I am not a vlogger. I don’t do daily vlogs, I don’t do monthly vlogs. Frankly my life is far too boring, and if I had a vlog it would consist of me editing videos at my computer for 12 hours at a time, and also playing with my baby. That’s it.

So why do I have a Switchpod, and why am I making a review about it? Hear me out for a second.

Why I Have A Switchpod

I have a baby, and I want to document her life. She’s growing up very fast and I want to try to capture some of that.

I bought this Sony a6400 for recording weddings, but it also works perfectly for quick family videos.

I bought this Rode VideoMic Pro Plus for recording audio at weddings. And I had this Gorillapod that I picked up soon after the a6400 to hold the camera and the mic.

But I also know the guy who makes the Switchpod, which looked way cooler than the Gorillapod. So here we are. Me, the non vlogger, making a video about a product that’s normally used by vloggers. I don’t know how that works out, but here we are.

And to be clear: I’m not being paid to make this review. He doesn’t even know I’m making it. He did send me one for free though, and I want you to know that.

Back to the story. I’ve got a Gorillapod and a Switchpod, and I’m about to take a trip to Colorado with my family and I want to make sure I document it. Which one do I bring?

Both of them, actually, because I fly Southwest, so I get two free checked bags, so I have a lot of room for camera gear. Which sometimes upsets my wife.

Here is the heart of the matter and really all you need to know. I started filming with the Switchpod, promptly forgot I had even brought the Gorillapod, and didn’t remember until two days before we flew home. Then I just kept shooting on the Switchpod, because it’s that good.

Their core differences come down to three things: grip, flexibility, and speed.

Grip

If you want to vlog with the Gorillapod, you grip it by holding onto these balls. Make sure you grasp them gently.

I’m sorry. I’m a new dad. That was a ball joke. I apologize.

Your hand does fit around them, it’s kind of awkward, but it works. The Switchpod on the other hand has these nice smooth grooved out hand holds, and it’s light.

It’s much easier to hold than those balls, and it’s arguably quicker to shoot with too, because you don’t need to adjust it as much. You hold it and it’s ready to go.

Flexibility

The second difference is flexibility, and I mean that in both senses. Literal flexibility, like the Gorillapod’s arms, and metaphorical flexibility, as in being usable in a variety of situations.

The Switchpod flips out into three feet and you can set it on the ground or any other semi flat surface. To even the playing field a little, let’s add a ball head on top.

I bought this small Manfrotto ball head and it’s super sturdy, plus it works with the Manfrotto travel tripod I already take on trips. You should also know they’ve just announced an official Switchpod ball head accessory, and it looks great.

The Gorillapod’s strength is that it can be wrapped around virtually anything. A light post, a tree, your arm, whatever you want. On paper and out of the box, the Gorillapod wins on flexibility, and I feel like that’s the argument a lot of you are going to make in the comments. It’s more versatile because you can put it in more places.

But there’s a third point.

Speed

Speed is where the Switchpod wins for me basically every time. It is faster to set up, and speed is critical when you’re filming either a vlog or, in my case, a fast moving baby.

With the Gorillapod you have 30 balls that articulate in any direction around each other. That’s a lot of balls. That’s great, but in the time it takes you to adjust it and get ready to shoot, you may have already missed the moment you were trying to film.

With the Switchpod you go from handheld to ready to set on a surface in seconds.

I captured more moments with my family on that Colorado trip with the Switchpod than I ever would have with the Gorillapod, and that made a huge difference to me.

So Which One Should You Buy?

That’s my story, that’s my review, and that’s why I recommend the Switchpod over the Gorillapod. If you want the ball head as well, it’s here.

The rest of what I use is in my filmmaking kit, and if you’re building a setup from scratch, start with my budget wedding filmmaking gear guide. Everything you see above was graded with my LUTs.

This was written in February 2020. The official Switchpod ball head was still an announcement at the time, so if you’re buying now, check whether it beats the Manfrotto.