Belkin’s MagSafe Continuity Camera mount is an easy webcam upgrade

Belkin’s iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Notebooks has a nasty identify however is an excellent accent. It allows you to clip your iPhone onto your laptop computer so you can also make use of macOS Ventura and iOS 16’s Continuity Digicam function, which turns your cellphone right into a webcam that completely crushes just about something that’s constructed into MacBooks nowadays. And if that was all it did, I’d nonetheless be proud of it — however its design and options are what actually make it value contemplating, despite the fact that there’s already a flood of different equipment meant to do the identical job.

Utilizing the mount to show your cellphone right into a webcam is simple: you magnetically snap it on, flip out somewhat foot with Belkin’s emblem on it, and relaxation it on high of your pc. Then you definitely simply select your iPhone because the digital camera in no matter video chat app you’re utilizing. It’s a fairly easy mechanism that works properly, and since the mount is round, you may connect your cellphone in both portrait or panorama mode.

Its versatile form does, nonetheless, imply that there’s not that additional stabilizing magnet on the backside like another MagSafe equipment have. That most likely gained’t trigger a power downside; my iPhone 12 Mini by no means slid off Belkin’s mount or something, even after I examined it with no case, and none of my colleagues who’ve used the mount with larger telephones famous any points. Nevertheless it does imply that you could have to spend a second twisting the mount a tiny bit to ensure your video doesn’t find yourself barely crooked.

The place the mount actually shines is its construct high quality and bonus kickstand / grip ring (sadly, the kickstand can’t actually be used if you wish to prop your cellphone’s digital camera up on a desk as a substitute of your pc; it’s simply not in the precise place). The entire thing feels very easy and strong, like a rock that’s been polished by transferring water. It’s additionally coated in a kind of grippy rubber, which feels nice and may be very unobtrusive. Once I’m utilizing it with my cellphone on, the low-profile dome suits just about completely into my palm, and I barely discover it’s there. Should you really need Continuity Digicam to be helpful, it’s important to be sure to’ve at all times received a mount with you. The Belkin is sweet sufficient that I wish to preserve it on my cellphone, which implies I gained’t overlook it after I depart the home.

With that stated, I don’t suppose this mount and Continuity Digicam are going to revolutionize my informal FaceTimes or Discord calls with family and friends for one easy purpose: when my laptop computer is definitely on my lap, placing a cellphone on the high of the lid makes it very tippy, even with my mini cellphone. Once I was utilizing it with my legs crossed, it my laptop computer would simply fall over and yeet my cellphone throughout the room if I didn’t catch it. Even when I’ve received my arm on the palm relaxation, it solely takes the slightest bump for the burden of the cellphone to drag my 13-inch MacBook Professional’s display again to its most open place, often leading to a really unflattering angle (and maybe an uncomfortable quantity of drive on my show?).

To be clear, this most likely gained’t be an issue on a desk until you’re utilizing the diminutive 12-inch MacBook. One among my co-workers stated that his MacBook Air was completely secure when sitting on a desk with an iPhone 13 hooked up to it, and the identical was true for one more co-worker who used the mount with a Professional Max and 16-inch MacBook Professional. Nevertheless it does imply that I’ll most likely solely use this accent for extra formal video calls the place I’ll be at a desk or counter relatively than the much more frequent ones that I do from the sofa. That’s not Belkin’s fault; it’s simply physics, and actually, I don’t suppose my mother or sister are going to thoughts seeing me in fuzzy 720p (or, no less than, I haven’t gotten any complaints up to now few years).

Even with this limitation, I nonetheless really feel just like the Belkin mount is value its $29.95 price ticket for anybody who cares what they appear to be on video, has an iPhone, and plans on upgrading to macOS Ventura when it comes out on Monday (and who doesn’t need the effort of establishing a devoted digital camera / tripod / gentle).

Nonetheless, should you principally work from a desk with a monitor, it could be value ready for the desktop model, which Belkin says will allow you to tilt your cellphone to reframe the shot. That model is “coming quickly,” based on Belkin’s press launch, although it doesn’t point out whether or not it’ll function some kind of energy supply that’s extra elegant than simply plugging your cellphone in utilizing a Lightning cable. That kind of function wouldn’t make sense on the moveable model, but it surely’d most likely be a pleasant add for many who are in conferences all day lengthy.