9 Best Travel Tripods [Tested and Reviewed]

Gitzo is a world-renowned tripod manufacturer with over 100 years of experience in the industry. Its construction and warranty give the impression it's built to last, making it a popular choice even for professional photographers. Of all the products we tested, this one was the most stable, as we noticed almost no blurring in the photographs. It managed to absorb impacts and prevent the camera from shaking too much.

There is almost no resistance when extending the legs and the twist locks are easy to operate with little force. The head moves smoothly and we felt hardly any resistance using it, leading to a satisfying experience.

The size and weight of the unit make it easy to carry and highly portable. The total diameter when folded is relatively small, allowing it to fit into a bag easily. This product offers everything you could want in a travel tripod and is highly recommended for anyone who doesn’t want to settle for less than the best.

The Befree Advanced Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod by Manfrotto, an Italian photography brand, is a popular tripod with a beautiful design and is easy to operate. This tripod is very stable, as there wasn’t much blurring in our photos during our test. Thanks to its carbon fiber composition, it quickly suppresses motion and eliminates shaking. You shouldn’t have to worry about your pictures coming out blurry under normal circumstances.

The center column felt a little loose, but the legs and head moved smoothly, making setup and height adjustments effortless. Its length when folded is on the smaller side and of course, it’s made of lightweight carbon fiber. Its case has a wide opening, making it easy to insert and remove the tripod. It offers a nice balance of price and performance, making it a great travel tripod for anyone.

Another product by the Italian company Manfrotto, this tripod has a stylish design and high load capacity, making it a popular choice for many photographers. It performed well when the camera was hit, but not as well when the impact was applied to the tripod itself. It displayed an average ability to prevent blurring in photos, so it should get the job done most of the time.

It was very easy to extend and contract the legs and move the head. While the center column had a tendency to get stuck, everything else was seamless to operate. We didn’t notice any movement of the head after it was locked in place. Because it folds down to a small size, it’s easy to carry around. It’s made of aluminum, so it isn’t lighter than the average tripod, but it’s highly portable overall.

The Rhino tripod is part of the animal-inspired “Zoo series” by Benro, a famous Chinese tripod maker, and is a basic travel tripod that focuses on portability and performance. This tripod is as stable as the best products on the market, allowing almost no blurring during the camera impact test. While it performed a little worse on the tripod impact test, it wasn’t enough to drastically alter the quality of the photo. It seemed to reduce swaying very quickly and we were satisfied with its sturdiness and stability.

In addition, we didn’t feel any resistance when extending or retracting the legs and could lock them in place with one twist of the wrist. The twist locks are made of a soft rubber that doesn’t hurt your hands even if you squeeze them hard. The head also moves smoothly and it’s easy to use overall. However, its length when folded is rather large for a travel tripod and it’s a bit heavy, making it less portable than other products on the market.

This aluminum travel tripod by Sirui, a large Chinese tripod manufacturer, has legs that are 28 millimeters, or just over an inch, in diameter and is suitable for low-angle photography. While the picture came out a little blurry when we hit the tripod, there wasn’t much of an issue when we hit the camera instead. This tripod should perform well even with a heavy DSLR with a large lens attached.

The legs were easy to slide and we didn’t feel any resistance. It also comes with a high-precision head, allowing it to move seamlessly with a camera attached. Additionally, it only moved slightly even when the locking knob was being turned to secure it. Its folded length of 17 inches is small enough to fit into a bag without trouble. On the other hand, the legs are made of aluminum and the tripod weighs four pounds three ounces, which is very heavy. If you plan on doing a lot of foot travel, you may want to keep that in mind.

Peak Design is famous around the world for their camera accessories. They raised almost 10 million dollars through crowdfunding to produce this carbon fiber travel tripod, and got the industry’s attention in the process. When we tested the result of impact on the camera, we didn’t notice much blurring in the picture, but it was noticeable when the tripod was hit. The camera was still slightly shaking after the impact, so it didn’t seem to have mitigated it well.

The legs use a flip lock system, which can be stubborn at times and requires a lot of force to operate. In addition, the head is finicky and has a narrow range of motion, and we were concerned about movement when securing the camera. That being said, it is very compact. It is similar to a water bottle in diameter, allowing it to fit easily in a camera bag and making it very portable.

Geekoto sells a variety of camera products, including lighting equipment and tripods. This is an aluminum tripod with removable legs, allowing it to be used as a monopod. We didn’t notice much of a problem when the camera was struck, but when the tripod was struck, there was substantial blurring. Not only that, but once it started shaking, it kept going for an extended period of time. If you plan to use this tripod with a heavy camera, you have to watch out for this issue.

The top sections of the legs extend smoothly, but there is some resistance when pulling out the bottom sections. The head can be difficult to move when you apply torque, but it holds its position even when turning the knob to secure it. It uses a similar folding style to other travel tripods, but it has large dimensions, so it’s still on the larger side even when folded down. It’s not exactly light, but it’s on the same level as other aluminum tripods.

K&F Concept is a Chinese company that produces tripods, camera bags, and lens filters. Their aluminum four-section tripod has removable legs, and can be used as a monopod with the included head. When force was applied to the tripod, you could see significant blurring in the shot without even zooming in. This also occurred when the camera was hit, so if you want to use a DSLR or mirrorless camera with this tripod, you’re going to need a timer or shutter release.

While the top two sections of each leg extend by themselves, the bottom section gets caught and doesn't extend smoothly. Additionally, there’s not much space between the head’s lock lever and the bottom of the camera, so it's easy to bump your finger during operation. Finally, it's hard to move precisely in some directions, making it hard to make slight adjustments. This product can be folded down like a typical travel tripod, and while its folded size of 18.5 inches is smaller than a normal tripod, it’s a bit large for a travel tripod.

This tripod with a travel bag by UBeesize works not only with cameras but also with smartphones, and comes with a smartphone holder and Bluetooth remote. Unfortunately, it’s very unstable, leading to pictures with obvious blur even without enlarging them, when either the camera or tripod is hit. It claims a load capacity of 12 pounds, but we don't feel it’s suitable for DSLR or mirrorless cameras.

There was a lot of friction between the pipes, making the legs hard to extend and contract. The levers used for the flip locks were small and hard and sometimes hurt our fingers. Also, the head is loose and made of plastic, and we noticed the camera moving even when the knob was completely fastened. While it’s light, it has the same design as a typical travel tripod. It’s not designed to shrink to a size that’s easy to carry, so it’s a little big to put into a camera bag.