Looking for the best cheap smartphone accessories for filming? Well, we’ve put a ton of cheap smartphone video gear for iPhone and Android to the test.
From microphones and tripods to phone mounts and lights – we tested it all! And honestly… we were pretty surprised with the results!
Important: When available, we use affiliate links and may earn a commission!
So now we’ve narrowed it down to the BEST cheap smartphone video gear that will help you create high quality videos.
There is some stuff we definitely won’t be recommending… But there are some great cheap smartphone accessories that will allow you to pull together an awesome smartphone video for cheap.
In this guide, we’ll run through our top picks for the best cheap video accessories. Then we’ll share what we think is the BEST smartphone video rig available on a budget.
Here’s a rundown of the smartphone gear we’ll be covering:
Before we get started, just a reminder that you don’t need all of this stuff – you can get great results using just your iPhone or Android. But this smartphone video gear will help you level up your videos!
Let’s dive in.
Tripods
We’ll start off our list with tripods. There are two awesome cheap tripods we want to share with you.
#1 iOgrapher Flexible Mini Tripod
The first one is the iOgrapher Flexible Mini Tripod.
If you want to create videos on the go, or even to set your phone up on a desk – this is a great option.
The Upsides
The legs are flexible – you can bend and adjust them really easily. This allows you to get super creative with different angles. You could wrap the legs around a pole, tree, anything!
Plus the legs are rubber, so they grip onto most surfaces which keeps the tripod stable when you’ve attached it to something.
It has a ball head on the top with a standard tripod thread which is great in terms of mounting different devices.
You’ll get two mounts in the box:
- A GoPro mount
- A smartphone mount
This tripod comes with a smartphone mount but we’ve got a better mount coming up soon
While the smartphone mount isn’t bad, there’s a better recommendation we’ve got coming up for you soon!
The Downsides
The biggest downfall of this tripod is that it feels a little clunky.
But overall, for the price it is pretty awesome.
#2 Torjim 67” Tripod
The next piece of smartphone gear on our list is the Torjim 67” Tripod. If you’re looking for something a bit bigger than the iOgrapher, this would be our top pick for you.
It currently sells for around $38.
The Upsides
This tripod has some awesome features:
- A quick release mount at the top
- Comes with a bluetooth remote (perfect for filming with your phone as you can start and stop recording remotely)
- Packs down really small and comes with a carry bag (great to travel with)
- Really fast to set up
The Torjim also comes with a smartphone holder that holds your phone in both portrait and landscape. It stretches out really wide meaning you can use it with a lot of the bigger phones as well.
The smartphone holder even has the ability to lay the phone down flat. So you can use it for top-down camera shots!
The Downsides
The main downside is that it feels cheap. This is because most of the tripod is made of plastic – but really it’s not that bad. The legs are made of aluminum so you get some stability there.
The smartphone holder has that same cheap, plasticy feel. And while the holder does have some great features, it’s not as good as the next accessory we’re about to share with you.
Overall, this is great value for a cheap tripod that gets the job done.
Phone Holder
In the next category we have phone holders.
#3 Universal Smartphone Cellphone Mount Adapter for Tripods
This one has a really simple, catchy name – it’s the Universal Smartphone Cellphone Mount Adapter for Tripods. Okay, it’s a bit of a mouthful!
Despite the long name, it is a really great smartphone mount. It sells for $9.99.
The Upsides
It does a really good job of holding your phone in either portrait or landscape.
The biggest reason we like this mount is because of the locking mechanism. It holds your phone in place really well using a screw thread. This is like a clamp where you wind the screw to adjust the tightness of the grip.
There’s also two tripod threads which means depending on how you’re mounting it, you could have an additional one to mount accessories like a microphone or light.
The Downsides
Unsurprisingly, this gadget also feels pretty cheap and plasticy.
But it’s a great smartphone mount for anyone on a budget.
Lights
The next item on our list of awesome video accessories for iPhone and Android is a portable LED light.
#4 Ulanzi U-Bright
The Ulanzi U-Bright currently sells for between $9.99 and $15.
We’ve seen this exact light sold under different names and different brands on Amazon. But regardless, it’s a good purchase.
The Upsides
The light has a built-in battery which is rated to two hours. It charges with a USB-C cable and you can even use it while it’s charging!
All the controls are on the back. Here you’ll find:
- Battery level indicator
- Brightness level adjustments
- Color temperature adjustments
The color temperature feature is pretty cool. You can change it between cool and warm lighting really easily.
Another thing we like is the mounting options. It has a cold shoe mount on the bottom as well as a standard tripod thread. This means you can mount it directly on top of your camera or on top of a tripod – you’ve got a lot of options.
But there’s more! There are another three other cold shoe mounts on the light as well – two on the sides and one on top. So depending on the type of videos you’re creating and the rig you want to build out, you could use this light to help mount extra accessories.
The Downsides
No downsides here! This is a great, cheap portable LED light!
Microphones
We’ve got two awesome options when it comes to the best cheap mic for iPhone & Android devices.
#5 Boya BY-M1
First up, is a wired lavalier or wired lapel microphone. The Boya BY-M1 usually costs between $9.99 and $15 depending on where you pick it up from.
