Ten 1 Design stands the iPad Mini up with the Magnus Mini

The company that has provided us with numerous styli for our tablets have sent us something different from their norm with the Magnus Mini iPad Mini stand. The Magnus Mini is a small and lightweight piece of plastic that is coated with a rubber surface and houses ten individual magnets to set the small tablet and be held upright or at an angle suitable for typing. The stand sports a minimalist look, which is hard to see from the front and strong enough to not only view but is able to be used while upright. I had previously gotten to spend some with with the full size Magnus for the iPad 2 and up, and while it was a little large, it was a mighty stand, now that the Magnus is a fraction of the size, it is time to see how well this this stand functions.

Immediately after removing my iPad Mini from it’s folio case and placing on the Magnus Mini I was in love, as it is small without taking up much space to toss in my bag with me. Using the stand also could not be any easier, but remember that it only magnetically connects to the left side and connect it does by just simply placing above the palm sized stand. After seeing how large the the full size Magnus was, I admit that there was some apprehension on how well it would work based on it's small stature but the Magnus Mini did work and did it well. Just how small is the Mini, well let's just say that it fit in the  iPad Mini's pocket in my laptop bag on top of the tablet without scratching or using force to store. There were a couple items to keep in mind before purchasing, the first being that my tablet had to be removed from it's case before use, and the other would be when the tablet is at a typing angle, type lightly as it isn't quite stable enough for the heavy typer.

The Magnus Mini is exactly what I was hoping for from Ten 1 Designs. With how stylish and innovative their products are , I really wish they produced more. If you are someone that already has a case that holds the tablet at a viewing angle, it may not be a good idea to get another stand, but if you are like me and keep the iPad Mini on the nightstand or desk, then the Magnus Mini will do the job great and stylishly. It has such a low profile that it is hard to even see the stand when my tablet is attached and the soft plastic coating prevents scratches while traveling. Ten 1 Design's Magnus Mini is available now in black for $29.95 and if you own the full size iPad, the Magnus is available in in silver for $49.95.

Bracketron's NanoTek Stand holds tight and doesn't let go

Bracketron has provided me with another phone mount from their product line, the NanoTek Stand, and not like the Mi-T grip we previously reviewed, this one is for your desk. This desktop mount uses NanoTek mounting technology to securely hold my phone to the mount that just so happens to grip the desk as well and the conduit between the two is an aircraft grade aluminum stand in silver or black. The stand is built to hold mobile devices in either vertical or horizontal positions, so lets see if it ever loses it’s grip.

The NanoTek Stand is a great accessory for most any desktop as I love cases with a kickstand for this very reason, but most of them are an eyesore, so rather than using a kickstand case, you simply touch your phone to this little stand and it is not going anywhere. I have seen similar, much cheaper, versions of this type of stand, as corporate promotional swag, but none of them had an incorporated cable management that is built to hold most any charging cable and most certainly were not built with the stylish looking aircraft grade aluminum. I have been using for about a week now and there are two items in which I wished were changed in production, the first would be the sharp edges, if they were rounded  it wouldn’t feel so sharp. This is also the case for the cable management system, the sharp edges make me worry the next time I pull on the cable for slack, it will be the time I strip the cable from the rubber coating.  

In the end, this is a great stand as is holds the same style and overall appearance of apple’s aluminum build and never once disappointed when I placed my phone against it. A nice added plus to this stand is that it holds most anything to the NanoTek material as long as it is a smooth non-porous surface. Should the surface get dirty over time, all you need to do in order to clean the surface is simply use a piece of tape on the surface to restore suction to when it was fresh out of the box. Lastly, the NanoTek stand is strong enough to hold the iPad Mini, which makes streaming shows from the desktop easy without using my computer’s resources. The NanoTek stand is available now for the price of $29.95.