On a drop-test, the counterweight slowly returns to the center You move it sideways and stop: it remains vertical. You know it is well balanced when: Your phone and counterweight remain stable vertically. If it pendulates, it is not well balanced. when on the drop-test, the counterweight drops fast, pendulating several times anytime you move it and stop, it bounces like a pendulum. Take your time! You know it is NOT balanced: if the Phone or the counterweight leans towards any direction. Even a single millimeter to the right or to the left makes a huge difference! If it leans forward, you need to twist the adjustable tilt backwards and vice versa. Make very subtle, tiny, adjustments to your phone’s position so the whole thing gets naturally balanced vertically. Here is the tutorial: To balance the Smoovie with your phone you Lock your phone centered in the grip Move the counterweight to the shortest position in which your phone doesn’t lean heavier than the bottom part. What really makes a gimbal stabilizer work is good balance. It was conceived to make it easy for beginners… I don’t like the damper - you would be basically killing the stabilization, making it behave more like a selfie stick. There is a “Rubber Damper” you can insert under the gimbal, for a variable degree of damping on the freedom of movement. ![]() Up and down works just a little: if you move far too much, the magnets will “disconnect”. Big DSLR stabilizers rotate freely and you constantly work to keep it pointing to where you want… Here, magnets keep the camera aligned, left and right, to where you point the handle. No, they are NOT responsible for keeping things stable… these magnets only keep your phone pointing to the direction you want, but trust me, this is a super clever idea and it works. On the promotional video, that pin was metal - on the final product it came in plastic. The gimbal mechanism is quite ingenious: instead of using expensive bearings, everything hangs pinned over a curved plate, offering enough freedom of movement. Overall, the construction is pretty good! Its Universal Smartphone Grip is very functional with rubber pads at the top and bottom. I am not complaining, I like it! Inside you have the Smoovie, a single sheet manual, and the optional “Plus” GoPro mount (which has cost only 1 pound more, why not?). And here it is: very small and simple package. It was pretty cheap: £16 pounds, plus shipping and it was delivered pretty much on time, as communicated in the updates. ![]() The “Smoovie Stabilizer” is the second Kickstarter project I am reviewing. Coming up on “Geek Detour”! I backed five Kickstarter projects so far and, after my Baubax adventure, I decided to avoid backing expensive projects. It was super cheap, so, does the Smoovie really work? Actually, it kind of works like the big professional gimbal stabilizers: you need to learn how to balance it properly, which, depending on the weight of your smartphone, might need some do-it-yourself trickery. The idea is to transform your iPhone, or any smartphone or GoPro, into some sort of steadycam. This is my unboxing, review and tutorial of the “Smoovie Plus pocket video stabilizer”, that I backed on Kickstarter. ![]() If you made a nice “Smoovie with GoPro” video tutorial, let me know so I can put a link here in the description. I don’t have a GoPro myself - so I have no idea how well balanced it gets in practice. There are a huge variety of Video Stabilizers for smartphones available now - from very simple to very sophisticated ones using gyroscopes and motors to keep your phone or camera steady: iPhone/Android Gimbal Video Stabilizers - ****** (Amazon USA) - ****** (Amazon UK) - ****** (Amazon DE) - ****** (Amazon ES) - ****** (Amazon FR) - ****** (Amazon IT) Neewer 24"/60cm Handheld Stabilizer for DSLR and Video Cameras up to 6lbs/2.7kg (the big stabilizer for big cameras I am using): - ****** (Amazon USA) - ****** (Amazon UK) - ****** (Amazon DE) - ****** (Amazon ES) - ****** (Amazon FR) - ****** (Amazon IT) Smoovie on Kickstarter: - ****** Smoovie on Indiegogo: (where you can buy it now) ****** To use the Smoovie with a GoPro, you will need a GoPro case with accessory to standard tripod mount. Unboxing and review of the “Smoovie Plus” gimbal video stabiliser for iPhone and GoPro, from Kickstarter - and my Tutorial on how to properly balance it to get stable videos (it works nice if well adjusted).
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