With less than 2 weeks to go on his Kickstarter project, entrepreneur Dotan Saguy, the man behind the Smarter Stand iPad Stand Kit for the Smart Cover and Smart Case, has no worries that he will reach his funding goal of $10,000. That’s because at the time of this writing, the earnings are already beyond that number by over $120,000. The Smarter Stand isn’t available in retail yet, but they sent me a set of pre-production clips to test drive. Let’s take a quick look.
Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.
The Smarter Stand is actually 2 plastic clips that are designed to work with your existing Apple Smart Cover or Smart Case.
The clips slide on either side of the Smart Cover or Smart Case. By placing them over certain folds, you can adjust the angle of the stand. Shown above is the clip placement when you’re not using the cover as a stand. In this placement, you can use the cover as you normally would if the clips weren’t attached. The clips do not interfere with the on/off feature of the cover.
Placing the clips as shown above will allow you to create a stand that will elevate the iPad’s display to an angle of about 33 degrees.
If you’re a Smart Cover user, a non-slip pad is included that sticks to the back side of the iPad to provide stabilization to the iPad when it’s on a slick surface. Smart Case users don’t need to use the pad since the polyurethane of the back cover provides the necessary grip on slick surfaces.
In this orientation, the Smart Cover with the Smarter Stand clips provides a relatively stable stand for use on a flat surface. It won’t work well on your lap though…
Adjusting the location of the clips allow you to customize the angle of the stand from 33 to 45 degrees.
Another way to orient the clips creates a privacy shield.
The Smarter Stand is a simple product that is easy to use. I’ve heard some people make the argument that you can do the same thing for free with metal binder clips. That’s true, you can… but you wouldn’t want to leave those clips attached to your Smart Cover because they would scratch the iPad’s screen when the cover was in the closed position. Of course, you could keep the binder clips in your gear bag and use them when needed and there’s nothing wrong with that idea. But if you want something a little less home brew, the Smarter Stand Kit will do the job.
The Smarter Stand will begin shipping this Fall, and it will retail for $20. But if you want to save a few bucks, you still have a few days to pledge to the Kickstarter project. $12 will get you 2 White clips. Liking them on Facebook will get you an extra clip for a total of 3 clips.
Product Information
| Price: | $20 |
| Manufacturer: | Smarter Case |
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looks not stable. it’ll be “wobbling” when you’ll try to touch ipad.
@Dmitriy it’s actually more stable than I thought it would be. If you’re just using the cover, you’ll need to put the included sticker on the edge. Otherwise it might slide around.