How a selfie stick can become a lifeline

Michael Murtaugh

Signe Brewster

Editor’s note: This is the last installment in our second year-long round of the “52 Things We Love” series. “52 Things We Love” will be on a brief hiatus before round three. But we’ll be back soon, so stay tuned for more expert odes in your inbox.

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The inexpensive Yoozon Selfie Stick is a tripod, selfie stick, and camera remote all in one.

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A few years ago, I might have told you that selfie sticks deserved to stay in 2014 with the Ice Bucket Challenge and the series finale of How I Met Your Mother. But then I came across the Yoozon Selfie Stick while I was researching Wirecutter’s guide to tripods for smartphones, and I had to admit how wrong I was.

As it has been for many people around the world, the pandemic has been a time of deep isolation for my husband and me. We’ve worked from home together, walked every block in our neighborhood, baked bread, and played nearly every two-player board game in existence. But the most world-shattering moment came in 2021 with the arrival of our daughter. At the hospital, with no visitors allowed, it was just my husband and me there with this tiny new being.

On a whim, I’d packed the Yoozon Selfie Stick in our hospital bag. It’s a bit of a joke that first-time moms overpack (I never did touch the towels from home or the big bag of snacks). But a selfie stick turned out to be a lifeline to the rest of the world. I set the Yoozon on a table so I could still FaceTime grandparents while my arms were full of baby. Back at home, once my baby-carrying muscles came in, I used it in selfie-stick mode to fit both my daughter and myself into the frame on calls. A year later, when the Omicron surge meant my husband and I were the only attendees at my daughter’s first birthday party, we used the Yoozon as a tripod to snap a family picture of the three of us.

The selfie stick is an aptly shaped lightning rod for the narcissism of our social-media-obsessed era. However, since adding one to my tripod collection, I’ve seen how a selfie stick can be useful in the tender moments, too. These video calls and pictures from the first year of my daughter’s life have meant everything. I’m surprised and grateful that a $14 gadget was there to make them easier.

After researching dozens of tripods over the past six years, we’ve found that the Yoozon Selfie Stick is the best budget smartphone tripod.

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• It has been a Wirecutter pick since 2019.

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• It telescopes to add up to 2 feet of height as a tripod or selfie stick.

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• In its most compact form, it’s small enough to slip into your back pocket.

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• It comes with a remote to trigger your phone’s camera shutter.

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Read more in our review for the best smartphone tripods.

We see regular sales on the Yoozon every month or two. Waiting for a $3 or $4 price drop is not always worth it, but this is a decent savings if you don’t need the Yoozon right away. The lowest price we’ve seen is during one of Yoozon’s regular lightning deals, but we’ve also seen good deals during Prime Day and Black Friday.

The Yoozon Selfie Stick has spent years knocking around the bottom of my purse without picking up any signs of wear. It’s the best kind of budget pick—cheap enough that it wouldn’t be difficult to replace if lost or treated too roughly, yet tough enough that I don’t expect I will ever have to buy another.