Thought Out’s been on a tear recently with the introduction of numerous iPhone and iPad mini stands, notably including the iPhone-specific PED4 Planet CH50 a couple of months ago. Now there’s another variant called — somewhat confusingly — PED4 Coil CH50 ($40), which substitutes PED4 Planet CH50’s plastic base and tripod-compatible detachable mount for a 36-inch-long gooseneck coil. The iPhone holder itself is exactly the same as before, though, capable of resizing for iPhone cases when adjusted with the included tools.
A ball joint behind the iPhone mount and the gooseneck work together to let you adjust the iPhone’s angle and position to your liking on a flat surface, or you can wrap the coil around something to achieve unusual mounting positions. The result is effectively an infinite variety of possible orientations.
We’ve tested goosenecks that didn’t have the proper level of tension to hold the weight of the device they’re designed to cradle, but thankfully, Thought Out got it right. At any angle we tested, the mount was able to hold the iPhone at the desired angle without drooping down.
Each of PED4 Coil CH50’s five iPhone-grabbing arms is independently adjustable, so you can loosen the hexagonal screws and reposition each arm to fit the case you’re using. It’s not the most efficient system, and the smaller wrench that’s included is less than ideal, with its handle feeling slippery—particularly when loosening particularly tight screws; the second wrench’s L-shaped design would work better, except it oddly doesn’t fit any of the screws here.
You must also be careful, as the components can come apart if you unscrew them too far. But the arms do work, even accommodating fairly large cases: PED4 Coil CH50 supports options that are less than 2.75” wide and 5.5” tall.
Although Thought Out’s adjustable holder isn’t ideally implemented, we’re otherwise impressed with PED4 Coil CH50. It’s the only iPhone 5 mounting solution of its kind that we’ve covered that works as well as it does, and supports bare and encased iPhones. It works just as well on a desk as it would in more obscure situations, making it a good choice for photographers and other users.
