The 2026 Pocket Tripod PROv2 is here, launched on August 25th 2026. It’s the fifth generation of the tripod we first launched on Kickstarter in 2013. We’ve improved how it’s made, added a Slim Fit kit for thinner phones and foldables, and moved to testing every unit before it ships. It still folds to the footprint of a bank card, measures 2.3 mm thick, and weighs 11 grams.
If you put it next to the 2024 Kickstarter model, you might have trouble telling them apart. A lot of the work went into things you can’t see in a product photo. As an engineer, those are some of the changes I’m most excited about.
The 2024 Kickstarter model. (4th Gen)
The 2026 build. (5th Gen)
Here’s what changed, and why it matters.
What happens after a part comes out of the mold
The Pocket Tripod has to do something most molded products don’t: fold into a flat card, open into a phone support, and repeat that throughout its life. The way we make the parts matters just as much as their shape.
For the 2026 build, we’ve re-engineered our molding process and added stress-relief tempering. That means every unit goes through a controlled heat cycle after molding to relieve internal stress in the molded parts.
Stress birefringence imaging (polariscope) of clear Pocket Tripod samples, showing the residual stress and molecular orientation “frozen in” as the plastic fills the mold and cools, naturally occurring during injection molding.
Parts inside of an industrial oven. Every 2026 unit goes through a controlled heat cycle (annealing) after molding to release the internal residual stresses. This reorients the molecules into a state that's not in tension, allowing the parts to have their maximum specified strength.
Let’s stop on that for a second. A part can look finished when it comes out of a mold and still carry stress inside it. You can’t judge that by looking at the surface. Relieving that stress is part of building a body that can handle years of daily folding.
That’s a useful improvement in something you carry every day. You want to take it out, unfold it, get your shot and put it away. The manufacturing improvements are what help it keep doing that.
Every unit gets tested
With the 2024 model, we tested samples from each batch. With the 2026 build, we test every unit individually before it ships.
On the production line with our manufacturing partner.
Sampling tells you about the batch. Testing each unit lets us check the actual product that will end up in your wallet. We’ve made that part of the process for every 2026 Pocket Tripod.
Every unit is tested individually before it ships.
The limited lifetime warranty continues, too. Both the 2024 and 2026 models have it.
Phones got thinner. Our Adapter range got wider.
One of the decisions that has kept the Pocket Tripod useful over the years is fitting the phone by thickness. The Adapters grip the edge, so what matters is the thickness of the phone and whatever case you’ve put on it.
That gives us a straightforward way to keep up with new phones: make the right Adapters.
The 2026 Universal Kit comes in two fits, with nine pairs of Adapters in each:
- Standard Fit: 8.5 to 12.5 mm Adapter sizes. For standard phones with or without a case, including thicker cases where the total thickness stays within that range.
- Slim Fit: 5.5 to 9.5 mm Adapter sizes. For thinner phones and foldables, including unfolded devices and phones in slim cases.
Standard Fit, holding a phone in a rugged OtterBox case.
Slim Fit, holding a bare slim phone.
Together, the two kits cover fifteen sizes in half-millimeter steps. We’ve also filled the 8.5 mm gap in the old range, which went from 8.0 straight to 9.0 mm before continuing up to 12.5 mm.
Each kit includes a Fit Card so you can find the right Adapter for your phone. Check it with the case you actually use, install the matching pair, and keep the Fit Card somewhere you can find it when you change phones.
The Fit Card tells you which Adapters your phone needs.
The Adapters have soft TPU contact pads where they touch the phone. When you get a different phone or case, you can swap the pair in seconds and keep using the tripod.
Soft TPU pads where the Adapter touches the phone.
You can also use the phone matcher on the product page to choose your kit. If the fit isn’t right, our Right-Size Guarantee gets you the correct Adapters for free.
Why Slim Fit matters for foldables
Foldables make the fit question more interesting, because the same phone has very different thicknesses depending on whether it’s open or closed.
Think about how you want to use it. If you’re buying a stand to take advantage of the phone while it’s unfolded, you need Adapters that fit it that way. Choosing a size based only on its folded thickness misses the point of having a foldable.
Slim Fit gives us the smaller Adapters for those thinner edges. And because the Pocket Tripod holds the phone by its edge, it leaves the back and outer screen clear. That’s particularly useful when you want to frame yourself on the outer screen while using the rear cameras.
An iPhone Duo on a Slim Fit Pocket Tripod.
I went into the angles, uneven surfaces and other possibilities in The Most Capable Tripod for the iPhone Duo. Foldables give this little tripod some interesting new things to do.
