10 Cool Clip-On Gadgets From Amazon To Make Your Life Easier

Clip-ons are pretty cool. They function like the opposite of a spring, constantly pressing towards the inside, binding together whatever is in there. Unlike a typical office binder clip, most clip-on gadgets you can find on Amazon use this tension to attach a common item to a nearby surface without the need to use laces or magnets. It's the same principle behind a headband light, but it uses a powerful clamp instead of an elastic material.

Of course, there are a lot of clip-on gadgets for sale that have no reason to have a clip. In fact, they might not have much of a reason to exist at all, but terrible gadgets ideas are old news, they don't exist exclusively in the world of clip-on. Here, we're only going to look at the items that someone might actually want to use. As a rule of thumb, we only included gadgets that are as practical as their non-clip counterpart. We also excluded the ones that were no worse than the original design, but which also didn't add anything of value.

Have you wished that you could record anything that happened in front of you before you had the time to take out your phone? The i3 4K Thumb Action Camera doesn't really solve that problem – a pair of fancy smart glasses would be much better. However, with some planning and strategic positioning, this small clip-on camera can achieve the same effect for a fraction of the price. 

Thanks to its small frame of 1.1x2.5 inches, the i3 camera fits just about anywhere, including your literal thumb. Of course, this isn't the only small clip-on camera on the market, but it is a lot cheaper than something as powerful and popular like the Insta360 Go.

The included accessories make it even easier to bring the i3 4K Thumb Action Camera everywhere. The waterproof plastic body makes it safe for use at the beach and underwater, and the seller claims it's safe to use up to 131 feet underwater. The magnetic body lets you attach the camera to any metallic surface easily. The pendant attachment allows it to be kept below eye level without needing something to grab on to, while the various adapters it comes make it compatible with bikes and motorcycles, helmets, and screw holes.

JBL is one of the biggest Bluetooth speaker brands around today, and its headphones and PA system divisions aren't bad, either. If you can trust anyone to deliver good sound quality with a cheap Bluetooth speaker, it's JBL. That's why, even if portability was clearly the priority, the JBL Clip 3 is still able to deliver clear and loud sounds. Of course, it's not going to have a lot of bass. That's to be expected from small speakers, as just about every portable Bluetooth speaker with deep bass is large in comparison.

The JBL Clip 3 has a rechargeable battery that can last up to 10 hours, it includes a clip-on carabiner to bring it around hands-free, and it's even waterproof — although the manufacturer specifies that it's only rated for half an hour of submersion at just three feet. Not like you were going to listen to music underwater, but it's best to know these things in advance. 

Ultimately, the price is what seals the deal on the Clip 3. At about $40, it's competing with Amazon's most popular speaker, the Anker SoundCore 2, trading some clarity in the bass with extreme portability.

In the last couple of decades, phone cameras have rapidly become the most popular type of camera around. There are some good smartphone cameras around, but the most popular models all lack one thing, and it's what makes photography so much fun: interchangeable camera lenses. 

The Phone Lens Kit by Mocalaca includes all the essential lenses you should own – or at least all the ones that can be adapted as a clip-on phone lens. You won't find a 7-inch-long telephoto zoom, of course, but all the basics are here, from zoom to macros and wide angles.

It's hard to tell exactly which phones are compatible with Mocalaca's Phone Lens Kit, as the company only names a few models of iPhone before listing other brands. That makes sense, as Apple's mobiles are some of the most popular when it comes to photography, but there are plenty of great Android phones for people who love to take photos. To check if your phone is compatible, measure the distance between the camera and the edge of the phone. If it's 1.6 inches or less, your phone should be compatible.

A clip-on flashlight might be a situational gadget, but that only means you never know when you might need it. To be fair, unless you're likely to find yourself in the dark in a situation in which you can't just use the light on your phone, you probably don't need a clip-on flashlight. It's hard to recommend one of those over a regular flashlight, either, since they're too small and too demanding in power to have a long-lasting battery. Still, if you ever need to use a light when your hands are busy, a clip-on is the solution.

The Oclip Rechargeable EDC Flashlight from Olight features an adaptable brightness, to reduce battery use when unnecessary but allow high-intensity light when needed. That's especially useful since it only takes 90 minutes of medium intensity to consume the whole battery. Not quite comparable to a military-grade flashlight you can buy for yourself, but not as expensive and bulky either. Included is a red light mode with fixed brightness and a magnetic body to attach the flashlight to metal surfaces. Then there's the clip, ideal for attaching this mini light to a shirt neck or a pocket.

