YESIDO SF36 Mini Selfie Stick Bluetooth-compatible Remote...

Here is the short answer: you are not in the photos because you are always the one holding the phone, and the moment you hand it to someone else you lose control of the shot. The fix is not a better camera. It is a way to put the phone down at the right height, at the right angle, and step back into the frame yourself. A mini selfie stick that opens into a tripod and comes with a detachable remote does exactly that, and it costs less than a round of coffees.

I noticed the problem properly last summer, going through a folder of photos from a week away. Hundreds of images. My partner on a harbour wall. My partner and my sister on the harbour wall. The two of them laughing at something I had said, which I remember saying, from behind the camera. There was one photo of me, taken at arm's length, in which I appear to be a chin.

That is the honest cost of being the family photographer. You end up with a beautiful record of a holiday you do not appear to have attended.

Why do arm-length selfies never work?

Because your arm is about 60 centimetres long and a phone's front camera is wide, which is a bad combination. You get too much face, too little of wherever you are, and the horizon does whatever it likes. Add a second person and someone loses an ear. Add a third and you are cropping people out on the fly while trying to smile.

The other issue is that your arm is not a stable platform. Holding a phone out and stretching your thumb across to the shutter button introduces exactly the small wobble that turns a sharp photo into a soft one, and it is worse in low light, when the camera holds the shutter open for longer to gather what light there is. That is why the evening photos, the ones from the good part of the day, are always the blurriest.

Why do the usual fixes fall short?

I have tried all of them, and they each fail in their own particular way.

Asking a stranger. Sometimes lovely. Often you get a photo composed from the hip, with your feet cut off and a bin in shot, and you cannot ask for a second go without feeling rude. On a quiet hike or an early morning street there is nobody to ask anyway.

The self-timer, phone propped on something. Propping a phone against a mug, a rucksack or a wall is a small act of faith. The angle is whatever the mug allows, not what you want, and there is a special sound a phone makes when it slides off a café table.

The 10-second countdown sprint. You set the timer, run, turn, and the shutter fires while you are still arranging your face. Then you walk back to check, and do it again. Four times. This is the least dignified way to take a photograph.

A full-size tripod. It works, and it stays at home, because nobody packs a tripod for a walk into town. The gear that improves your photos is only useful if it is small enough that you actually have it with you.

Three reasons you are never in the photo: arm reach, hand shake and propping the phone against something — The three failures behind most missing-person photos, and what fixes each one.

How does a mini selfie stick tripod with remote actually help?

It closes the gap between the shot you can see in your head and the one you can physically set up on your own.

The arm on the YESIDO SF36 extends in six sections to 410mm, which sounds modest until you use it. That extra distance is the difference between a face filling the frame and three people with the beach behind them. Extended, it also lets you shoot from above a table for food, or up over a crowd, or down low for a dog who will not stay still.

The one-click pop-up tripod turns it from a stick into a stand. Feet out, phone up, and the whole thing is standing on its own on a table, a wall or a flat rock. The head rotates 360 degrees and tilts through 135 degrees, so you set the framing you want, lock it, and it stays put. No mug, no faith.

Then the part that changes the way you take photos: the remote detaches and works from up to 10 metres. You are no longer sprinting. You set the shot, walk back into the frame, look at each other properly, and take three or four photos with a thumb in your pocket. That last bit matters more than the specification suggests, because the good photo is almost never the first one.

The grip is shaped more like a small SLR handle than a stick, which gives you somewhere firm to put your fingers and takes some of the shake out of handheld shots. There is a small LED fill light in the head for evening and indoor use. It will not replace real light, and I would not pretend otherwise, but it lifts a face out of the shadow at a restaurant table enough to save a photo that would otherwise be a silhouette.

The clamp takes phones from 50 to 95mm wide, so it fits an iPhone or an Android, with or without a case, and it will still fit whatever you upgrade to. If you want the full specification and the current price, the SF36 sits on Aetheo here, and it folds down to something that lives in a coat pocket.

A minute on how the arm, the tripod and the detachable remote work together.

Who is it actually for?

Solo travellers and walkers, first. If you go out on your own, this is the only practical way to come home with photos that include you and the place at the same time.

Couples and families, second, and particularly whoever has quietly appointed themselves the person with the camera. One person is always missing from every photo. This is the cheapest way to fix that.

It is also genuinely useful if you film anything to camera, a tutorial, a piece for social, a demonstration of something on a desk. Stand it on the table, set the tilt, use the remote to start and stop, and you have a stable framed shot without a second person. The same setup works for a video call when you would rather not hold the phone or stare down at it on the table.

And for food, plants, a project on a workbench, anything you photograph from directly above, the extended arm and the tilting head get you the overhead angle that is otherwise a matter of standing on a chair.

What should I check before buying one?

A few honest things.

Check the phone width. Between 50 and 95mm covers almost everything, but measure a chunky case if you use one.

Pair the remote before you leave the house, not on a windy clifftop. It connects over Bluetooth and pairing takes a minute, but it is a minute you do not want to spend with the light going.

Be realistic about the tripod. It is a mini tripod for a phone, not a stand for a heavy camera, and it wants a flat surface and shelter from a strong gust. On soft sand or a slope, hold it instead.

Treat the LED as a fill light, not a lamp. It lifts a nearby face at close range. It will not light a room.

And keep it somewhere you will actually take it. The best accessory here is the one in your coat pocket rather than the one in a drawer at home.

Frequently asked questions

What problem does the YESIDO SF36 actually solve?

It gets you into the photo. The 410mm six-section arm gives you the distance an arm cannot, the pop-up tripod holds the phone steady without anything to prop it against, and the detachable remote works from up to 10 metres, so you can step back into frame and shoot several takes rather than sprinting against a timer.

Who is it for?

Solo travellers and hikers, couples and families where one person always ends up behind the camera, anyone filming to camera on a phone, and anyone photographing food, plants or projects from an awkward angle. It gives steady, well-framed shots with nobody holding the phone.

When and where should I use it?

City breaks and walks where there is nobody to ask, group photos at home and on holiday, filming a clip or tutorial at a desk, restaurants and evening walks where the light is low, and propped on a table for hands-free video calls or following a recipe.

Will it fit my phone?

The clamp takes devices from 50 to 95mm wide and works with both Android and iOS, so it fits the large majority of current phones, including most with a case fitted. Measure a particularly thick case before ordering.

How far does the remote work from?

Up to 10 metres. The remote detaches from the handle, so you can set the shot, walk back into the group and trigger the shutter yourself rather than relying on a countdown.

Is it worth it over a cheaper alternative?

Compare the things you will use every time: how far the arm extends, whether the head locks where you set it, whether the tripod feet feel stable, and whether the remote is detachable rather than fixed to the handle. A cheaper stick can look identical in a photo and feel noticeably less coherent the first time you set one up in a hurry.