expecting GoPro themselves to get into the selfie stick game, in truth the 3-Way Arm is more than that. It also functions as a simple handheld grip and as a static tripod, and when it’s in selfie stick mode, the fact that its arm folds rather than collapses straight down means that it’s possible to arrange the stick at such an angle where you can capture your selfie without getting any of the shaft in the shot, even with the wide-angle lens characteristic to GoPro Hero cameras. If you don’t mind spending a little more, this waterproof arm is one of the best GoPro tools to augment your GoPro shooting.

360 cameras

While a selfie stick may seem like the ideal choice for shooting with a 360-degree camera, you do run the risk of the stick creeping into shot. That's why Insta360's 'invisible' selfie stick is so good: the algorithms of compatible cameras are set to automatically detect it and remove it from the shot, ensuring that it doesn't interfere with your 360-degree panoramic images and videos. If you're a user of one of Insta360's cameras, which are among the best 360 cameras in the business, it's a no-brainer to pick this stick up.

Broadly compatible with any 360 camera that weighs up to 1kg and has a tripod mount, Manfrotto's VR selfie stick is gorgeously made and highly durable. With a minimal footprint that reduces the amount the stick will creep into the shot, the stick also boasts four aluminium sections and an optional ballhead. It's more expensive than the other products in this guide, but you really do get premium quality for your money, and any 360 camera user will get a lot of use out of this.

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