The main difference between a running light and a flashlight is that the second lets you see where you're going, while the first tells everyone else where you are. While it's important to know where you're going when it's dark, it's even more important to tell the cars around you where they shouldn't go so you don't get run over. This Clip-On LED Safety Light by MapleSeeker lets you accomplish just that, with white and red lights that can be set to fixed and strobe, one color at a time or both at once.

This LED light is certified waterproof IP67, meaning that rain and occasional spills of water will not damage it. Another important feature for runners, cyclists, and dogs too excited for night walks is the long battery life, which lasts between six and 20 hours depending on the light mode. Recharge time is also quite good, with only two hours to go from zero to 100%. In addition, buying a few of these lights in bulk is quite cheap, which is good since you'll need a few to properly signal your preference at night.

A clip-on pot strainer isn't going to change your life, but it might make a messy kitchen a little easier to bear. The Kitchen Gizmo's Snap N' Strain is an especially good example of those clip-on strainers, being made of heat resistant, food grade plastic. It even has a compact design which occupies a lot less space than a traditional strainer. The product we selected is somewhat adjustable, making it usable on various types of pots. Of course, being a piece of plastic with a couple of clip-on attachments, you'll have to find a strainer that fits your pots and bowls.

Picking up one of those gadgets if you need to find another strainer is going to take a little more care than the rest. It's a strainer, which means it's going to come in contact with boiling water so you want to make sure it can withstand high temperatures and that it's made of an appropriate material. Since it's silicone, you want to make sure that it's labeled as food grade. Thankfully, since this material doesn't melt before the temperature of 428 degrees, it's safe to use it with boiling water.

A reading light is one of the most obvious uses of a clip-on. The light doesn't need to be strong while the body and battery can be quite small, making it lightweight enough to be attached to a book. Since it doesn't need to be very bright, you can get a cheap clip-on reading light with multiple color temperatures. That's exactly what the Gritin Reading Light is, with the added benefits of a clam design that can become as small as 4.3 inches. Of course, there are lots of other clip-on reading lights available. We selected this one because it's both portable and usable while being quite cheap, too.

The dimmable brightness makes this reading light usable in various conditions, from a slightly dark room to the middle of the night. Similarly, the three light temperatures bring warm, shooting light to those who need it without sacrificing the clarity of white and neutral light. This light is so small that illuminating a large book might seem hard, but that's what the adjustable head and body are here to do, with their 45° of tilt and 90° pan. It should go without saying, but you can also use this light on an old e-reader that doesn't have a backlight.

Never are sunglasses more important than when you're driving. Having the sun in your eyes is annoying at the best of times, but it becomes a real problem when you need to keep those eyes on the road. However, getting the glasses out of the glove box or from the backpack rolling around in the backseat isn't something you want to deal with when you already have your hands on the wheel, let alone when you're already driving. A sunglasses holder with an easy-to-access clip-on design, like the Yuoyar Sunglasses Holder, solves this problem neatly — as long as it's placed near the driver seat.

Of course, no one is stopping you from using this or any other sunglasses holder to keep other lightweight, valuable items. At the end of the day, this is just a piece of fake leather with two strong magnets at both sides placed on the sun visor. It's just as good at keeping a pair of sunglasses within reach as it is at storing a parking ticket. It's a lot simpler than the oversized organizers and fully-fledged wallets you can attach to your car's sun visor, but it's also a lot easier to find what you need when you need it.

Phone holders are some of the most popular gadgets around, and perhaps the only kind of tech gadget that literally everyone will find some use for. However, most models aren't easy to travel with due to their weight and size. Since they need to keep your phone still in an awkward position, they need to be heavy or large enough for its weight not to tip them over. The most common solution, a suction cup, doesn't work on every surface. This is another instance in which the best solution is a clip-on attachment, which solves this problems by outsourcing the job of keeping the phone holder still to the strength of the clip.

There are a lot of clip-on phone holders around. The one we selected, the Macally Adjustable Gooseneck phone and tablet holder, is very versatile. The holder is wide enough to grab onto screens as wide as 8", which include a lot of the best small tablets around. Meanwhile, the included short gooseneck metal arm brings great adjustability while being short enough to not become malleable anytime soon. At 8.1x4.6 inches, the Macally phone holder is a little too big to be called portable, but at 9.5 ounces, it's at least lighter than any model that relies on wight to keep steady.

As mentioned above, we selected those gadgets based on their usefulness, broad appeal, and the likelihood that you'll prefer the clip-on variant to the more widely available versions. We've avoided mentioning clip-on gadgets that are much more expensive or less efficient that the not clip-on alternatives.