Lightweight, thin and easy to use, the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand could easily become your notebook’s best companion.
Product on Review: AViiQ Portable Quick Stand
Manufacturer and Sponsor: AViiQ
MSRP (excl. VAT): €19.99/USD $39.99
With “On The Go” at the core of their design philosophy, AViiQ has created a handful of portable accessories for both the notebook and the IPAD. Today, Vortez will be taking a look at the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand, one of two notebooks stands currently offered by this company. Like any other notebook stand, the Portable Quick Stand raises the laptop to improve both comfort and airflow. The product differentiates itself from its competitor with its simple yet efficient foldable design. This foldable design, paired with a strong aluminum structure, allows the Portable Quick Stand to be one of the lightest and most compact notebook stands currently on the market.
Does the Portable Quick Stand live up to its name? Read on as we take a closer look at AViiQ’s product.
The Portable Quick Stand: one of the two lightweight and portable notebook stands offered by AViiQ
AViiQ’s take on the Portable Quick Stand
Even though other laptop stands are designed to support mobile products they are, generally, not designed to travel. The AViiQ™ Portable Quick Stand™ folds flat to fit easily into a laptop bag and is less than 1/4″ thick. Unlike other laptop stands which are big, bulky and stationary, the AViiQ portable quick stand is design to fit the mobile lifestyle. Take it on the go and enjoy the benefits of a laptop stand, anywhere. Our unique patented folding design allows you to quickly fold and unfold the laptop stand in seconds, not minutes.
Features and Specifications
Although the website states that the product warranty is 2 years, both the retail packaging and the warranty card show that it is in fact 3 years. After speaking with AViiQ customer service, it is confirmed that the true warranty duration is 3 years and that a typo had slipped onto the website.
Features: Link
Quick is its middle name: Picking up and going has never been easier, available in 5 colors options.
Even though other laptop stands are designed to support mobile products they are, generally, not designed to travel. The AViiQ™ Portable Quick Stand™ folds flat to fit easily into a laptop bag and is less than 1/4” thick.
Pop. Snap. Go.
Unlike other laptop stands which are big, bulky and stationary, the AViiQ portable quick stand is design to fit the mobile lifestyle. Take it on the go and enjoy the benefits of a laptop stand, anywhere. Our unique patented folding design allows you to quickly fold and unfold the laptop stand in seconds, not minutes.
Ergonomic & Airflow: Once you use it, you can’t live without it.
Raising your laptop keyboard to a 12 degree angle improves comfort of use. By lifiting the laptop off the table, air can flow under the laptop, allowing it to run cooler. Rotate it around and use a negative 12 degree angle for raised or standing viewing.
Thin and Lightweight: Ready to go when you are.
The Portable Quick Stand comes in at only 3/8″ thick when folded and only 5.5 oz. It’s surprising how it can quickly transform into a 3 1/4″ high laptop stand in just an instant.
Hylite® Material: German engineered Hylite material.
This German-made, patented material provides a flexible lightweight solution that is extremely durable. It is also capped off by a Polypropylene end caps which are key to the quick yet durable pop and snap feature of the portable quick stand.
Choices: Comes in a variety of colors and finishes.
The Portable Quick Stand comes in a variety of colors to match your style. This includes fun colors such as Cerulean Blue and Magenta as well as clean cool colors such as Oynx Black and Cadet Gray.
Even though other laptop stands are designed to support mobile products they are, generally, not designed to travel. The AViiQ™ Portable Quick Stand™ folds flat to fit easily into a laptop bag and is less than 1/4” thick.
Pop. Snap. Go.
Unlike other laptop stands which are big, bulky and stationary, the AViiQ portable quick stand is design to fit the mobile lifestyle. Take it on the go and enjoy the benefits of a laptop stand, anywhere. Our unique patented folding design allows you to quickly fold and unfold the laptop stand in seconds, not minutes.
Ergonomic & Airflow: Once you use it, you can’t live without it.
Raising your laptop keyboard to a 12 degree angle improves comfort of use. By lifiting the laptop off the table, air can flow under the laptop, allowing it to run cooler. Rotate it around and use a negative 12 degree angle for raised or standing viewing.
Thin and Lightweight: Ready to go when you are.
The Portable Quick Stand comes in at only 3/8″ thick when folded and only 5.5 oz. It’s surprising how it can quickly transform into a 3 1/4″ high laptop stand in just an instant.
Hylite® Material: German engineered Hylite material.
This German-made, patented material provides a flexible lightweight solution that is extremely durable. It is also capped off by a Polypropylene end caps which are key to the quick yet durable pop and snap feature of the portable quick stand.
Choices: Comes in a variety of colors and finishes.
The Portable Quick Stand comes in a variety of colors to match your style. This includes fun colors such as Cerulean Blue and Magenta as well as clean cool colors such as Oynx Black and Cadet Gray.
