The selfie stick or pole or monopod or whatever you want to call it market is probably the most saturated of all GoPro accessories so will Freewell Gear PRO M3 Carbon Lite Monopod stand out in the crowd? There are plenty of poles to choose from (some GoPro pole reviews are here goproessentials.com/travel/tripods-clamps/selfiesticks )ranging from 5USD car antenna like selfie sticks you can buy from eBay up to really high-end tough as nails poles like the GoScope Boost Plus Brush Camo pole which is currently my go-to pole.

Freewell Gear PRO M3 Carbon Lite Monopod overview

The Freewell Gear PRO M3 Carbon Lite Monopod has strong carbon fiber construction made to last – Freewell Gear actually gives the pole a LIFETIME warranty, so I guess they are pretty confident in their products.

Hers what Freewell Gear highlights about the product on their website:

• Robust carbon fiber construction with high-grade and durable materials
• Lightweight for prolonged continuous use
• Pack contains – 17”-40” extendable carbon-fiber monopod pole, aluminum wrench tool, aluminum threaded camera mount, aluminum action camera thumb knob, Snap-in Go-Pro remote holder and mobile bracket
• Made for use with – All GoPro Action Camera such as Hero 5, Hero 4, Hero 3+, Hero 3, Other Action camera with similar mounting system & Smart Phone
• Lifetime warranty

Freewell Gear PRO M3 Carbon Lite Monopod hands-on review

What`s in the box:

• Freewell Gear PRO M3 Carbon Lite Monopod
• One thumb-screw
• One Aluminium wrench for the thumb screw
• One aluminum threaded camera mount (universal tripod screw compatible)
• Snap-in remote holder
• Mobile bracket
• Wrist lanyard that can be unscrewed from the pole

Let`s start with the add-ons this time. You get a few cool additions with the pole but for me, the mobile bracket and the remote holder are not that important, what I really love is the wrench tool. It`s a freaking pain in the ass to secure the screws tight enough so that the camera stays in one place in rough conditions. For example, you can be pretty sure an impact from water when jumping from a cliff will nudge the camera a bit. Btw, I went “screwless” a while ago thanks to ProStandard 360 Quick Connect system and once you go Quick Connect you never go back 😀 But if you are using the GoPro screws this little thing will be a godsend to you!

The Phone holder bracket is nice to have so you can mount your phone to the pole and the remote holder is also useful if you are using a remote. The remote holder clips on pretty secure, but I can probably come loose if you hit something hard enough.

The wrist strap is also a good-to-have item and I suggest using it every time there`s even a small chance of losing the pole with your precious camera on it.

Now to the pole itself.

Looks great! The dark black with the carbon pattern looks nice and feels like a solid thing. The locking rings are all black and made of some sort of plastic. To prevent slipping while tensioning them the rings have slight cutouts in them to improve grip.

The pole is 17″ (43cm) in its shortest setting and 40″ (101cm) when fully extended. This is pretty much the standard for a high-quality long pole so you can pack it nicely in you backpack but will also give you plenty of reach to get the shots you need.

Weighing in at 7.7oz  (218g) it`s very lightweight. You can get something lighter if you go for a plastic pole but then you will sacrifice toughness, so looks like Freewell Gear has hit the sweet spot when it comes to weight/durability ratio. I haven`t yet put the Freewell Gear PRO M3 Carbon Lite Monopod through very serious abuse yet so I don`t know what happens if i throw it down from the top of my house for example but just trying to bend it a bit in the hands it feels like It will not break easily.

One of the cool things about this pole is that you can unscrew the GoPro attachment from the top and use it as a monopod for your DSLR- as the name of this product actually says – MONOPOD. Once you unscrew the adapter you can screw the pole to the standard tripod screw hole of any of your cameras. Remove the wrist lanyard from the bottom and you have a perfect monopod for your larger DSLR. So it`s a two for one deal 🙂

The grip is covered in a really nice rubber coating that has a honeycomb pattern printed in for extra grip. The handle feels really nice and solid and doesn`t slip.

All in all, this is most definitely a good contender in the huge variety of different poles and I would definitely put this in the top. Good weight to toughness ratio, looks good, has a really solid rubberized grip and comes with nice accessories.

The price is really competitive so if you are hunting for a new action camera pole you might want to throw the PRO M3 ULTIMATE ACTION MONOPOD  into consideration.

What I love about Freewell Gear PRO M3 Carbon Lite Monopod

• Great quality
• Looks good
• Good rubber grip
• Usable as a monopod
• Wrench, remote clip, phone holder included

Get it from Amazon.com