Getting the camera where you want it
The PROv2 still gives you 105 degrees of continuous tilt. The cradles move along curved rails and stay where you set them, so you can aim the camera at the shot you want. There are no preset notches to work around.
105 degrees of continuous tilt, with no preset notches.
That matters when the only convenient place to put your phone is a low rock, a sloping ledge or a table that isn’t quite at the right height. You can adjust the phone’s angle to suit the surface you found.
Pull the two halves apart and you get a wider footprint. Each leg adjusts independently, which lets you work with uneven ground. You can use it in portrait or landscape, with the screen or cameras facing whichever way you need.
Set the angle to suit the surface you found.
Pull the halves apart for a wider footprint.
There’s also a standard ¼″-20 mount built into the PROv2. It lets the same tripod you carry in your wallet hold your phone on a full-size tripod or slider. It’s useful for a time-lapse, a carefully framed photo, or any setup where you already have camera support available. It isn’t intended for fast action.
On a camera slider.
On a flexible tripod, wrapped around a railing.
The materials have specific jobs here. Carbon fiber gives the legs stiffness at very little weight. Soft TPU pads contact the phone. Nickel-plated brass provides the mounting thread. All of it folds back into that 2.3 mm profile.
Carbon fiber, soft TPU and nickel-plated brass, all folding into 2.3 mm.
Five generations of the Pocket Tripod
We’ve been making and selling the Pocket Tripod continuously since 2013. Over those thirteen years, we’ve changed the materials, expanded the fit and added ways to use it. Here’s how we got from the first Kickstarter to the version we’re making today.
2013
2016
2018
2024
2026
2013: Pocket Tripod 360°
The first Pocket Tripod launched on Kickstarter with plastic construction and a fit molded for specific phones. It introduced the idea that started all of this: a flat card that transforms into an adjustable phone support, then goes back into your wallet. The limitation was compatibility. Making it for a particular phone meant the fit was tied to that device.
2016: Pocket Tripod Universal
Our second Kickstarter introduced interchangeable Adapters. The construction was still plastic, but this was a major change in how the product worked. You could choose an Adapter to match the thickness of your phone and case. When either changed, you could change the Adapters and keep the tripod. That decision is still doing useful work ten years later, especially now that phones come in so many different shapes.
2018: Pocket Tripod PRO
The PRO introduced carbon fiber legs and soft TPU contact surfaces on the Adapters. Those materials had two different jobs: give the legs stiffness without much weight, and hold the phone against a softer surface. This was also the first model we sold through our own website. The folding idea stayed familiar, while the materials became better suited to what each part needed to do.
2024: Pocket Tripod PROv2
We returned to Kickstarter for a third time, with 11,956 backers helping fund the PROv2. This generation added brass mounts with standard ¼″-20 threads and came with nine Adapter sizes. The mounts gave it another job: holding your phone on a full-size tripod or slider. You could carry it as a small tripod on its own, then connect it to larger camera equipment when the shot called for it.
2026: Pocket Tripod PROv2, fifth generation
The latest build keeps the PROv2 name and adds the manufacturing improvements covered above: a re-engineered molding process, stress-relief tempering and individual testing of every unit. Slim Fit joins Standard Fit, bringing the range to fifteen Adapter sizes from 5.5 to 12.5 mm, with nine pairs in each kit. It lets us support thinner phones and unfolded devices while continuing to cover standard phones and thicker cases.
Across those five generations, we’ve shipped more than 300,000 Pocket Tripods. The reason for making it this small has stayed the same: it needs to be easy enough to carry that you have it when you need it.
You don’t always plan the group photo, the view you want to capture or the video call where you need both hands. If the tripod is already in your wallet, you can just use it.
It lives in your wallet, so it’s there when you need it.
Picking up the 2026 model
The 2026 Pocket Tripod PROv2 is US$49.95, in either Standard Fit or Slim Fit. Each kit includes the tripod, nine pairs of Adapters, a Fit Card, an Adapter organizer built into the box and an illustrated manual.
Universal Kits for the 5th Gen Pocket Tripod come in Standard Fit and Slim Fit variants.
Slim and Standard Fits cover virtually every phone and case you have now or may upgrade to in the future.
You can choose your fit and color here.
To everyone who has backed a Kickstarter, bought a Pocket Tripod or carried one over the years: thank you. You’ve helped us keep working on an idea I still care about thirteen years later. I’m excited to get this version into your hands, and into your wallet.
