Review: Satechi R1 Arm Series smartphone and tablet stand

Say what you want about how heavy the Motorola XOOM is, or how bulky the tablet feels but  I don’t notice at all. Nor do I mind.  I’ve been using the Satechi R1 Arm Series metal stand for my XOOM and it’s brought an entirely new experience to my work life.  I rarely find myself holding the tablet anymore.

Made of aluminum, the stand is as solid of an accessory as I have run into for my tablet to date.  Not only does it feel strong and sturdy but it also looks sharp on the desk.  Rubber padding on the bottom of the stand ensures that it doesn’t slide around or accidentally move when tapping the screen of the XOOM.  What’s more, there’s rubber padding on the parts where your tablet touches (back, bottom lip) so that it doesn’t scratch or scuff.

While I mainly use the R1 Arm on the office desk to turn my tablet into a secondary screen for email and chat, I’ve also used it for smartphones and eReaders.  There are two hinges that allow me to adjust the angles and height of whatever I am using and neither seems ready to wear out anytime soon.  I like to keep a Bluetooth keyboard nearby so that I can more efficiently pound out an email or two.  Thanks to the R1 Arm, I can actually slide it under the tablet when not in use.  The folding design and handy blag sleeve/bag also make it extremely portable.

If there’s one thing that might keep someone from jumping all over this tablet stand it would be price.  I initially balked at the retail $49.99 price tag however after extended use I can safely say this is one of my favorite mobile accessories.  I take this thing to the kitchen and use recipe apps on my tablet, read books on the Kindle Fire, and even put my phone on it for speakerphone conversations.  When you consider that a folio case/tablet stand could run $35 a piece it’s easy to justify the extra few bucks.  Instead of being tied to one device only, this thing works for pretty much every mobile device you’ll encounter.

Should you find yourself in the market for a stand or semi-permanent fixture for your tablet then I would certainly recommend the Satechi R1 Arm Series tablet stand.  Shop around at places like Amazon and you could save a few bucks.  I just checked and they are $44.99 on Amazon.com as of this post.  When you own more than one device (tablet, eReader, phone, etc) this is a great all-in-one stand to consider.