360 Camera Accessories

Preview: Xiaomi Mijia MI SPHERE’s invisible selfie stick

Xiaomi Mijia MI SPHERE selfie stick
Xiaomi Mijia MI SPHERE selfie stick.  Photo by Jose Mendes, used with permission.

The dedicated selfie stick for the Xiaomi Mijia MI SPHERE 360 camera is about to be released and the good news is that it’s invisible.  Here’s a preview by Jose Mendes, a 360 shooter from Portugal.  (Photos here were shot by Mr. Mendes, used with his permission.)

The Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere (reviewed here; available here) is the widely recognized as the best 360 camera for consumers at the moment.  If you have one, you probably noticed the metal contacts at the bottom of the camera and may have wondered what they were for.   A couple of months ago, Mi Sphere engineers announced that they would be releasing a selfie stick with a shutter button, which would trigger the Mi Sphere through the electrical contacts.

A few beta testers have been trying the selfie stick.  Jose is one of them and here are his thoughts on it.  “First of all, it’s gorgeous which is not something one would usually say about selfie sticks.  The grip is somewhat rubberized and it feels good on your hand. It attaches perfectly to the Mi Sphere and you’ll notice some electronic contacts which allow communication with the camera.”

The selfie stick can extend to around 65cm or about 2 feet.

Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere selfie stick fully extended
Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere selfie stick fully extended

The bottom of the selfie stick has a hole for a wrist strap but there is no 1/4-20 tripod hole.

Using the selfie stick is pretty simple.  The selfie stick has only one button which can be used to turn on the camera, switch modes, take a photo, or start and stop a video.  Pressing the shutter button can turn the camera on.  Once the camera is on, pressing the shutter starts a photo or video.  Holding down the shutter switches between photo or video.

If the selfie stick is positioned with the camera aligned with the stick (not bent), then the selfie stick is invisible in the shot:

the nadir of the Mi Sphere selfie stick
the nadir of the Mi Sphere selfie stick

The Mi Sphere’s selfie stick looks like a very useful accessory.  You’ll be able to position the Mi Sphere where you want and you’ll be able to press the trigger remotely without having to connect to the app.  Too bad it doesn’t have a 1/4-20 hole on the bottom but it still looks very convenient.

The selfie stick will be available on Gearbest sometime in September, although I don’t know the price.  The Mi Sphere camera is currently on sale at Gearbest (use the code MIJIAMT to get it for $232.99).  Meanwhile, the Mi Sphere still has a yet-unused Bluetooth capability.  Will it have a dedicated wireless shutter remote as well?  We’ll see.

Thanks again to Jose Mendes for providing these photos and his impressions!  Thanks also to Pepe Vazquez, Jacques Laubner, and Richard Tan for sharing info about the Mi Sphere selfie stick, and huge thank you to Jason Wang and his team for making such a fantastic camera and for this accessory!  If you have a Xiaomi Mi Sphere, you really owe it to yourself to join the Xiaomi Mi Sphere Facebook group, where people are helping each other and sharing ideas.

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Mic Ty

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  • What are they thinking out there in Xiaomi/Mijia?

    No built-in tripod like the one in https://www.gearbest.com/stands-holders/pp_614943.html AND no tripod screw hole on the bottom of the handle?

    A monumental exhibit of bad engineering and poor ergonomics … Except the hardware per se everything and I mean EVERYTHING in mijia mi sphere (firmware and software maturity, app functionality, stability, speed and effectiveness etc etc) leaves a rather bitter taste …

    • Indeed, the missing 1/4-20 hole on the bottom for a tripod mount is a fatal design flaw!
      A properly designed selfie stick should be invisible (like the cheap Monopod model), have a built-in tripod and a 1/4-20 screwhole for tripod mount. The shutter button on this model is very nice, but the missing screw hole is a real dealbreaker.
      I bought a Benro MK10 selfie stick, it has good built quality, built-in tripod, but also no 1/4-20 screw hole in the bottom. But how to remove the ballhead (that is too wide, so visible) and attach the Xiaomi Mijia directly to the selfie stick? Is the ballhead attached to the stick with a 1/4-20 screw? The ballhead is attached very firmly to the stick. Any suggestions or ideas for removal?

      • Hi Ronald,

        Yes MK10 ball-head is attached to the collapsible stick-end by 1/4-20 threads. It’s is screwed and glued that’s why it is difficult to remove. I have submerged my MK10 stick ball-head end in boiling water for 30 seconds or so and then by using a proper cloth to avoid burning my hands unscrewed the ball-head without putting excessive force.

        Mijia new stick is available in gearbest now https://www.gearbest.com/photo-studio-accessories/pp_778314.html? And since it is rather cheap I will buy one and try to improvise by creating a custom tripod screw hole at the bottom of the handle.

        • HI Nick

          could you please update us on your results? were you able to get this screw hole at the bottom of the handle?

      • thank you very much for your fast answer, i have the camera and i´m very happy with it. But a remote accesory is getting very necessary. https://youtu.be/68ddaD63Mx0
        I have put on youtube some of the videos that i have made, there you have one.
        Do you know how to add your own music to the videos?
        If you can take a look at the videos and give me some advice i would be very thankfull