By Low Teck Mee

There could be a reason why so many museums ban the selfie stick. Most of these sad excuses of an extension of your woefully short arm for holding a smartphone afar to capture the comely face that is yours are downright ugly. I say, in a gallery of beautiful art or objects, the average selfie stick is at odds with its surroundings. And, of course, there’s the safety issue; safety to the priceless wall-hung and pedestal-sitting residents of the museum. A selfie stick astray or with a mind of its own could be a million-dollar (or more) disaster.

But what if yours is an attractive selfie stick that makes the owner look like a respectable selfie professional? What if yours is the Momax Selfie Pro? When I first saw one of these, I thought it was a reincarnation of a marine telescope, also known as a pirate’s spyglass. Once in your grip, they’re even lovelier to behold. The handle is wrapped in what the company calls “leather-felt” and finished with a decorative cross-stitch—you’d want to caress it.

The telescopic arm extends up to 90cm in length, and at the end, a phone mount can be screwed on (which means, if you’re using a compact camera with a female threaded receptacle, you can mount it on this stick too). The unit comes with a Bluetooth shutter control that comes with a clip to be attached to the handle of the stick. You can, therefore, control the shutter while holding the stick with one hand.

Each set also allows you to download an app from for both iOS and Android. With this activated, you can shoot without even touching the shutter control. All you need is just gesture to your smartphone, such as a wave, and the app does the rest for you. It’s called Grab to Shoot. Very nifty.

And Is This The Handsomest Power Bank?

I’m saying this at the risk of irking iPhone fans, but I’ll say it: the new iPhone 6S Smart Battery Case is a Quasimodo of a slap-on phone case. Like selfie sticks in general, it’s ugly. I don’t know how smart it actually is (does an increased talk time of 25 hours count?), but it sure does not look smart.

So elsewhere it is that some of us would have to look, not necessarily for a battery case (they do add extra weight to your phone), but for a power bank. I do like carrying my extra juice separately since I, being a gadget lover, have no qualms in bringing an extra device along when I am out and about. Shortly after discovering the Momax Selfie Pro, I found this beautiful M Craftsman power bank. If you want a smart portable charger, you won’t find another smarter-looking than this. And it does not have to be called smart to look it!

The M Craftman Neon is a 6,000mAh beauty (to compare, the iPhone 6S is equipped with a 1715mAh cell). The compact body belies the generous capacity, but what truly entices is the case. The upper is in leather (genuine or PU, I am not sure), and if not for the on symbol, you’d thought this is holder for something like a cigar cutter. Inside, the charger is powered by a Samsung cell (Galaxy users rejoice!), and a full charge takes about 4 hours. That’s quite long, but if style and portability matters to you, this won’t be out of place in a Kelly bag.

Momax Selfie Pro selfie stick (90cm), SGD89, is available at Gadget Plus, Bugis Junction. Photo: Momax. M Craftsman Neon portable charger (6,000mAh), SGD70, is available at leading digital supply shops. Photo: M Craftsman