Gear Review: Kengadget Selfie Stick


Kengadget Selfie Stick:  A Gear Review on my First Selfie Stick

The Background

As hard as I tried, I really couldn’t find any information about Kengadget.  You can check out the Kengadget website here (not to be confused with KensGadgets).  Overall, the site is pretty barren, but the most important page is the warranty registration page.  What comes in the box: 1 41-inch Bluetooth selfie stick, 1 anti-shake orange rubber pad, 1 wide angle lens, 1 charger, 1 lens cover, and 1 lens bag.

you get everything you see here
What comes in the box: you get everything you see here

Purpose

The whole point of the selfie stick is to take pictures of yourself and friends with ease.  The design is a lightweight, extendable pole that allows the user to take a picture from up to 41-inches away.  This is done with a push of the button at the base of the pole by syncing the selfie stick and phone using Bluetooth. 

How I Selfie

While I am not exactly sure how to add the Kengadget Selfie Stick into my adventures, I do know it has made the selfies I have taken much easier.  Furthermore, I have been told that more pictures of BeeGee and me at cool places would make each post even better.  So, I plan to take more pictures of us in the future.  For less serious purposes, I like to take a bunch of selfies and then text them all to
Linda or Jack.  That’s what I call a selfie bomb.

Its neat but purposeless to me
Testing out the wide-angle lens. What do I use this for?

Performance

My Kengadget Selfie Stick has performed exceptionally well since I began using it almost a month ago.  To test out its durability, I took it out for 2 days of paintball play during the Texas Triple Threat at Petty Paintball and a quick hike to McKinney Falls State Park.  The Bluetooth aspect made taking photos a lot easier as any picture is just a button click away.

but she hates posing
Trying to get a selfie with BeeGee, but she hates posing

During the paintball play, I ran around with the selfie stick in my pocket a majority of the time, including running the woods and flopping on the ground.  The stick held up to the abuse and I gave it no special treatment.  In addition, I was able to set the selfie stick up quickly, take a picture, and put it away relatively quickly.  This allowed me to take a good selfie and then continue playing paintball with no issues.  Finally, I have an S6 with Mophie Case, which means my phone is large and thick.  Yet, the selfie stick had no issue accommodating my beefy phone.  While my phone did fit a little awkward and would put a slight bend in the stick when fully extended, there was no decreased performance. 

Selfie Time at Texas Triple Threat!
Jack and I taking a selfie at Petty Paintball

On my hike at McKinney Falls, I was moving at a quick pace, trying to keep up with BeeGee through wooded areas, climbing rocks, and jumping down rocks.  All with my selfie stick in my pocket, which had no issues with durability.  Furthermore, the selfie stick allowed me to take stable pictures even with BeeGee tugging on her leash.  Finally, the Bluetooth is incredibly fast, which is a necessity when taking selfies with BeeGee because she never holds still for long when we could be adventuring.

Just hold still a second longer!
Working with BeeGee to take a selfie at Mckinney Falls State Park

Issues

Through using the Kengadget Selfie Stick, I found a few issues, but none were anywhere close to being deal breakers.  My biggest issue is with the instructions, which were pretty much worthless.  The instructions are short, don’t provide any detail in putting the stick together, and the Bluetooth pairing information is incorrect.  The name of the stick in the instructions is different from what my phone paired with.  Thankfully, putting the selfie stick together and pairing are relatively easy with no instructions being needed.  The second issue is with the black gripper pad at the base of the selfie stick.  The rubber pad has a tendency to slip and spin around.  This makes it hard to find the shutter button, but it’s just as easy to re-adjust the gripping pad.  While this isn’t a huge issue, it can easily become an annoyance.  The final issue is with the screw that connects the selfie pole to the phone holder.  I could not tighten the screw enough to ensure the 2 pieces stayed tight between photos.  Once again, this was an annoyance and not a deal breaker.  I just got in the habit of tightening the screw before I set up everything to take my next selfie.      

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think the Kengadget Selfie Stick is a solid piece of equipment.  Setting the stick up and using it was a breeze, and the benefits completely outweigh the issues.  While I didn’t talk about it in the review, the set also included a wide-angle lens.  As neat as the lens was, I don’t see a good use for it and wouldn’t base your purchase on the lens extra.  However, if you are looking for a selfie stick, I would highly suggest that this selfie stick makes it into the final running.

Let us know your thoughts on the Kengadget Selfie Stick or your favorite method to take selfies.  Also, Make sure to keep up to date on all our adventures by following us on Facebook.

This was a sponsored product review. One Kengadget Selfie Stick was provided by Kengadget for review.


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