My iPad Stand, 2021 Edition

Last April, after posting this photo of my desk setup for my iPad Air review, I got a few questions about the stand I was using to prop up the iPad. The answer was Anker’s $15 Multi-Angle Stand. Last week I posted a similar photo, this time for my iPad Mini review, and I’m still using the same stand. Alas, that stand is no longer available.

The closest thing I could find is this $10 copy of that stand from Amazon Basics. It’s such a blatant rip-off of Anker’s stand that ordinarily I wouldn’t link to it, on principle, but, given that Anker’s original is seemingly no longer being produced, a rip-off design is the best we can do. I even bought one to try it out before linking to it. (If you buy one through this link, I’ll earn affiliate revenue that will get me one step closer to buying one of the upcoming Jony Ive/Marc Newson-designed electric Ferraris.)

Amazon’s multi-angle stand is extremely similar to Anker’s in size, weight, and angles of tilt. But it’s slightly lacking in fit and finish compared to Anker’s. Whereas Anker’s felt like a bargain at $15, this one feels like what you’d expect from a $10 knock-off. My biggest annoyance is that Amazon, for some reason, decided to screen print “Press/Presse” on the button that you quite obviously must press to adjust the tilt. (Why French? Update: [Best guess: to sell the same unit across Canada.]) This is as helpful as printing “Press” on the knock of a click pen. And of course they typeset these needless words in Arial. A wee nip of nail polish remover took care of that, though.

I still recommend it. It folds flat, and when your iPad is sitting in it, the stand effectively disappears.

★ Tuesday, 28 September 2021