Specifications: Link
Size & Weight
• Folded Height: 10.98 inches (279 mm)
• Folded Width: 3.22 inches (81.75 mm)
• Folded Depth: 0.35 inches (8.77 mm)
• Unfolded Height: 2.29 inches (58.11 mm)
• Unfolded Width: 10.98 inches (279 mm)
• Unfolded Depth: 2.06 inches (52.22 mm)
• Weight: 3.4 oz (96.4 g)
Includes
• 1 AViiQ Portable Quick Stand
• 1 Instruction Guide
Ergonomics
• Ergonomic Incline: 12 degrees
Materials
• Primary Material: Hylite (Made in Germany)
• Polypropylene End Caps
Manufacturing & Assembly
• Manufacturing Origin: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Assembly: China
Warranty:
• 3 Years
• Folded Height: 10.98 inches (279 mm)
• Folded Width: 3.22 inches (81.75 mm)
• Folded Depth: 0.35 inches (8.77 mm)
• Unfolded Height: 2.29 inches (58.11 mm)
• Unfolded Width: 10.98 inches (279 mm)
• Unfolded Depth: 2.06 inches (52.22 mm)
• Weight: 3.4 oz (96.4 g)
Includes
• 1 AViiQ Portable Quick Stand
• 1 Instruction Guide
Ergonomics
• Ergonomic Incline: 12 degrees
Materials
• Primary Material: Hylite (Made in Germany)
• Polypropylene End Caps
Manufacturing & Assembly
• Manufacturing Origin: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Assembly: China
Warranty:
• 3 Years
Packaging and Bundle
As it was mentioned in the introduction page, AViiQ has a strong emphasis on portability. As such, the packaging reflects the company’s philosophy by having a minimalistic design. The packaging is thin, and the overall appearance is stylish and clean. The front of the package presents the 5 different colour themes of the Portable Quick Stand whereas the back lists the main features of the product.
The packaging is minimalistic and stylish. From left to right: the box, the Portable Quick Stand in paper and the user guide
The packaging is interestingly designed because it has no lid at the top. Instead, once the seal is broken, the Portable Quick Stand encased in paper slides out of the top of the box. As far as package content goes, the Portable Quick Stand comes with the following:
• A quick user guide: it describes how the notebook stand should be positioned if the user is standing or sitting
• A warranty card: the Portable Quick Stand comes with 3 year warranty and additional warranty information can be found on www.AViiQ.com
The Portable Quick Stand comes with a short user guide and a warranty card. From left to right: the box, the Portable Quick Stand in paper and the user guide
Closer Look
Since colour preferences vary from one person to another, AViiQ offers the Portable Quick Stand in 5 different colours:
• Process magenta
• Onyx black
• Cerulean blue
• Cadet grey, which is the colour of the product sample that Vortez has acquired
• Chartreuse green
Unfortunately, those that prefer shades of orange, yellow, purple or violet will be disappointed to see that the stand is not offered in such colours.
Overall, the Portable Quick Stand is made of four sheets of Hylite joined together at the tips with Polypropylene. Hylite is basically a metal sandwich made of two outer aluminum sheets with a plastic core (Source: [url=http://www.matbase.com/material/composites/polymermetalsandwichsheet/hylite-2-1-0.2-hard/properties]Matbase[/ul]). By marrying plastic with aluminum, Hylite is quite durable. Although it lightly flexes under pressure, the stand does not break nor lose its original shape easily. The material is also lightweight, and the total weight of the Portable Quick Stand is only 3.4 oz (96.4 g).
The Portable Quick Stand is made of Hylite, a strong and lightweight polymer metal sandwich
The tips of the Portable Quick Stand are made of Polypropylene, a plastic. This material works well as a non-slip surface for both the table and the notebook. The plastic also acts as a hinge, keeping the 4 pieces of Hylite together. Ever after numerous folding and unfolding, the plastic has yet to show signs of wear.
When folded, the notebook stand is only 0.35 inches (8.77 mm) deep, making the stand easy to slip into your notebook bag or backpack. The height of the stand is 10.98 inches (279 mm), which is slightly shorter than an A4 letter sheet.
The folded stand is very thin, making it easy to transport
The Portable Quick Stand, as it names suggests, unfolds quickly into a triangular shape. The functionality of the stand is reminiscent of how the Smart Cover for the IPAD 2 works. When unfolded, the notebook stand has a depth of 2.06 inches (52.22 mm) and it can raise the notebook to 12.5 degrees. This will not only enhance airflow beneath the notebook, but it should also improve comfort when using the keyboard as well as when viewing the screen.