The Upsides
We’ve spoken about this mic a lot so you can tell that we’re big fans. This is the microphone we used for our earlier YouTube videos so we can really attest to it’s quality!
Some of the top features include:
- Crazy long cable that allows you to get creative and move further away from your phone
- Supports TRS and TRRS connections which means you can use it with your phone, camera and most computers
- Captures really high quality audio (better than A LOT of other options we’ve tried)
You might be looking at this mic and thinking even though it’s a good option, you don’t need a cable this long. Totally understandable. BUT – this mic outperforms a lot of the other options with shorter cables.
So we’d recommend simply rolling the excess cable up and sticking it in your pocket.
The Downsides
If you’re going to use this microphone with a camera, it does require a battery. Which is fine because it comes with one. But there’s no battery level indicator. This means you have no way to tell if it’s fully charged or nearly flat which can be a bit annoying.
So if you’re going to be using this with a camera, it’s a good idea to have some spare batteries on hand in case it drops out while you’re recording. This isn’t an issue if you’re filming on smartphone though!
The other thing is if you don’t have a headphone jack on your phone, you’ll need to use a lightning or USB-C to headphone jack adapter for this mic to work. This isn’t a problem, it just means there’s another piece of equipment you’ll need.
#6 Boya BY-MM1
The next item is a mini shotgun microphone. This one is called the Boya BY-MM1 and it currently sells for just under $30.
The Upsides
Just like the previous mic, this one also works with TRS and TRRS (plus comes with cables for both!). And it also works with smartphones, cameras and most computers.
The biggest upside of this mic is that you don’t have to be directly connected to the camera.
So if you’re going to be close to the microphone and don’t want to be tied to the camera like with the Boya BY-M1, this is an awesome option.
The Downsides
No downsides here! This is a great mini shotgun mic.
Overall, both these mics are awesome quality and value for money. Go with the one that suits your filming needs.
#7 Extension Bar
The next smartphone filming accessory is a hot shoe extension bar.
There are lots of different options out there for this one. Previously we’ve been able to buy these for around $8. But the cheapest one we could find right now is around $16 to $17.
So if you’re on a tight budget, keep an eye out for when the cheaper ones become available again.
We recommend just doing a search on Amazon and picking one that suits your needs.
The Upsides
This accessory allows you to attach a light on one side and a microphone to the other. But it can be used in other ways as well!
They usually have a tripod thread on the bottom meaning you then have two mounts on your tripod – say one for your phone and one for a light.
This makes it really easy to build out an awesome video rig!
The Downsides
No downsides, this is a really useful tool.
Overall, this is a great purchase!
Lens Adapter
The last item on our list of iPhone & Android accessories is a clip-on wide angle lens adapter. You slide this over your phone camera lens when filming and it allows you to capture so much more!
Now, some of the latest phones do already have a built-in wide angle lens. But even the ones that do can tend to lower the quality when using the wide angle lens as opposed to the regular lens.
So even if your phone does have this built-in, you might find that you get better results using a lens adapter.
#8 Techo Lens Adapter
This is a .45 times super wide angle lens adapter and it’s also a 12.5 times super macro lens as well.
The Upsides
It’s an awesome tool for getting that wider shot. And if you want to create really close up photos or videos, you can use that macro lens.
What we like most about this lens compared to the other ones we tested is that it will work with most phones because of its size. It’s big enough that it will cover most built-in camera lenses.
The Downsides
As we mentioned, some of these lenses tend to distort the image around the edges. But this particular lens actually wasn’t bad at all for this.
Overall, this gadget is definitely worth trying out if you want to achieve that wide angle video.
There you have it, our complete list of the best cheap smartphone accessories for video!
Now let’s check out some ideas for your smartphone filming rig.
Best Smartphone Filming Rig
Like we said earlier, you definitely don’t need all of this smartphone filming gear. But depending on the types of videos you’re making, your skillset and your budget – you can really build out an awesome smartphone filming rig for you using some of this gear.
If you want something portable that you can pick up and walk around with, we’d suggest: the Iographer Flexible Mini Tripod with a hot shoe extension bar that mounts your smartphone and a Boya BY-MM1.
If you want something that will sit on your desk, we’d recommend that same setup on the Torjim 67” Tripod.
Just remember – the best smartphone filming rig is going to come down to you and your needs! So work out which accessories you need based on the type of videos you’re creating.
Now that you’ve got the gear sorted, if you want to learn about how you can create the best videos with your iPhone and Android device, check out our Complete Guide To Filming On Smartphone.
Links
When available, we use affiliate links and may earn a commission!
Best Cheap Tripods for Smartphone:
- iOgrapher Flexible Mini Tripod (Amazon)
- Torjim 67” Tripod (Amazon)
Best Cheap Phone Holder Accessory:
- Universal Smartphone Holder (Amazon)
Best Cheap Smartphone Lighting:
- Ulanzi U-Bright (Amazon)
Best Cheap Microphones for Smartphone:
- Boya BY-M1 (Amazon)
- Boya BY-MM1 (Amazon)
Best Cheap Lens Adapter:
- Techo Clip-On Lens Adapter (Amazon)
Recommended Gear & Resources
Check out an up-to-date list of all the gear, software & tools we use and recommend right now at Primal Video on our resources page here!
