Ipow selfie stick - Amazon

I bought a selfie stick! It really wasn't something I thought I was going to purchase, but I think it will be good for a few trips I have coming up. One of those will actually have quite a few people in the party, so this will hopefully enable me to take a picture of all of us at the same time without having to ask someone else to take it or sacrifice one person to be the photographer! ...Also I had an Amazon gift card, and I didn't know what else to do with it lol.

Ipow Extendable Wireless Cable Control Self-portrait (No Bluetooth Matching and Charging Free) monopod Selfie Handheld Stick Pole with Mount Holder ... (New)

I did a little bit of research and decided that I was specifically looking for a selfie stick with a headphone jack connection, so I wouldn't need to charge the stick, use a remote to capture, have to use a secondary app or use bluetooth to connect (for the sake of my battery life). For this kind of selfie stick, all you need to do is plug in the cord, open your regular camera app and press the button on the stick to capture! A lot of the listings on Amazon have different options for the bluetooth or headphone jack, etc, but I had to make sure I picked one that said something like this one in the color section - "no need battery". A lot of the reviews at the bottom of the page were for the bluetooth one so it was kind of confusing, so I just hoped that I was going to get the item I thought it was. Another thing I wanted was for the order to be fulfilled by Amazon so that I could get the free shipping for a minimum purchase total.
[In case you are wondering, I also had the Hunger Games Catching Fire bluray and fish food for S in my cart to get the free shipping, and I will not be reviewing either of those lol.]

Thankfully, I did receive the product I thought I ordered lol. Set up is super simple and easy. Just screw on the black part that holds your phone, plug in the cord to your earphone jack, turn on your camera app, and you can start shooting pictures with the button on the handle right away! I have an iPhone 5s and it easily fits although adding the orange adapter may help it fit more snuggly. I let S's friend's gf use it with her phone and it's one of those humungo ones, and it fit that as well although I think it was near the limit since she also has a case that's a bit bulky. For my purposes, this works quite well though, and I don't worry about breaking it due to the size of my phone which I'm not planning on upgrading for awhile.

It's pretty self explanatory lol. There aren't a lot of frills to it, and there doesn't need to be. I was considering decorating it a little, but I don't know if I will bother since I'm not sure how sturdy this will be and how long it will even last, and I don't want to waste resources on it wtf.

The rod can be extended quite a bit. All you need to do is pull it out and push it back in, really lol. The only downside is that my arm becomes less steady and the picture doesn't come out as clear/the camera has a hard time focusing but that may in fact be a personal problem lol.

I think photos taken with my phone on the selfie stick are probably more worth seeing than more photos of the stick itself so I'll just dump a few here haha.

I think I'm going to enjoy taking outfit photos like this occasionally. I feel like it can be a bit more flattering. Also, I won't have to rely on my mirror all the time. My mirror isn't placed in a very good spot for taking outfit photos because not enough light reaches the feet when I stand where I want to and my lower legs always come out really dark.
Last picture (bottom right) is a bit of a joke because I really didn't need the stick for that, but with it I was able to back up enough to get an even distribution of light on my body without getting so much excess background and foreground. (Also pardon the mess behind me. I took these right before I left for the night wtf.)

This definitely enables me to take "outfit photos" in places other than just right in front of my mirror which is an area that doesn't have great lighting due to its location (and it's stuck on the wall lol).

Also pretty good for regular selfies of my face ofc. And it's always nice when your arm position isn't a dead giveaway that you've taken it yourself lol.

I also recently and unexpectedly used it at work. The regular camera died while we were out in the field all day, and I just happened to have the stick with me and quickly hooked up my phone. It was a bit unnecessary, but I just wanted to try it lol. It helped boost my phone up in the air for some shots and also allowed me to shoot with just one hand when needed.
I can't really share the photos I took for work but here's a selfie I quickly took that day while walking lol -

Can't even tell I'm holding it right? Haha. It could be better focused but I think it's good enough lol.

Overall, I'm not unhappy I purchased it, and I'm sure I'll use it a bit, but I've had it for about a month now and don't reach for it often. I'm not yet one of those people who carries it with them everywhere so that's probably why lol. That being said, I look forward to using it on upcoming trips for sure! The product works well as intended, and it's great for a second option for self shots and especially group shots.