Apexel Deluxe 5in1 Lens Kit

UNIVERSAL, BUT NOT UNIVERSALLY GOOD.

THE ‘CHEAP AND cheerful’ designation of the Apexel Deluxe 5in1 Lens Kit means it isn’t one for the hardcore photography enthusiasts, but if you simply want to play around with different focal lengths, this lets you get your feet wet without breaking the bank. The kit comes with wide-angle, fisheye, telephoto, macro and circular polariser lenses, all of which are neatly stashed in a pocket-sized hard case, along with a clip for attaching the lenses to the smartphone. The good news is that the clip is universal, so you can keep using it as you switch between phones. The bad news is that attaching lenses is a frustrating process, as you have to manually position them into the right place each time — and failing to get it right results in dark shadows in one or more corners. If you’ve got a group of people waiting to get their photo taken, the last thing you want to do is fiddle with the lens’ positioning for more than minute.

The quality of the lenses isn’t as good as the rival Olloclip, resulting in more colour fringing and a noticeable loss of detail beyond the centre of the frame, but then again, it’s par for the course in this price range.