3 Legged Thing Phil review: meet Phil – smarter than your average smartphone mount

Some smartphones these days have 4-figure price tags, so it pays to look after them. If you drop one, you’ve only got yourself to blame but if you’ve given phone-holding duties to a specialist tripod mount and something goes wrong, you’re sure to feel really peeved. There are plenty of cheap smartphone mounts on the market with a nasty, plasticky look and feel. I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them (without phone attached).

By contrast, 3 Legged Thing is a company that I trust. It makes quality tripods and other supports from premium materials that look great and perform even better. Phil is its multi-functional smartphone holder and mount, and a worthy match for even the most pampered phone.

3 Legged Thing Phil: Specifications

3 Legged Thing Phil: Price

Last time I looked (about 2 minutes before writing this review) the 3 Legged Thing Phil was available for about $30 / £30 in the USA and UK respectively, but with no availability in Australia. Maybe gravity works differently down under. Where available, I think that Phil is competitively priced, considering the quality of its build and the smartness of its design and finish.

3 Legged Thing Phil: Design & Handling

Over many years I’ve amassed more tripods and tripod heads than I know what to do with, apart from maybe sell a few on eBay. Like many of us, I shoot an increasing proportion of my stills and video on a smartphone these days, for which all of my tripods and heads are useless. Why? My phone doesn’t have a 1/4in socket for mounting on a tripod.

That’s where Phil comes in. It has spring-loaded jaws for biting down on my phone (in a sensitive manner) and a wealth of connection points for attaching it to tripods, monopods, desk mount systems, window mount clamps, pivoting magic arms and other paraphernalia. Not entirely by coincidence, 3 Legged Thing makes all of these other items as well.

There’s no hint of plastic cost-cutting in Phil’s make-up. When it comes to 3 Legged Thing’s tripods and other supports, the parts of the process tend to be either top-quality carbon fiber or aerospace-grade magnesium alloy. It’s the latter that’s used here, for all the key components. The phone holding cradle is black, whereas the rear bracket has color options of blue, lava orange, darkness matte black or metallic moss green. They all look rather lovely, which makes choosing a color the most difficult purchase decision.

The spring-loaded action of the clamp feels just right to me. There’s not too much force required to open the clamp and fit it to your phone, but when you release the clamp it holds the phone very firmly in place. There’s a knob on the rear for locking the width of the clamp and more securely holding the phone. I like that the areas of the holder that come into contact with the phone at the top, bottom and rear all have a rubberized surface, which not only has anti-slip abilities but also protects my phone from getting marked or scratched.

Rotation is a dual-function matter. Naturally you can rotate the phone to face forwards or backwards in the mount, depending on your preference and how you’re shooting. The bigger challenge is rotating between landscape and portrait orientation shooting. As it turns out though, it’s no challenge at all. There’s a knurled black dial concentric and just behind the main clamp which loosens to enable rotation of the cradle against the supporting bracket, then tightens to lock everything back in place. To make life even easier, there are click steps at 90-degree intervals throughout the whole 360-degree range of rotational movement.

Let’s talk connectivity. You can connect the phone holder to a tripod, tripod head, magic arm or other support via one of two 3/8in threaded sockets. Both are fitted with 1/4in adapters, in case you need the smaller size. Going further, you could for example connect the holder to a tripod head using the bottom one, and then add a magic arm for holding the likes of an LED lamp or microphone to the other. Alternatively, you can connect Phil to any Arca Swiss style tripod head quickly and easily, using the like-minded profile base.

Completing the wide range of connection options, there’s a pair of cold shoes mounted at either end of the phone cradle. It gives you extra options for connecting the likes of an LED lamp but I found the fitment a bit on the tight side and struggled to slot a couple of my accessories into the shoes.

3 Legged Thing Phil: Performance

I wouldn’t describe it as overkill but the Phil holds my phone with even more security than I feel the need for, and that’s no bad thing. I found the holder really quick and easy to fit, and the same goes for adjusting its rotation. All in all, it’s a safe, secure and high-performance holder and mount for mobile phones.

3 Legged Thing Phil: Verdict

There’s a lot to love about the 3 Legged Thing Phil. It’s wonderfully compact and lightweight to carry around, easily adapts to fit almost any phone, and holds it with the utmost safety and security for peace of mind. On top of that, it has quick and simple rotational adjustments to switch between landscape and portrait orientation shooting, and a wealth of connection options including two threaded sockets, an Arca Swiss type base plate and two cold shoes. It’s simply a great bit of kit that will enhance your mobile lifestyle.

Alternatives

The Joby Spin Phone Mount Kit is a bit of a whirling dervish of a mobile phone mount. It spins on its own access to facilitate smooth panning for video capture and timelapse sequences with your mobile phone.