8 Useful Accessories To Have When Shooting Videos On Android
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Are you often frustrated by the poor quality of your smartphone videos? Precious moments may end up looking less than ideal due to shaky footage and poor lighting. If you have been itching to improve your video shooting skills, but don't know which accessory will really lift your footage, then consider this post as a gentle push in the right direction — it's time to take it further.
With the right gear, you can bid farewell to shaky footage and missed opportunities while embracing smooth cinematic shots that will give your videos that look confident and polished. They might even make your friends think you hired a professional film crew. Your phone videos can look stunning thanks to these compact, affordable, and user-friendly Android gadgets.
If you want to transform your Android smartphone into a movie making machine, then we've got eight amazing accessories that will help improve your Android videos.
Tripod
Nothing can beat a good tripod for recording rock-steady interviews, capturing stunning landscapes, or nailing the perfect time-lapse. Tripods come in different shapes and sizes, with compact options ideal for mobile videographers. Look for something lightweight and foldable like the Joby GripTight GorillaPod. This tiny tripod folds up nicely, has an excellent grip for your phone, and has flexible legs to wrap around poles or uneven surfaces for interesting shooting angles. Even better, it costs less than $20 on Amazon.
Some tripods, however, can also act as selfie sticks. For instance, the Sensyne 62" Phone Tripod and Selfie Stick is great for taking group pictures.
Whichever you decide on, using a tripod will raise your Android videography game. It lets you set up perfectly framed shots, walk away, and capture smooth, professional-looking footage. Do away with the shakiness from handhelds by investing in a tripod — you won't believe how much it changes your videos.
Gimbal
A tripod eliminates shaky footage as long as you have someplace to set it up, but what if you want to walk around and still get a smooth video? That's where a gimbal comes in handy. Gimbals have motors and sensors that cancel out your movements and bring stability to your videos. They film super smooth videos even when you're running, walking, or dancing around. Gimbals make vlogging and capturing action shots a breeze. Plus, your pans will seem pro-level fancy.
Most gimbals, such as the DJI Osmo Mobile 6, have been equipped with a three-axis stabilization system. This means that no matter how much you wobble your hands, the gimbal will keep it steady. Some gimbals even have advanced tracking techs that follow you, ideal for capturing those epic solo adventures. Additionally, some of them also come with features like joysticks for controlling zooming and focusing, helping you create dramatic cinematic effects.
External microphone
Your built-in microphone is probably fine for recording a brief voice memo. However, they tend to capture everything — background noise, wind, even the distant rumble of your stomach — except what you actually want, which is clear and crisp audio. This is where the external microphone comes in. It goes directly into your Android phone, capturing your voice — or whatever you're filming — loud and clear. This is a game changer for interviews, vlogs, or any video where good audio is key.
There are two major types of exterior mics for phones – lavalier mics and shotgun mics. Lavalier microphone are typically tiny clip-on type of microphone, while shotgun microphones are sleek looking directional mics. Lav mics, like this $21 Wireless USB-C Lavalier Microphone, are great for interviews. Meanwhile, shotguns like the Movo VXR10 Universal Shotgun Mic, priced at $40, can capture great audio from a distance.
Most external microphones plug straight into your phone's headphone jack or USB-C port and work immediately. If you're tired of dealing with awful sound quality, an external mic is a small investment with a big payoff.
External lens
An external lens is a small gadget that offers wider shooting angles, super close details, or long-range zoom. For instance, this $38 Phone Camera Lens Kit comes with a macro lens, 120° wide-angle lens, a fish eye lens, a telephoto lens, and other accessories.
Each lens allows you to enhance your videos in different ways. Macro lenses let you get crazy close to tiny objects, wide-angle lenses are perfect for capturing those epic landscapes, and telephoto lenses zoom in on distant objects. External lenses add a slight vignette or softening around the edges, but that can actually add a cool effect to your videos.
Beyond that, most external lenses are portable and can quickly be replaced, so you can grab your macro lens to take stunning nature close-ups or switch to your telephoto lens to zoom in on a distant mountain. External lenses open up all sorts of possibilities for taking creative video.
Power bank
Videos are a killer for batteries — especially if you use features like external lights or record in high resolution — and the last thing you want is for your epic video shoot to end early because your phone's battery at 5%. Thankfully, a reliable power bank to use with your Android device allows film-making without the necessity of hunting for outlet.
Power banks come with different capacities measured in milliamp hours (mAh). The greater the mAh you have, the more charges it provides your phone. A smaller capacity power bank might be sufficient for short shoots, but not for longer trips where you will need a beefier device to maintain adequate amounts of juice over long periods. In addition, it's often a good idea to find a power bank with several ports like the Power Bank Solar Charger so that you can charge your phone and any other gadgets simultaneously, which is priced at $38 and packs a punch with 42,800 mAh.
Auto-tracking
Auto-tracking devices are perfect for solo YouTubers and vloggers who want to stay in frame without constantly checking their angles. This nifty little gadget, which is often built into gimbals or available as a separate phone holder, is basically a tiny robotic arm that swivels your phone to follow your subject.
There are plenty of great uses for an auto-tracking device. Filming a cooking tutorial? Track yourself as you move around the kitchen. Vlogging your adventures? Auto-tracking keeps you in the spotlight, no matter how many epic landmarks you conquer. There are plenty of different flavors of auto-tracking devices out there, and the $30 Auto Face Tracking Tripod 360° is a budget-friendly option that uses built-in cameras to follow your face.
Of course, auto-tracking isn't perfect. Sometimes it gets confused by, well, confusing scenes. Still, for those times you want shake-free, subject-focused footage, this little accessory is a game changer.
Teleprompter
Awkward pauses can kill momentum when you're recording a video. The teleprompter is your secret weapon for delivering smooth, confident on-camera talks. Think of it like a virtual cue card that scrolls your script right below the camera lens. You read naturally, looking directly at your audience, not your phone. Teleprompters boost your video presence and are great for presentations, interviews, or educational tutorials.
There are two ways to play the teleprompter game — you can either invest in fancy hardware rigs like the $280 Elgato Prompter or you can download an app. There are tons of teleprompter apps for Android, such as Teleprompter for Video, that let you import your script and control the scrolling speed. The Teleprompter for Video also works in a floating window, so you can use it with your favorite camera app.
Although using teleprompters may be challenging at first, it's worth it — it'll take your Android videos to another level entirely.
LED light
Bad lighting can kill even the most epic video. Indoor footage can look dull and grainy if there is no additional light, and you might be left with half your face hidden in harsh shadow while recording video outside. Thankfully, LED lights cast a natural-looking glow while getting rid of shadows that make your videos appear polished and professional. There are plenty of great ring lights to choose from, but a great place to start is with the Xinbaohong Selfie Ring Light priced at $9.99 that can clip on to your Android phone.
LED lights are also flexible, and most of them are dimmable so you can adjust their brightness according to the situation at hand. If you conduct a lot of indoor interviews, then an LED light will get rid of those annoying shadows on your interviewee's face. Maybe filming product demos? An LED light will highlight every little detail about them perfectly. Some even have different color temperatures which allow you to switch from warm to cool light depending on what kind of mood you are going for.