As a reviewer you often get sent stuff and you're thinking: "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" The latest gizmo to pop through the door was the Lazy Arm from ThumbsUp. In essence it is a flexible mount for your smart phone. Playing with something for a period of time makes you realise that there were limitations to your smart phone use you never knew existed.

Overall the arm is very well made with a strong clip at the bottom to attach it to any surface as thick as four to five centimetres deep, you might get another couple out of it if you’re strong enough as the clamp gives a very tight grip. This sucker is not going to drop your phone.

Attached to this is a strong, flexible plastic covered coil, which allows you to articulate your phone to any desired angle. Atop the whole thing sits the gripping arm. This is not as strong as the one at the bottom, but then you don’t particularly want it to give a death like grip to your expensive phone. The inside is covered with a soft serrated collar which holds the phone without damaging it.

So what would you use it for? Initially I was somewhat bemused. But playing with the arm for a while opened up a number of useful functions. I can watch a film or Skype, in the kitchen, while cooking. One of the more useful aspects turned out to be in arts and craft, you can watch a hands free You Tube video, whilst at the same time as engaging in whatever your particular pastime may be.

The more I played with it the more I was impressed both with the build but also how useful it was being able to use the phone hands free.

So, it’s a nice product which gets more useful the longer you have it.

8

Charles Packer