The Portable Quick Stand unfolds into a triangular shape which will allow raising the notebook to about 12 degrees
The notebook stand is easy to fold and unfold thanks to the Polypropylene edges. Although they are quite flexible, the Polypropylene tips are stiff enough to not let the stand keep its unfolded shape unless a notebook is resting on it.
Because of this, the notebook stand has the annoying tendency of falling over, for example, right before you place the notebook on it. In fact, you sometimes have to hold down the Portable Quick Stand while placing the notebook onto it, which not always easy with only two hands and a heavy notebook.
The Portable Quick Stand does not keep its unfolded shape properly and it can easily fall over
This problem has unfortunately persisted even after 2 weeks of usage. The problem itself is minor, but it is does become annoying if you’re using the stand on the go.
It would be interesting to see AViiQ add some kind of magnetic locking mechanism to keep the stand folded or unfolded. Otherwise, a stand with a large base could work too.
Once unfolded a few time, the Portable Quick Stand no longer stays flat on its own
Test Results
The notebook used in the following pictures is the HP EliteBook 8460p, a 14” notebook.
According to specifications, the height of the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand is 10.98 inches (279 mm), a bit shorter than an A4 letter sheet. With this height, the notebook stand is compatible with notebooks up-to 17” according to AViiQ. Smaller devices such as 10.1” netbooks and tablets might have trouble sitting properly on the Portable Quick Stand, however, because they might not be large enough to rest on the non-slip surfaces of the stand.
The Portable Quick Stand supports notebooks up to 17”
The plastic tips of the stand do a great job at keeping the notebook from moving around. Since the sides of the stand are open, you can easily slide your fingers into them and carry the notebook and the stand together. This makes turning the pair around on a desk easier too.
Slipping your fingers into the open sides of the stand makes carrying the unfolded stand with the notebook easy
Depending on the size of the notebook, the Portable Quick Stand will raise the keyboard to about 12 degrees. This should reduce wrist strain when using the keyboard, especially if the notebook is at the edge of a table. Even with your elbows on the table, the angle of the keyboard is still quite comfortable for the wrists. The monitor of the notebook is also raised to a much more comfortable viewing height, which translates to less neck strain on long-term usage.
Although the angle of the notebook stand lacks adjustability, it can be increased by placing the stand further from the edge of the notebook and closer to the center.
Raising the notebook also enhances passive cooling of the notebook. Although I did not monitor system temperatures, I did notice that the notebook’s fan ramped up less frequently.
Once the notebook was resting on the stand, the Portable Quick Stand showed almost no flexing, even when pushing strongly against the palm rest and the keyboard. In other words, the notebook stand is quite strong and it should not have any trouble with heavier 17” notebooks.
The Portable Quick Stand raises the notebook to both increase comfort and notebook cooling. It is strong and shows almost no flexing.
AViiQ also mentions in their user guide that the Portable Quick Stand can be placed at the front of the notebook. This will increase comfort when the user is standing. I found this configuration quite handy when I was cooking and reading the recipe instructions off the notebook.
The notebook stand can also be placed at the front of the notebook, ideal for a standing user
Conclusion
As its name suggest, the Portable Quick Stand is a travel-friendly notebook stand that is easy to use thanks to its simple yet smart folding design. Because it is mainly made of thin aluminum, this product is not only durable but also one of the lighter notebook stands in the market.
Currently offered in 5 different color themes, the overall appearance of the stand is both stylish and professional. Deploying the Portable Quick Stand is quick, but the stand tends to fall over before you can place the notebook on it.
The AViiQ Portable Quick Stand: portable, strong and easy to use
The notebook stand raises the notebook to about 12.5 degrees which makes using the keyboard and viewing the screen much more comfortable.
The tall height of the stand and the wide rubbery plastic edges allows it to support notebooks of up to 17”. Even when using large notebooks on the stand, the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand is strong and flexes very little when under pressure.
The product is currently the least expensive notebook stand by AViiQ at €19.99/USD $39.99. Albeit lacking active cooling and height adjustment found on similarly priced notebook stands, AViiQ’s product major selling point is portability. If you are a notebook user on the go that wants a more comfortable computing experience, the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand would be a good investment.
With all of this taken into consideration, Vortez gives the Silver Award to the AViiQ Portable Quick Stand.
Pros
+ Durable with almost no flexing
+ Easy to use
+ Lightweight, thin and portable
+ Stylish in 5 different colours
Cons
– Does not stay completely folded on its own
– Expensive
– Tends to fall over when unfolded and standing on its own
– Very little adjustment of the angle of the stand
+ Durable with almost no flexing
+ Easy to use
+ Lightweight, thin and portable
+ Stylish in 5 different colours
Cons
– Does not stay completely folded on its own
– Expensive
– Tends to fall over when unfolded and standing on its own
– Very little adjustment of the angle of the stand
