Stands are sold for video calls and for watching things — activities where nothing touches the device. Playing a puzzle on a propped phone is different: every move applies force to the screen, and a stand that was fine for a video meeting will creep backwards, tip, or slowly fold flat over the course of an hour.
Hinge stiffness is the whole product
The friction hinge is what you are actually buying. A good one holds its angle when you press the top of the screen with a finger and does not need re-adjusting during a session. A poor one relies on the weight of the device to stay put, which works until you touch it.
Test it in the shop, or on arrival, by setting a steep angle and pressing the top corner of the screen. If the angle changes, it will change all evening.
Contact pads, in three places
Silicone or foam needs to be in three places: the lip the device sits in, the back panel it leans against, and the feet. Missing feet mean the whole stand slides across the desk; a missing back pad means the case picks up marks; a missing lip pad means the phone rattles every time you tap.
Angle range, and why steep matters
For puzzle games, the useful range runs from about 30 to 60 degrees. Anything shallower and you are looking down at your own reflection under a ceiling light; anything steeper and a phone becomes top heavy. Stands that offer only two fixed positions are usually wrong in both.
Aluminium versus plastic versus wood
Aluminium is heavier for its size, which is exactly what you want in something meant to stay put, and it does not creep in warm weather. Plastic is cheaper and lighter, and light is a drawback here. Wood looks pleasant and almost always uses a weaker hinge. For this purpose, metal wins on the boring merits.
Things that sound important and are not
- Cable pass-through holes. Nice, but any stand with an open front works with a cable.
- Wireless charging built in. Adds heat exactly where you do not want it during a long session.
- Fold-flat design. Only matters if you travel with it. For a desk, weight is more useful than portability.
- Adjustable arms and clamps. More joints, more creep. Simpler stands hold their position better.
What we ended up with
An anodised aluminium folding stand with a stiff hinge, silicone in all three contact points, and a 25 to 60 degree range that takes a phone or a tablet up to about 12 inches. It is not exotic and nothing about it is patented — it is simply the specification that survived a fortnight of being tapped at.
It is $22.00 AUD, posted from Canberra, quoted by email before anything is paid. If you already own a stand that passes the corner-press test, keep it; this article is more useful to you than the product is.