Defying gravity, hands-free
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Key Takeaways
TwelveSouth
Its not perfect, butTwelveSouths HoverBar Duois the most useful iPad stand Ive tried.
Its spring jaw is strong, and the base is reassuringly heavy.
TwelveSouth
How Much?
All iPad owners should buy a stand, but $80?
Isnt that a bit steep?
Charlie Sorrel / Lifewire
While $80 is certainly not cheap, in my experience, TwelveSouth’s gear lasts a long time.
If you prefer a cheaper stand, then get something simpler.
I’ve used theAboveTech/Viozon iPad Pro standfor years.
TwelveSouth
But its limited and lacks the HoverBar Duos best feature: Its height.
High Flyer
Fully extended, the HoverBar Duo brings my 12.9-inch iPad Pro almost to eye level.
When typing, thats an ergonomic necessity to stop you craning your neck.
But the height also enables some other neat tricks.
One is to bring the iPad up next to your machine display.
Charlie Sorrel / Lifewire
The height is also good for Zoom calls.
It means the camera isn’t peering up your nose.
The HoverBar Duo isnt just about being tall.
The jointed arm lets you set it at almost any height or angle you might think of.
You even can drop the iPad down onto the desk while the stand supports it.
Stability
The tall, jointed design has one big downsideit wobbles.
Not much, and not in a scary, treehouse-in-a-thunderstorm way, but enough to notice.
But it does wobble whenever I pick up my warm beverage from the supporting stool.
I like the HoverBar Duo…
I imagine Ill still be using it with future iPads, whatever shape they may be.
The HoverBars joints and sections are all stiff and well-built.
Its just that its long.
With a giant iPad Pro on the top, the stand amplifies movements, as any lever would.
You also can use the stand for an iPhone.
The previousand biggeriPad Pro will squeeze in, but its not a good fit.
With a phone, youre covering up the speaker holes, which may not be ideal.
Options
The HoverBar also ships with a clamp in the box.
I havent used this, nor will I.
It lets you mount the stand in more unusual orientations: hanging down from a shelf, for example.
A desk edge would also be a good fit.
So far, Im happy with the weighted foot.
The other downside is that getting a large iPad into the jaw is fiddly.
With the Viozon stand, only one side of the jaw moves.
So, I like the HoverBar Duo.
If you accept the design tradeoffs, then you will probably like it too.
I imagine Ill still be using it with future iPads, whatever shape they may be.
