Given that we travel so regularly, team Traveller are always on the hunt for the latest gadget or hack that will make a flight, particularly those dreaded long-haul ones, slightly more enjoyable. Some of our favourite discoveries so far have included this deceptively comfortable Trtl travel pillow and this headphone adaptor that allows you to watch inflight movies with your own headphones.
My latest discovery is a gadget I tested out on a recent marathon journey to Australia, when, staring down the barrel of a 14-hour leg, followed by another seven-hour leg, I decided I needed something – anything – to kill time.
My flight was with Emirates, and while their inflight entertainment was fantastic and included all of the latest Oscar-nominated films, the idea of watching a cinematic masterpiece like Oppenheimer on a tiny screen didn’t really appeal. Instead, I prefer to lean back, turn my brain off and let the latest reality TV shows wash over me in all their manufactured drama glory. I want to be lulled to sleep by the sweet sounds of real housewives bickering or eat a tiny buttered bread roll while watching tanned 20-year-olds ‘pull each other for a chat’ on Love Island. The kind of entertainment that lends itself to a small screen and if you doze off you haven’t really missed out on ‘the plot.’
It’s rare to find such high-quality low-brow shows on in-flight entertainment, moreover a whole series to while away the hours. To solve my entertainment woes I looked to Amazon, and this clever in-flight phone holder hack I’d heard about on Instagram
The tiny gadget, when folded up, is about the height of a phone but half the width. Unfolded, it can be used as a stand for your phone, as well as hold and attach your phone to furniture via a very sturdy clamp. This means you can attach your phone to the back of the plane seat in front of you, a table on a train or even the handle of your suitcase while you’re waiting at the airport. The phone holder can swivel 360 degrees, so it can be easily manoeuvred to an array of positions as well.
On my flight I was able to watch hours of my chosen TV shows that I’d downloaded to my phone. Even better was that, unlike the seat-back entertainment, my shows didn’t stop when the captain was making an announcement – which can be particularly long when on a dual-language flight. For a small item it feels very sturdy, with my phone staying firmly in place for hours, even with turbulence and drinks trolleys rattling past. The holder is compatible with most phone models including Apple Iphone, Google Pixel, Sony Galaxy and Oneplus 9.
All in all, the £12 spend was a very small price to pay to have my favourite TV shows keep me company on the journey from Brisbane to London.
